Indo-Pacific Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Workshop

Growth in the military and commercial activities in the Indo-Pacific region is likely to put a premium on improved intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) in the coming years.  New technologies and investments are making layered, persistent coverage of portions of this region more accessible to major economies. 

Increasingly, India, Japan and Korea are trying to extend their abilities to conduct persistent, comprehensive and layered ISR to provide early warning and to counter an array of risks, from physical intrusions to attacks from proliferating ballistic and cruise missiles. As a recent Center for a New American Security (CNAS) report on ISR and the defense of Japan stated, “Modern ISR technologies are also becoming increasingly powerful.” While a few states have started to understand the benefits of layering and integrating long-endurance platforms with wide-area sensors on a national basis, little attention has been paid to examine the opportunity of how these national systems could be combined to create a formidable defensive network against burgeoning threats.

On March 30, 2011, CNAS Senior Advisor and Senior Director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program Dr. Patrick M. Cronin led a workshop focused on ISR in the Indo-Pacific region. Participants, ranging from policymakers, members of the military, academics and industry professionals, discussed current ISR trends and identified opportunities and challenges for creating a cooperative network across the Indo-Pacific region.