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Office of Space Reconnaissance
In 2000 National Commission for the Review of National Reconnaissance
Office made recommendation to form new Office of Space Reconnaissance. A little bit later, in 2001 National Space Commission made similar recommendation to form Strategic Reconnaissance Office to make leaps in intelligence technology. Two questions arose for me. I was looking for answer for a long time, but didn't find clear one in the Internet, despite I'm very familiar with web searching. Taking into consideration that "five-minute conversation with the right person can be more enlightening than five hours online", I really hope that I'll find irrefragable answer here. First, is the Office of Space Reconnaissance within the NRO? And second, if so, doesn't OSR duplicate the mission of NRO's Advanced Systems & Technology Directorate. I want to include short quotes from all materials I find on this issue. That's all I know about this. And if somebody can make things clear and add something to my understanding, I would greatly appreciate help. Related first question From Aviation Week Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Director of Central Intelligence George Tennet decided earlier this year to create a highly classified organization within the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)--the designer of imaging and sigint satellites--to bring about leaps in intelligence gathering technology. http://www.aviationnow.com/content/p...10917/aw57.htm Both the Space Commission and an earlier commission reviewing the NRO stressed that NRO's focus on leading-edge research and development has eroded because of the need to maintain legacy systems, although some advance work is still being done (see p. 76). And both urged that the skill be resuscitated. Details of how to create the highly specialized organization are to be worked out by NRO director Keith Hall in the coming weeks. http://www.aviationnow.com/content/p...4/strategy.htm From Pentagon's Official Press Release Third, the Director of Central Intelligence and I are meeting regularly to address intelligence matters and are establishing an Executive Committee that we co-chair to review intelligence issues of joint concern. We have requested the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) to examine how to establish an Office of Space Reconnaissance within the NRO and report back to us next month. We will keep the defense and intelligence oversight committees apprised of our future course of action. http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/..._bt201-01.html From US News & World Report Last year, U.S. News has learned, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and CIA Director George Tenet created a new top-secret office to develop cutting-edge spy satellite technologies. The office is an arm of the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology. The new office maintains bogus commercial "cover" facilities outside the agency's headquarters in Langley, Va., and CIA officials are talking to defense contractors about developing new satellites. "Tenet formed the office," says a former senior Pentagon official, "because he wanted exquisite intelligence collection capabilities." According to several former Pentagon and CIA officials with close ties to U.S. intelligence, the office was created, in part, because of the NRO's declining performance. The CIA denies this but won't discuss the new satellite operation. The article is paid-per-view, but it can be found at the keepmedia.com for free. Challenges Facing the Defense Department in the Twenty-First Century Cheryl J. Roby If it's within the NRO, good idea. If it's going to be separate and distinct from the NRO, we really need to decide what its job would be and how it would perform it. I do understand their concern. Would we take people away from the NRO to establish the cadre of technically capable, competent people in this new office? They've got the most experience. They've got the talent. They've got engineers who have really wowed us with the capabilities they've developed. The answer: Probably. Well, then, are we going to erode the ability of the NRO to continue providing us the needed sources of space intelligence? I think that's the dilemma that they're facing. We just don't know what the secretary will decide. He might decide that he will allow this to be stood up, but within the NRO. It is not clear at this time. http://www.pirp.harvard.edu/pubs_pdf...roby-i01-3.pdf Related second question From Toffler Associates The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Technology Enterprise and the Advanced Systems and Technology Directorate (AS&T) are a relatively new architecture for managing NRO R&D. AS&T is the steward of the NRO Technology Enterprise. AS&T also manages long-term R&D of new phenomenologies and new system concepts. The NRO Directorates each manage shorter-term R&D to advance existing systems and improve deployed systems. In addition, the NRO directorate R&D offices are partners with AS&T in the development of future systems. AS&T sees itself as the "chief revolutionary" in the process of revolutionizing global reconnaissance. http://www.toffler.com/publications/pub_nro.shtml The report revealed a yearning for greater secrecy on the part of its authors. Among its recommendations was the creation of an "Office of Space Reconnaissance" within the NRO to work on advanced systems. According to the report, the office "would operate from facilities separate from other space reconnaissance activities, and it would be covered by a new security compartment. The purpose would be to establish effective secrecy to shield the technologies and collection techniques under development." The authors imply that the current headquarters, with its "Byeman" security compartment (the Byeman control system is used to protect information related to NRO collection systems), is not sufficient to maintain secrecy, and that the Advanced Systems and Technology Directorate, established as a result of the 1996 review, is not adequately performing its mission. http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/20...richelson.html That's all. I'll wait impatiently for the answer. Thanks a lot in advance, Elnur |
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