BAE Systems has been selected as a prime contractor to work on the phase two of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Insight programme.
The programme aims to develop an integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) system that will enable analysts to meaningfully integrate disparate ”stovepiped” source information into a unified picture of the battlefield.
Specifically, the programme seeks to deliver automated behavioural learning and prediction algorithms that will enable analysts use huge volumes of intelligence-rich information for discovery and identification of threats, and also make and confirm hypotheses about their potential behaviour.
The primary focus is expedient delivery of fused actionable intelligence in a comprehensive operating picture to enhance support of time-sensitive battlefield operations.
DARPA Insight programme manager, Ben Cutler, said different systems are being used by intelligence analysts for nearly every different data feed and the resulting intelligence is not always readily understandable and accessible.
"Insight aims to create an adaptable, integrated system that augments human analysts’ capabilities to collect information from all available sources, learn from it, and share important insights with the people who need it most, all in real time," Cutler said.
Besides allowing analysts to collaborate on the fly through an intuitive user interface that accelerates comprehension of complex information through advanced data visualisation techniques, the programme will also cost-effectively streamline delivery of tailored capabilities, to address emerging mission requirements in any operation.
Enhancement of real-time information sharing has become a highest level priority for the US military, as testified by the US Defense Department Defense Intelligence Agency Director, army lieutenant general Michael Flynn, before the US Senate Armed Services Committee in April 2013.
”Defence intelligence must be able to provide timely and actionable intelligence across the entire threat spectrum,” Flynn said.
The information generated by the existing intelligence systems and technologies offers only a partial battlefield picture, and has also proven to be burdensome and inefficient.
Image: Insight programme seeks to bring real-time, integrated, multi-source intelligence to the battlefield. Photo: courtesy of DARPA.
