TECHNICAL SOURCES OF OBTAINING INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION

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TECHNICAL SOURCES OF OBTAINING INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION

Journal Title: Scientific Journal of the Military University of Land Forces - Year 2011, Vol 162, Issue 4

Abstract

The author presents the development of technologies used to obtain intelligence information – obviously in a considerable simplification and in brief – from the beginning to the end of the 20th century. The author emphasises the timeless importance of the scientific and technological revolution, which enables the introduction of new, previously unknown tools. The purpose of these tools along with the traditional spying methods, which have functioned for centuries and millennia, is to obtain information. The author claims that the technical measures of obtaining information were not the invention of World War II. Most technologies for obtaining intelligence information used during World War II had already been known and widely used during World War I. During this war fighting armies paid considerable attention to radio reconnaissance, especially one of its forms: crypto-analysis, i.e. decoding. In that period air reconnaissance, including air photography, was also widely used. Moreover, tools to eavesdrop the enemy’s telephone networks situated from 10 to 20 and even tens of kilometres away were also known. With the example of the Third Reich, the author presents a horrifying picture of the development of the technical sources of obtaining intelligence information for the structures of military intelligence, civilian intelligence and secret police typical of a totalitarian state attempting to control everyone and everything. Another example is the Soviet Army, which at the end of World War II had very well-developed technical structures for obtaining intelligence information and made plenty of effort to obtain it. The most considerable attention was devoted to technical reconnaissance measures possessed by Russian fronts.The final part of the article presents an outline of the most significant information related to the contemporary systems of obtaining intelligence information on the basis of the following intelligence: air, satellite, electronic, radio, radiolocation and information communications technology. The author proves that human sources of information have ceased to play a key role in the past decades. Moreover, he proves that for many decades major intelligence expenditure has been incurred on electronic intelligence by world powers. The secret ring is no longer the most important and has definitely ceased to be the only source of obtaining information on a potential foe.

Authors and Affiliations

Adam NOGAJ

Keywords

EP ID EP61361
DOI -
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