Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Enabling the of FMV data grows exponentially, our

ground systems and analytical support
capabilities struggle to keep pace with the

Full Motion
volume and speed of FMV collection. Lt.
General David Deptula, Air Force deputy
chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance
and reconnaissance, aptly described the

Video Analyst
situation: “We’re going to find ourselves
in the not too distant future swimming in
sensors and drowning in data.”
So what needs to happen from the
analyst’s perspective? To answer this
question, it’s important to understand
New solutions are needed to fully exploit how the intelligence analysis process
for FMV data works within the analyst’s

the expanding wave of UAV-captured data. environment. Although analytical opera-

tions may vary based on factors such
as mission objectives, platform operat-

By Jim Dolan. senior vice president, • Enhanced “situational awareness” in

Strategic Initiatives, Textron Systems/
Overwatch (www.overwatch.com),
Sterling, Va.
irregular warfare environments.
• New and improved collection capa-
“We’re going to find
bilities delivering increasing volumes and ourselves in the not too

T
he defense/intelligence community
faces complex, dynamic challenges
with conventional and emerging
threats in diverse operating environments
around the world. Full-motion video
(FMV) collection capabilities deployed on
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) increas-
ingly support wide-ranging intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR)
Figure 1. Sensor operators, collection managers, mission managers and analysts work
in a dynamic environment.
requirements associated with irregular
warfare, disaster relief operations, home-
land security and conventional military
engagements. Some of the most profound
impacts resulting from the widespread
use of FMV data include:
varieties of FMV data.
• Greater expectations from analysts,
operators and decision makers regarding
the timeliness and information value of
UAV-collected FMV.
Although the increased use of FMV
information has improved our ISR capa-
bilities, it also has precipitated unin-
tended consequences that the commu-
nity is struggling to address. Key among
the challenges to
optimize the value of
FMV data is the need
to enable intelligence
analysts to effectively
analyze FMV data and
extract vital intel-
ligence information
in a timely, accurate
manner.
Rethinking Established
Processes
Currently, UAV
FMV-collection capa-
bilities are proliferating
rapidly with govern-
ment and industry
partners investing
heavily in develop-
ing new and improved UAV platforms
and payloads. Some industry analysts
project that nearly $8.5 billion will be
invested in the UAV industry during the
next decade. And yet, while our ability
to collect increasingly larger volumes
distant future swimming
in sensors and drowning
in data.”
—Lt. General David Deptula
ing parameters, sensor capabilities and
operating location, many operations share
a similar approach to the tasking, col-
lection, processing, exploitation and dis-
semination (TCPED) processes associated
with UAV-FMV operations.
Figure 1 presents a common TCPED
process. Starting in the lower left-hand
corner of the diagram and moving clock-
wise, the personnel engaged in mission
operations articulate requirements for
UAVs to collect information in conjunc-
tion with a particular operating area.
These requirements—what informa-
tion needs to be collected—usually are
created to prepare for a mission in the
geographic area to be overflown by
the UAV.
Once the requirements are articulated,
sensor operators and UAV “pilots” direct
the flight of the UAV and the video col-
lection. Frequently, the sensor operators,
collection managers, mission managers and
UAV pilots operate in different locations
that in many instances are time zones away
from the personnel engaged in the opera-
tions on the ground. More often than not,
the sensor operators, collection manag-

24 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2010 © 2010 Earthwide Communications LLC, www.eijournal.com

ers, mission managers and analysts rely Improving Situational Understanding Situational understanding is achieved
heavily on basic collaborative chat tools to Given that a UAV with an FMV payload when an analyst is able to correlate the
remain in synch with each other and make can typically loiter over an area for long first-phase FMV analytical product with in-
adjustments in what is normally a dynamic periods of time, first-phase analysis of formation from other intelligence sources.
environment. FMV data contributes greatly to situational During the second and third phases of
As FMV data are collected and down- awareness. First-phase analysis facilitates analysis, an analyst needs to be able to
linked to the ground, analysts review the an awareness that some event or activity quickly discover and extract information
FMV data streams to begin the time- is happening on the ground, but in many from the FMV stream and correlate the
critical cognitive process of identifying instances the viewing of a live FMV stream observations with information derived
objects or activities of interest captured doesn’t enable an analyst or decision maker from other intelligence sources such as
in the FMV data stream. Typically, to fully understand what is happening in signals intelligence (SIGINT)—intelligence
analytical operations use a time-phased the observed area. gathering by intercepting signals, whether
approach to perform exploitation.
As depicted in Figure 2, “first phase”
analysis delivers basic target/activity
identification by the analyst “tagging”
observations of the FMV stream. The
first phase tagging process needs to occur
within minutes of collection to maximize
the timeliness and relevance of the ana-
lytical observations. The analysts need
tools that allow them to create a tagged
video clip and record basic analytical
remarks or annotations and then rapidly
make this information available to other
analysts or decision makers. Given the
duration of a mission, and depending on
the number of targets or the intensity
of a ground operation, an analyst can be
hard pressed to keep up with the seem-
ingly endless stream of FMV data being
collected.

© 2010 Earthwide Communications LLC, www.eijournal.com SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2010 25

Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Figure 2. FMV analytical timelines vary with the type of mission. Analytical tools
must be flexible to handle real-time and phased analysis tasks.
between people or electronic intelligence—
or human intelligence (HUMINT). Access to UAVs with FMV payloads are deployed,
intelligence community databases through
various Department of Defense, service and
NATO information technology enterprise
architectures that support the ISR commu-
nity is a critical need for an FMV analyst.
Unfortunately, many FMV collection opera-
tions are forced to operate in “stovepipe”
environments in which security, logistics
or other restrictions preclude the FMV
analysis operation from being connected to a pens in the area being observed.
26 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2010
secure system that The ability to correlate people, places
provides access to and events over time is greatly enhanced
SIGINT, HUMINT by motion imagery. This is another area in
and geospatial intel- which the deployment of improved multi-
ligence (GEOINT) intelligence (multi-INT) data cataloguing
information sys- and archiving systems improves an ana-
tems and databases. lyst’s ability to build a multi-INT picture
Second- and over time. An analyst needs easy-to-use,
third-phase analysis plain language data retrieval capabilities to
production can query large volume databases distributed
occur over the across an enterprise—assuming the analyst
course of hours or has the required connectivity. Analysts
weeks, depending must be able to quickly and easily query
on the complexity databases for overhead still-frame imagery,
of the intelligence motion video clips, shape files, maps, etc.,
problem. For to build second- and third-phase products.
example, in many
of the irregular “Unfortunately, better
warfare environ-
ments in which sensors don’t always yield
an analyst needs to understand as much as
more useful information.”
possible about the cultural and social habits — P. W. Singer
of the people living in the area as well as the
features and functions of buildings and the Situational understanding is the result of
local geography. It’s important for an analyst an analyst’s ability to connect the dots by
to be able to consider the geography, the hu- correlating and linking information from
man terrain and observations of an area over multi-INT disciplines.
a period of time to identify and recognize
historical trends about what typically hap- Expanding Support Tools
The ISR community continues to
make great strides forward in deploying
multi-INT collection systems and needs
to intensify its efforts to deploy analyti-
cal support tools that fully take advantage
of the volume and variety of intelligence
source data provided in shorter time
periods. In his recent book Wired for War,
P. W. Singer states, “Unfortunately, better
sensors don’t always yield more useful
information. More data collected means
more data to process and often more time
required to make decisions.”
To respond to this observation, the ISR
community needs to ensure it fully consid-
ers the efficacy of analytical operations
to make informed investment decisions
when considering new and improved FMV
collection capabilities. Senior government
leadership and acquisition organizations
must continue investing in the tools and
technologies that support the analytical
tradecraft. Analysts and the developers of
analytical support tools need to remain in
constant dialogue to ensure that analytical
capabilities keep pace with new collection
capabilities. The operators and decision
makers who rely so heavily on the intel-
ligence information derived from FMV data
and other intelligence sources have too
much at stake to allow an analyst to fail for
lack of viable support tools.
© 2010 Earthwide Communications LLC, www.eijournal.com