U.S. Satellites Spying on Russia’s War Tap Commercial Technology
U.S. surveillance of Russia’s Ukraine invasion is strengthened by two new satellite systems built with on-board imagery processes.
(Bloomberg) -- U.S. surveillance of Russia’s Ukraine invasion has been buttressed by two newer satellite systems built with commercial parts and on-board imagery processes, the head of the intelligence agency that manages the programs said in a rare public statement.
Alongside orbiting spy satellites, the new systems built using commercial technology have “enabled NATO and the entire world to see in real time the Russian military buildup prior to its invasion,” National Reconnaissance Office Director Christopher Scolese said in prepared testimony Wednesday for a mostly closed-door House Armed Services subcommittee hearing.
The new systems, which Scolese said “went from concept to orbit in less than three years,” have since helped Biden administration officials provide a stream of detailed intelligence statements about Russian battlefield developments, missile launches, likely strategic goals and -- this week -- potential war crimes, without disclosing classified sources.
“They illustrate our efforts to deliver capabilities more quickly, using a combination of commercial components and processes and government-sponsored capabilities,” Scolese said. “And they almost immediately started serving the needs of both warfighters and national policy makers.”
That includes foreign allies of the U.S. Working with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which produces precise, geo-located maps from the NRO imagery, “these products are being widely disseminated at the NATO Intelligence Fusion Center and shared with the U.S. European Command,” he said.
The Ukraine war isn’t the first time the technology has been employed for humanitarian or U.S. national security purposes.
Before the invasion, the systems built on commercial technology “supported earthquake relief in Haiti, imaged areas over Afghanistan to support the evacuation of U.S. troops.” Scolese said.
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