Diagram courtesy of Accipiter, whose hi-tech radar system includes the integration of a “Target Information System,” which stores every movement of every target. 

Incessant blips on a screen fade into the past as U.S.-Canadian cooperation to protect the border grows stronger, thanks to the use of ‘smart’ radar technology.

Accipiter Security Radar Systems unveiled a new surveillance technology that combines radar with information technology earlier this month at SecureTech, a two-day public safety tradeshow in Ottawa.

The company’s computer processing system measures the speed, size and heading of each target and then stores it. The computer then analyzes real-time and historical surveillance, and then predict patterns that can help officials track down criminals and even speed up rescue efforts, according to Carl Krasnor, vice president of business development for the Niagara-based company.

“The technology enables automated recognition of complex suspicious events such as a rendezvous between two boats that originated in different countries,” he said.

Radar dates back to World War II, and acted as a sensor to beep where targets might be. However, the traditional sensor required a trained operator to decipher the real targets from insignificant blips, or clutter, according to Krasnor.

“There are always thousands of targets, most of them law-abiding citizens with very few criminals and potential terrorists hidden in their midst. Traditional radar would be useless in this scenario,” Krasnor said, explaining that human operator possess neither the processing power nor attention span to select suspicious activity from routine movement.

Advancements in security technology are helpful in maintaining the cordial relationship between the U.S. and Canada while still protecting the porous border.

Border Patrol reported that only 32 miles of the 4,000-mile border has an ‘acceptable’ level of security, according to a 2010 report by the Government Accountability Office.

Retired U.S. Army Colonel Douglas A. Macgregor thinks that a border that is 99 percent unprotected could use a foreboding military presence to keep drug peddlers and illegal immigrants out. Though, he says his prescription is minimal.

“You would not need more than a battalion or two,” Macgregor said, explaining that the border dividing Washington State and British Columbia is a point of entry for illegals from India, Pakistan and Northeast Asia.

More, Macgregor says that the Great Lakes would also benefit from U.S. Army reinforcements to control drug trafficking.

Not so fast, says U.S. Customs and Border Protection, explaining that the relationship between Canada and the U.S. must remain “welcoming.”

“The border is not a militarized zone, and we don’t want to treat it as such. We gain the most from information through collaboration,” said Mark Borkowski, assistant commissioner for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Technology, Innovation and Acquisition.

Unlike the U.S.-Mexican border, Canadian and American governments have had a historical relationship of shared resources and shared cooperation when it comes to securing the border between them, according to Borkowski.

“The Northern border is very challenging. It’s forested and has bodies of water, which creates challenges for tracking illegal acts. However, most of the activity on the border is happening at ports of entry, not between them like the southwest border,” Borkowski said.

And Borkowski explained he’s “excited” at the technological possibilities.

“For a long time, we’ve had sensors hidden in the ground that would alert us, but we didn’t know whether it was moose or a person. We need algorithms so we can know it’s human,” Borkowski said.

Next comes fiber optics, Borkowski said. The combined technologies would help officials track where signals are headed, and then deploy agents to sit and wait for a target rather than chase it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/dia-to-send-hundreds-more-spies-overseas/2012/12/01/97463e4e-399b-11e2-b01f-5f55b193f58f_story.html?tid=pm_pop

This is all part of transforming the Defense Intelligence Agency, so that it is as complex and strong as the CIA.

I was interested in this because I had actually never heard of the DIA, so I wanted to learn more about it. The DIA is apparently being revamped in a major overhaul, and as part of this, an espionage spy network of “unprecedented size” will be created. The DIA’s longtime role has been to identify target spots for troops.

What’s also interesting is that this seems like it should be kept in secrecy. However, the Post has now made this information widely available on the web, and if it gets in the wrong hands, this information could potentially lead to some serious concerns. Obviously, if the targets were revealed, this could be catastrophic. But also, the information that the Post published is according to “U.S. officials” and does not really say where the Post got this information. But if this information is, indeed, accurate, then forces in the Middle East could very well amp up their weapons and forces against the United States to prepare for the additional spies being sent.

The DIA seems to be much less of a focus in the public eye as the CIA is. And so far, it seems that the Post is the only news source to offer the information. A visit to the DIA’s official website did not have any of this information, nor did it contain any press releases on this information.

http://www.dia.mil/public-affairs/releases/

Earlier this April, UPI reported on a new spy service, called the Defense Clandestine Service, that expanded the U.S. military’s espionage efforts to targets like China and Iran.

The justification of the expansion of spies is a result of President Barack Obama’s desire for espionage and covert action instead of conventional force. The Pentagon’s spy agency does not have the authority to “conduct covert operations that go beyond intelligence gathering,” according to the Post’s article.

The purpose of this was to bolster the DIA. The article also provided some background information on the DIA, describing its main focus as “collecting tactical and operational intelligence used day to day by battlefield troops.”

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/04/24/New-US-spy-agency-focuses-on-new-targets/UPI-48841335249000/

The so-called “resurgence” of the DIA has not come without its criticism. A July article from www.federalnewsradio.com discussed how the DIA’s new leader, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, had previously criticized wartime intelligence.

http://www.federalnewsradio.com/502/2960173/General-who-criticized-wartime-intelligence-gathering-now-leads-DIA

Flynn said that he was committed to building the Defense Clandestine Service, as mentioned previously. In 2012, Flynn authored a paper entitled “Fixing Intel,” where he criticized intelligence in Afghanistan, calling them “irrelevant to the counterinsurgency campaign.”

It remains to be seen how effective Flynn’s new leadership has been, as he’s been in the new position for mere months.

An article released earlier this week by Government Executive discussed also how the current digital information age would bring new challenges to intelligence, as there is just so much data.

http://www.govexec.com/defense/2012/11/intelligence-community-must-adapt-era-vast-data-study-says/59886/

Some of these problems, according to the article, “range from mountains of data to accelerated pace of change to competing information flow from nongovernmental sources to fears of violating privacy and civil liberties.” These are all included in a paper entitled “Expectations of Intelligence in the Information Age” released Thursday.

Flynn, during a banquet in Arlington, spoke and said that “the challenge for the community is to sustain its relevance beyond the stolen secret in the era of global access to diverse and rich sources of data and information.”

Undoubtedly, it will be interesting to see how Flynn will handle these new challenges.

-Will Mendelson