U.S. urgently needs to keep its ISR high-tech edge

ARLINGTON, Va., March 19 (UPI) -- What type of military forces will be most in demand to fight the wars of the 21st century? Telling signs are already evident.

-- In 2007 Russian Tupolev Tu-95 Bear bombers and Ilyushin Il-78 tankers resumed patrols in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and near the Arctic Circle after a 15-year absence.

-- China's active space program has tested satellite destruction and manned orbital capabilities.

-- Russia may have had a hand in cyberattacks on Estonia in 2007 and Georgia in 2008.

-- China has been admonished by Germany, Britain and the United States for attempted penetrations of government networks.

-- Russia conducted a combined-arms incursion into the former Soviet republic of Georgia in the Caucasus in August 2008, complete with mechanized vehicles, airstrikes and mobile missile forces.

In this environment, conventional deterrence will rely heavily on superior air, space and cyberspace capabilities. The United States' big advantage comes from the ability to threaten a successful and persistent airstrike against key targets. Calibrating the flexible deterrent options requires real-time information on threats and options. Job one is to survey and assess the situation.

One of the most important aspects of deterrence -- both conventional and nuclear -- is correctly characterizing crises and the actions and posture of adversary military forces.

Real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance is in high demand by the international community as it takes its first steps in considering action during a crisis. Decision-makers want to know what friendly and adversary forces are really doing, where key units are positioned, and how the situation is changing.

Reflecting this, U.S. joint doctrine explicitly lists positioning of ISR assets as part of flexible deterrent operations. In the Balkans in the early 1990s, the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization set up surveillance and no-fly zones long before committing to further action. Operations against terrorism consume ISR.

With current forces, it is easy to picture force options such as a deployment of the Global Hawk unmanned aerial system and other ISR assets, along with fighter forces, to signal resolve and shape a crisis.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States and its partners have grown accustomed to a level of ISR unprecedented in warfare. It began with the early use of unmanned aerial systems Predator and Global Hawk in Afghanistan, and has spiraled to the point where a combination of systems can track terrorist movements visually and electronically. ISR is not perfect, but it provides an addictive level of information.

Space platforms play a role, but the most sophisticated, sensitive ISR depends on near-complete control of the airspace so that aircraft of all types may operate with impunity.

--

(Part 6: Meeting the ISR challenges of the 21st century)

--

(Rebecca Grant, Ph.D., is a senior fellow at the Lexington Institute, a non-profit public-policy research organization based in Arlington, Va.)

--

(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)