Closing the capability gap: developing new solutions to counter maritime threats

Naval War College Review, Spring, 2008 by Victor E. Renuart, Jr., Dane S. Egli

The goal of these demonstrations is to automate all-source fusion in order to help maritime intelligence analysts better support the warfighter and respective interagency partners in the field. CMA will be able to fuse multiple sources of data, including the International Maritime Organization-mandated Automated Identification System (AIS), Defense Department and Homeland Security Department systems, and many other national and open sources; the current design includes over three hundred inputs from both U.S. government and public domains* CMA and MASTER will also support maritime anomaly detection, allowing identification of potential threats that currently go undetected and are therefore missing from the "vessel of interest" list. MASTER's capabilities differ from those of CMA in that it will fuse information sources at the highest security levels, using the most sensitive sources of intelligence information*

As mandated by the National Strategy for Maritime Security, we must not only leverage interagency capabilities but also build cooperation with international partners in order to identify threats as far from our shores as possible* To that end, the maritime JCTDs are making clear the value of collaboration with allies in parts of the world where maritime traffic and shipping commerce are heavy.

CMA and MASTER will support the transformation of national MDA capabilities by moving maritime information systems

... from:

* Manual processes for data acquisition, data validation, correlation, and track generation

* High analytical latency (that is, a need for considerable time to collect data and determine if there is a potential threat)

* Nonstandardized data collection and information-processing protocols, and

* Monitoring of hundreds of named vessels of interest at any given time via a Common Operating Picture

... to:

* Automated processes (automatic acquisition, validation, correlation, tracking with identification)

* Reduced latency, improving analytical efficiency by orders of magnitude

* Standardized reporting protocols that support a net-centric Service Oriented Architecture, and

* A focus on threat identification, based on monitoring thousands of vessels at any given time, via a UDOP. (6)

As a result, maritime analysts will spend more of their time analyzing cues, which will be automatically generated, rather than manually searching intelligence reports and databases to establish suspicious associations among vessels, cargo, infrastructure, and people. Ultimately, analysts and decision makers will be able to devote more attention to the most likely threats, many of which today would likely not be listed as vessels of interest.

FUTURE STATE: WORKING SMARTER TO ACHIEVE MDA

Given the anticipated technological advances described above, especially CMA and MASTER, the time needed to generate maritime threat intelligence will significantly decrease. Gathering, correlating, and fusing critical maritime information will take hours rather than days, as it can today. Maritime situational awareness will be greatly enhanced as a result. The Service Oriented Architecture requirement will lay out a path to data interoperability and data sharing, ensuring that participating analysts in the global maritime community of interest can assimilate data from participating joint, interagency, and industry providers.