Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance

Data Overload Challenges Special Operators

In the wars of recent years, US Special Operations Command saw the results of a dizzying investment in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) rushed into the field, leaving the command — in today's leaner times — to make sense of its inventory and focus.
To that end, the command has created an ISR roadmap, aimed at reinforcing its collection, transmission and exploitation abilities, though transmission has proved one of the thorniest problems. Sensors have evolved to capture richer information, like high-definition video, outstripping the capacity of Defense Department data pipes to send the data.