Delivering Actionable Intelligence in the Modern Battlespace (sponsored)

This article is brought to you by Israel Aerospace Industries

Actionable Intelligence, the delivery of the right information at the right time and in the right context, is of supreme value to key decision-makers in all military branches. Not only does it facilitate operational success but most importantly – it saves lives. But to achieve this is a challenge.

The last two decades have seen a massive proliferation of sensors deployed in the battlespace, from satellites through to tactical drones and man-carried systems. In the past, obtaining a specific data item from a specific single source was considered the apex of intelligence production. Contemporary infantry officer, tank commander, pilot or naval weapon system operator all have access to more sensor data than could ever be imagined in the past. If just a decade ago the main problem was a lack of data, then today’s intelligence consumers are in fact drowning in it.

At the same time, the battlefield has become more dynamic and complex, with targets being more ambiguous and difficult to identify. Unless this data is quickly and effectively processed into useful information, it becomes futile and even creates undesirable clutter and noise. Therefore, the timely extraction and analysis of every thread of relevant information from each available source to create a clear and accurate intelligence picture has become a challenge of paramount importance. 

ELTA Systems, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), has a five-decade legacy producing C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) sensors and systems for the worldwide defense and HLS markets. These include spaceborne, airborne, naval and ground sensors in all major disciplines: radar, SIGINT, IMINT, full-motion video (FMV), launch detection systems (LDS) and even WAMI (Wide Area Motion Imagery), combined with cyber intelligence systems.

To leverage the operational potential of all these sensors and systems, ELTA created a designated Intelligence Directorate staffed by former high-ranking officers who gained extensive relevant experience serving in elite units of the Israel Defense Force (IDF). Pooling their vast knowledge and operational background, they developed STARLIGHT, a next-generation multi-intelligence (MULTI-INT) analysis platform turning multi-domain sensor data into actionable intelligence to establish information superiority and support optimized decision making.

The system is designed to cope with information challenges in the modern battlespace. STARLIGHT automatically collects unstructured data from a multitude of sensor feeds and information sources and employs advanced technologies and techniques, including extraction of relevant data and performing Data Fusion, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), data association, and dynamic rule engine, and transforms it into a clear and wide situational awareness picture. The system is able to uncover hidden activities and targets that would otherwise remain obscure. Moreover, it can automatically trigger mission-critical alerts, threats, targets and events in the relevant operational context. STARLIGHT provides its users with a high level of automation and seamless man-machine teaming interface.  Now commanders and war fighters can make quicker and better decisions.

AI Tools enable tailoring the solution according to mission-specific preferences, time and resolution.  ELTA calls this concept, “Actionable Intelligence in Context”.  The information extracted by the system is displayed for the user as augmented reality (AR), automatically highlighting goals, threats, context and insights according to the end user’s operational and business logic and preferences.

AI and ML technologies are already here, and they are going to dominate and define the Intelligence analysis processes in the coming future. ELTA’s STARLIGHT solution will play a key role in making this future a reality.