The role of open source intelligence in military operations

Open source intelligence work can effectively promote the combat environment, enemy situation, terrain, weather and civil awareness.

As a continuous process, open source intelligence can provide the following effects on military operations.

1. Provide situational awareness of the operational environment.

2. Access to threat characteristics, terrain, weather, and civil information.

3. It is to build the required intelligence knowledge system.

4. Provides essential knowledge and understanding of potential threat actions or intent within a specific operational environment to support the commander's real-time intelligence requirements.

5. Capable of generating intelligence knowledge as the basis for integrated military functions, such as battlefield intelligence preparation.



In the early 1990s, the U.S. Marine Corps exercise organized in Somalia simulated the staff officer of the United Nations commander to see how to apply for and quickly obtain the following products in the form of mail:

1. You can get it from Jane's: a map of Somalia, which clearly divides 9 religious regions; a combat order includes important artillery and mobile combat systems; an overarching report brings together summaries of all the major articles on Somalia that have appeared in Jane's defense publications over the past two years.

2. Available from Oxford Analytica: 21 double-page summaries covering US foreign policy toward Somalia, UN military operations in Somalia, US military operations in Somalia, etc.

3.Available from Economist Intelligence Unit: A study on the limitations and vulnerabilities of any Somali infrastructure.