moving target indicator image from aircraft IMSAR

Up to now, the bulk of military needs for imaging to track moving targets on the ground has come from radar sensors on aircraft. (Image: IMSAR)

WASHINGTON — After two years of wrangling over how to split acquisition responsibilities between the National Reconnaissance Office and the Space Force, NRO will be in charge of developing a new, classified space-based payload for tracking moving targets on the ground — albeit with some Space Force funds, and oversight by the Pentagon to ensure that warfighter needs are met as the program proceeds.

Frank Calvelli, the senior space acquisition authority at the Department of the Air Force, confirmed the plan — first revealed, although with little detail, by NRO Director Chris Scolese on April 18 — for new ground moving target indication, known as GMTI or MTI, satellites during a Senate Armed Services Committee strategic forces subcommittee hearing Tuesday.

“The good news about this approach is this really fits my priority of speed, speed and speed. The IC [Intelligence Community] had an existing design that we could scale up, and we can get there years earlier with, and that was really a deciding factor for partnering with them,” Calvelli said.

“And also the IC has other assets in their constellation that we need to augment and integrate in with that MTI to make it even more useful for the troops. So, from a speed perspective, it’s a win for the department,” he said. “We are going to control the requirements, we will control milestone decision authority, and it should be a really great partnership that’s gonna enable us to get to capability to the warfighter much faster than we had originally planned.”

Calvelli’s remarks came in answer to concerns voiced by Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., about DoD’s plans for replacing the Air Force’s aging E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS), which currently provides targeting data to air-, ground- and ship-based weapons platforms, at least in part with GMTI capability.

GMTI radars use a pulsing technique to discriminate moving targets, such as enemy tanks and mobile missile launchers, from stationary objects and then clock their velocities based on their Doppler shift.

“I have gone on record many times regarding my concern about the DoD approach to providing space-based ground and moving target indication capabilities to tactical DoD users. Following the divestment of the JSTARS platform — and we supported the divestment of that under the assumption that we would have space capability available,” Rounds said. “I am even more concerned now as it is my understanding that funding for this capability was moved to the military intelligence program out of Space Force funding lines. This is a program that was developed for a tactical Title 10 mission, executed by the Space Force in support of the Joint Force to provide target tracking and custody of immediate effects. This means life and death for folks on the front line.”

In particular, Rounds was concerned about whether DoD would retain “milestone” authority to approve stages in GMTI development based on military requirements set last year by the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC).

Calvelli hastened to reassure Rounds that the Space Force and DoD have their hands firmly on the decision-making reins.

“On the good news side, the Space Force [is] writing what’s known as the capabilities description document. We’re also writing the concept of employment and we will own those and those match up with the JROC requirements, and those will be allocated to the IC to execute. So that’s a good thing,” he said.

“The DoD will remain milestone decision authority,” Calvelli added.

Last August Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, who is the civilian oversight authority for both the Air Force and Space Force, first hinted that he and NRO’s Scolese had an “informal” agreement on GMTI. And last October, Gen. DT Thompson, Space Force’s second in command, said that the two sides has reached a “consensus opinion” on the issue that would inform the fiscal 2024 budget.

The Space Force’s FY24 budget request included, for the first time, funding for research and development on GMTI from space — with the service asking for at total of $243 million in FY24, and slightly more than $1.2 billion through FY28, according to detailed budget documents [PDF].

The new program, called Long Range Kill Chains, is funded under the service’s budget program element PE 1203154SF, which in turn has two projects: “671112 / Moving Target Indicator,” funded at a mere $450,000 in FY24; and “671113 / Auxiliary Payloads,” funded at $242.6 million.

Neither project is explained in much detail, with the budget documents merely noting that each “will leverage relationship with NRO partner to develop and field GMTI system.” The documents also note that the acquisition strategy for both projects is being worked by the Space Force and NRO in tandem, but not exactly how funds are being parceled out under which budgetary pot (i.e. the military’s Title 10 or the IC’s Title 50).

“USSF, partnered with NRO will define roles and responsibilities within Title 10 and Title 50 constraints. USSF will be working with the other services and IC to understand the Joint tactical-level ISR and warfighting/targeting requirements and the best way to meet those requirements,” the documents say.

The NRO’s budget, of course, is classified.

That said, the Space Force’s FY24 request shows a GMTI development to fielding timeline running from the first through fourth quarter of FY24 —  consistent with Scolese’s April 18 remarks that a first prototype will be on orbit within eight to 12 months.

Tactical ISR Round One to NRO?

The decision, at least on its face, indicates that the spy satellite agency — which has a unique role straddling DoD and the IC — has prevailed over round one in the long-running debate over the Space Force’s role in acquiring what the Pentagon calls “tactical” intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.

Then Space Force chief Gen. Jay Raymond in May 2021 first revealed that the Space Force had its own classified effort underway to develop space-based GMTI to provide military commanders with tactical ISR to help speed their decision-making.

The revelation sparked concerns within Congress, as well as the Government Accountability Office, about the potential for duplication with other service efforts and NRO. A number of lawmakers, and IC supporters, saw Raymond’s move as a turf-grab by the new military service, since the NRO is traditionally has been responsible for providing all ISR data from space via both its own and commercially operated remote sensing satellites.

The debate as at times has been contentious, with NRO officials even questioning whether there is a meaningful distinction between “tactical” and “strategic” ISR data.

And it is not over yet, as there remains a question of which agency will be charged with buying commercial capabilities and services to augment the home-grown government GMTI and other tactical ISR satellites. Senior Space Force officials repeatedly have said that they see this as a job for the newly rebranded Commercial Space Office. NRO has its own Commercial Systems Program Office, that also sees acquiring tactical ISR from private firms as its remit.

On the other hand, one former government source following the debate closely said that the GMTI decision itself could also be read as a victory for Calvelli, who comes to his position as the first Air Force Space Acquisition Executive from a long career at the NRO.

“This is really Frank Calvelli at his finest, identifying needs to the DoD, utilizing his background in the IC, and finding a way to deliver faster to the warfighter,” the source said. “I think it also shows as another example of DoD/IC close partnership, similar to a SILENTBARKER model, where the DoD/IC can identify creative acquisition pathways to deliver capabilities faster and presumably at lower costs.”