Enhancing Maritime Domain Awareness

Abstract

A complex mosaic of forces will affect maritime security through 2020. These include economic forces such as (i) illegal international migration–fueled by tremendous population increases in developing countries, (ii) drug smuggling, and (iii) weapons proliferation, as well as (iv) military threats posed by hostile states, failed states, and transnational organizations engaged in intelligence gathering or terrorist activities. The President’s National Security Strategy indicates that diverse threats such as these must be countered through an integrated approach: Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). MDA will engage and shape this dynamic and expansive environment by detecting anomalies and deviations from established trends and patterns in commercial and military traffic, and enabling commanders to take appropriate action before security is compromised or crises erupt. In line with the theme for this year’s symposium, C2 for complex endeavors, MDA encompasses a diverse set of organizations, complex processes, and a variety of analytic and collaborative tools. This research reported here will advance organizational structures, procedures and C2 technologies to enhance global MDA. Our approach is to document current MDA capabilities, compare them with the next phase of expected capabilities based on integrating new technologies, and document the gains.