Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) functions as a key tool in comprehending what military and other intimidations a country might need to protect against rivals.
Consequently, SIGINT can also turn out to be a roadmap for the most effective courses of activities to understand or implement for assuring vigilance.
SIGINT is most often used by military or intelligence agency professionals, who have to deal with messages and data of one or more parties that are gathered using any type of electronic, communications or foreign instrumentation signals intelligence, irrespective of how the information was conveyed.
This might comprise written messages, verbal communications, data from weapons systems or radar, etc.
The NSA is responsible for providing foreign SIGINT to U.S. policymakers and military forces with the objective of having SIGINT play a vital role in U.S. national security by providing America’s leaders with critical information they need to defend the U.S., save lives, and advance U.S. goals and alliances globally.
The NSA SIGINT mission is specifically limited to gathering information about international terrorists and foreign powers, organizations, or persons. The NSA then produces intelligence in response to formal requirements levied by those who have an official need for intelligence, including all departments of the Executive Branch of the United States Government.
Modern SIGINT systems have substantial communications among intercept platforms. Once the decision to target is made, the various interception points need to cooperate, since resources are limited.
Knowing what interception equipment to use becomes easier when a target country buys its radars and radios from known manufacturers, or is given them as military aid. National intelligence services keep libraries of devices manufactured by their own country and others, and then use a variety of techniques to learn what equipment is acquired by a given country.
Knowledge of physics and electronic engineering further narrows the problem of what types of equipment might be in use. An intelligence aircraft flying well outside the borders of another country will listen for long-range search radars, not short-range fire control radars that would be used by a mobile air defense.
Soldiers scouting the front lines of another army know that the other side will be using radios that must be portable and not have huge antennas.
Want to learn more about SIGINT? Tonex offers Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) Training Bootcamp, a 3-day course covering all aspects of Signals Intelligence including Communications Intelligence (COMINT), Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) and Foreign Instrumentation Signals Intelligence (FISINT).
Tonex also offers seven more courses in Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, C4ISR, including:
—Fundamentals of Low Probability of Intercept (LPI) Signals Certificate (4 days)
—Sensor and Data Fusion Training Bootcamp (3 days)
—Tactical Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance Training (2 days)
For more information, questions, comments, contact us.