SECRET SYSTEMS CLUTTER THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
The difficulty that the military has in allocating the efficient use of the electromagnetic spectrum for military operations is aggravated by the fact that some of those uses — involving intelligence platforms and sensors — are secret even from military planners themselves, a new Pentagon doctrinal publication notes.
“Coordination with intelligence units and agencies can be challenging for many reasons, to include classification issues, disparate data formats, and separate technical control or reporting channels,” the publication states.
“In many cases, the JSME [joint spectrum management element] does not have adequate visibility or knowledge of intelligence sensors, platforms, or systems in order to accomplish accurate deconfliction.”
“In order to capture all aspects of intelligence spectrum use, the JSME must understand that intelligence platforms such as UAS/unmanned ground system will have spectrum requirements for both a payload (e.g., imagery or data) and control frequencies to operate the platform.”
“Intelligence is a heavy user of sensors that employ both active and passive techniques. Active sensors are usually accounted for, but the passive sensors will also require spectrum consideration so they perform properly.”
See Joint Electromagnetic Spectrum Management Operations, Joint Publication 6-01, Joint Chiefs of Staff, March 20, 2012 (at page V-12).
Phi Beta Iota: The US has never been serious about spectrum–one of the dirty little secrets of Afghanistan is how often drones, artillery, and aviation as well as C4I messed each other up. Adding remote disengaged drone video games made it much worse (news flash for DoD “leaders”: pilots are cheaper than bandwidth and much, much better at situational awareness). The Soviet standards for emissions control have always been 10 to 100 times more serious than US standards. However, the bottom line is that Open Spectrum is here to stay, and the US military is the last to know or accept this.
See Also:
2004 Gill (US) Open Wireless Spectrum and Democracy
Advanced Cyber/IO: Knowledge Integration
Campaign for Liberty: Steele on IC and DoD
Defense Science Board to DoD: Get Brain + RECAP
Journal: Open Mobile, Open Spectrum, Open Web
OpenBTS Egypt — Need to Flesh Out OpenBTS USA
OpenMesh: Humans Are the Routers
Open Source Agency: Executive Access Point
Plenty of Spectrum–Not Enough Integrity
Reference: Transparency Killer App Plus “Open Everything” RECAP (Back to 01/2007)
Robert Steele: Liberation Technology Update
