New Instruments of Darkness Come to Light: The Role of Airborne Intelligence Assets in Modern War
Abstract
During Operations DESERT STORM and DESERT SHIELD, commanders at the operational level received immediate battlefield intelligence on video screen--a revolutionary way of fighting war. For the first time, intelligence information from E-3A AWACS, E-8A Joint STARS and RC- 135 RIVET JOINT aircraft were melded together by datalink and sent via satellite to the theater CINC, his subordinates at the tactical level, and even to his superiors at National Command Authority, the strategic level. For the first time, battlefield intelligence available only at the tactical level twenty five years before, now was available in real-time at both operational and strategic levels. Consequently, these intelligence assets have become more than force multipliers- - "force enablers" --they enable the "shooters and bomb-droppers" to do their jobs. Quite simply, "pin-point targets need pin-point intelligence." This paper will show how best to employ these assets at the operational level of war through training, joint interoperability and flexibility--but there are trade- offs.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 18, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA266737
Entities
People
- John J. Caban
Organizations
- Naval War College