An end to end life cycle for ISR in coalition networks

Coalition intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) networks provide an invaluable service to joint missions and operations provided they are installed and operated appropriately. The process of obtaining the benefits of an ISR network needs to begin long before the first shared ISR asset is deployed on the ground. The joint mission needs to be planned so as to satisfy any policy constraints and national objectives individual participants may have, and the right mechanisms for sharing information need to be developed. Policy conflicts that may prevent optimal operation of the network need to be resolved at the appropriate level of authority. In this paper, we present an end-to-end life-cycle for planning and deploying a coalition ISR network. This life-cycle model is targeted to address the requirements that arise due to the differences policies and national objectives of different partners in a coalition.