As the geopolitical landscape continues to evolve with increasing tensions and conflicts, notably the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, NATO has significantly stepped up its drone surveillance operations to gather more comprehensive intelligence. With a 30% surge in flight hours in 2023 compared to the previous year, the NATO Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Force has expanded its scope and intensified its efforts in intelligence gathering across critical regions.
Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security, Scott Bray, at a recent GEOINT conference in Florida, highlighted the pressing need for heightened surveillance along NATO’s eastern flank, the Baltic and Black seas, and the High North, particularly after Finland’s addition to the alliance.
“The North Atlantic security environment is under threat,” said Bray. “Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine has created the biggest conflict on the European continent since the Second World War, and the Euro-Atlantic is not at peace.”
NATO’s surveillance capacity has been boosted by the RQ-4D Phoenix drones, based on designs from defense giant Northrop Grumman. These unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been modified to meet the alliance’s information-sharing and communication standards and are equipped with advanced surveillance sensors, providing the capability to monitor over 62,000 square-miles daily. Such expansive coverage is critical given Bray’s assertion of the “growing appetite, expectations, and centrality of intelligence to NATO.”
In addition to the geographic expansion of surveillance operations, NATO is revolutionizing its intelligence capabilities through technological advancements. Bray pointed out the transformative potential of geospatial artificial intelligence (GeoAI), which combines AI with geospatial data to enhance the intelligence production cycle. This includes applications such as automatic change detection and socio-economic analysis, which significantly streamline the process of turning vast amounts of raw data into decision-ready, actionable intelligence.
The establishment of the Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) is one of the pivotal steps NATO has taken to harness such technological advancements. This initiative, with planned tech accelerator sites in 28 nations, aims to foster innovation and collaboration with commercial and academic entities to maintain and enhance the alliance’s technological edge.
Outside of the well-supported innovation initiative, Bray mentioned that NATO members still have much work to do in order to enhance their capability to share data and collaborate effectively at a rapid pace and on a large scale.
“We’re not [just] talking about great power competition right now in Europe — we’re talking about the fact that there is open conflict in Europe. And the degree of integration that it is going to take between all the allies, to include the United States, and with our private industry partners to ensure that our defense industrial capacity and our intelligence industrial capacity is well-integrated, is absolutely essential for peace and stability in our era,” Bray said.
As unmanned technologies continue to be at the forefront of modern military strategy, the NATO ISR Force is actively engaging in exercises such as the Nordic Response to ensure preparedness and the effective application of its ISR assets. Air Force Brig. Gen. Andrew Clark, commander of the ISR Force, emphasized the importance of such capabilities, stating that “decision-ready, actionable intelligence provided at the speed of need is one of our greatest weapons.”
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has also brought to light the strategic use of drones beyond frontline engagement. By targeting vital enemy infrastructure, like oil refineries, drones can have a significant impact on an adversary’s ability to sustain a prolonged conflict, thereby shaping larger strategic outcomes.
Relevant articles:
– NATO drone surveillance hours surge amid growing appetite for intel, Defense News, 05/08/2024
– AI will ‘revolutionize’ the way NATO looks at geospatial intelligence, leader says, DefenseScoop, 05/07/2024
– Ukraine war latest: ‘Undeclared Russian military intelligence officer’ expelled from UK, Sky News, 05/07/2024