14.1 |
Military equipment (post-conflict)
840.
This Section
describes the provision of ISTAR and support helicopters to
Iraq
leading up
to, and after, the decision to deploy UK troops.
841.
Intelligence,
Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) is
a
key
military capability that generates and delivers specific
information and intelligence
to decision‑makers
at all levels in support of the planning and conduct of
operations.449
842.
In 2008, the
House of Commons Defence Committee defined three broad
categories
of ISTAR:
•
strategic
– including
systems that provide early warning of ballistic
missile
threats to
the UK and the Nimrod R1 system that provided Manned
Airborne
Surveillance
(MAS);
•
operational
– systems
that can operate from naval platforms or land and
provide air
and surface surveillance using a mix of sensors; and
•
tactical
– man‑portable
and vehicle‑mounted systems that provide electronic
surveillance
for land forces.450
843.
ISTAR is
delivered through “two distinct but inter‑related capability
areas”:
•
“The
collection side – which aims
to provide capabilities that can gather
accurate
and timely information across the environments and can detect,
track
and
identify enemy, neutral and friendly entities within a defined
area, day and
night, and
in all weathers.
•
The
direction, processing and dissemination side – which
aims to provide
capabilities
that can direct collection effort and then process and
disseminate
derived
information and intelligence to all levels in national and
coalition
operations.”
844.
An Unmanned
Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is an important means of collecting
ISTAR
information.
845.
The
Strategic
Defence Review (SDR) in 1998
had emphasised the importance of
ISTAR
assets, “not only to maintain a qualitative edge in combat but to
facilitate the often
rapid
decision‑making needed in complex political
circumstances”.451
449
Thirteenth
Report from the House of Commons Defence Committee, Session
2007‑2008,
The contribution
of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to ISTAR capability, HC
535, para 1.
450
Thirteenth
Report from the House of Commons Defence Committee, Session
2007‑2008,
The contribution
of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to ISTAR capability, HC
535, paras 12‑13.
451
Ministry of
Defence, The
Strategic Defence Review, July
1998.
145