International Activities 

Unified GEOINT Operations and the Quadripartite Partners

The United States shares a special relationship with its three primary Commonwealth partners - Australia, Canada and the Great Britain. The four nations work together to quickly respond to their customers' GEOINT needs with the best technology and information available. The quadripartite partners, through a shared vision, will enhance their worldwide capability to effectively address GEOINT requirements, focus research and development efforts, pursue economies in acquisition, and develop policies to improve information sharing. The participation of these Commonwealth partners with the NSG is critical to the success of unified operations. GEOSPATIAL INTELLIGENCE (GEOINT) BASIC DOCTRINE | 43

The United Kingdom (U.K.)  The focal point for GEOINT in the U.K. is the Ministry of Defence (MoD) branch: Defence Intelligence Joint Environment (DIJE). DIJE provides strategic direction, policy, and guidance on 4D Environmental Information (EI) and imagery management, requirements and capabilities to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) central staffs, commands, national agencies, and related organizations. DIJE integrates output from the four existing principal U.K. Defence EI providers: the Defence Geographic and Imagery Intelligence (DGI) Agency, the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO), the Meteorological Office, and the No 1 Aeronautical Information and Documents Unit (No1 AIDU). The DIJE acts as a single joint directorate to provide vision and formulate policy for EI and imagery management across U.K. defence. Roles include:

• Provide stakeholders with expert advice;
• Strategically manage EI policy and requirements from all sources;
• Coordinate, acquire, and prioritize MOD requirements from the key environmental agencies;
• Leverage joint expertise to capitalize fully on bilateral and multinational initiatives;
• Be a center of excellence and conduit for corporate knowledge;
• Act as lead MOD agency for international collaboration for EI in defense; and
• Oversight of MoD responsibilities for Safety of Navigation, (delivered by UKHO and No1 AIDU).

DIJE acts as defense customer of, and strategic partner to, suppliers of defense EI. It also develops, coordinates, and champions the Future Defence Environmental Fusion Capability (EFC). This includes development of the Recognised Environmental Picture (REP) concept in support of the Joint Operational Picture (JOP) and Network Enabled Capability (NEC) concepts. The DIJE also coordinates MOD relationships with other government departments and other organizations arising from bilateral and international agreements relating to the production and sharing of EI, IMINT, and MASINT.

Australia  Australia's lead GEOINT agency is the Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation (DIGO). DIGO collaborates with the Australian Hydrographic Service and the Royal Australian Air Force Aeronautical Information Service for the provision of maritime and aeronautical geospatial information.  DIGO provides GEOINT support to Australia's defense interests and other national objectives. DIGO efforts focus primarily on providing GEOINT in support of:

• National intelligence requirements;
• National emergencies;
• Australian Defence Force (ADF) operations and activities; and
• International collaboration.44 | GEOSPATIAL INTELLIGENCE (GEOINT) BASIC DOCTRINE

DIGO is responsible for the collection, processing, analysis, and dissemination of imagery and geospatial products, and for determining the standards for imagery and geospatial information within the Australian Defence Organization (ADO). DIGO is accountable through the Defence Deputy Secretary Intelligence and Security (DEPSEC I&S) to the Secretary of the Department of Defence and the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF).

Canada       The responsibility for geospatial, imagery, meteorology and oceanography support to the Canadian Forces and the Department of National Defence (DND) rests with Directorate of Geospatial Intelligence (D Geo Int). D Geo Int provides geospatial, imagery, meteorology, and oceanography (MetOc) support to the Department of National Defence (DND), with a focus on the operational and training requirements of the Canadian Forces (CF)—navy, army and air force—worldwide. Canada recently merged the geospatial, imagery, meteorology and oceanography support functions into a GEOINT capability.

The D Geo Int organization is located at the National Defence Headquarters within the Chief of Defence Intelligence Branch under the Director General Intelligence Collection Division. D Geo Int consists of a small operations staff – Directorate of Geospatial Intelligence (D Geo Int – Ops); a small imagery and policy staff – Directorate of Geospatial Intelligence –Imagery, Plans and Policies (D Geo Int –Img P&P), which includes responsibility for MASINT; a small Met Oc planning and policy staff (D Met Oc); a Geomatics support and map production unit - Mapping and Charting Establishment (MCE); an Imagery exploitation unit - CF Joint Imagery Centre (CFJIC); and Geomatics/Imagery personnel posted or deployed with various CF formations and missions.