National Integrated Fires Element

New organization of the week

The NSA has established a new National Integrated Fires Element (NIFE) in Aurora, Colorado to serve as a 24/7 watch center to process signals of immediate use to military consumers worldwide, especially in targeting. NIFE is manned by sailors, civilians, and contractors of the Navy Information Operations Command Colorado, the only such Navy SIGINT unit to have a global mission (the others are focused on individual regional commands).

In the world of “multi-domain” operations, NIFE is thought processes ELINT, COMINT and IMINT data collected via satellite. Military watch standers focus on current operations, exploiting intercepted signals from communications systems, radars and weapons. NIFE also performs electronic warfare functions to attempt to control the frequency spectrum and attack adversaries in the electromagnetic domain. The various NSA and IC tools used are the standards: CED, GRAPEVINE, MIDB, MEPED, PEOB, FADE/MIST, BODHI, EWIR, GALE, XKS, EIDB, SEDB, DX, and WRANGLER. BlackHorse Solutions is a primary contractor.

After 20-plus years of constant war, the reigns of control over satellite created capabilities (and warfare from space) have loosened, with more and more information being provided to the field. (Not long ago, the NRO itself was a secret and NRO operations in Denver were equally so.) At the lowest level of (still high) classification, these space capabilities are called Integrated Joint Special Technical Operations (IJSTO). NIFE is one enabler of IJSTO, but the Element also deals with more sensitive and secret collections and capabilities associated with spectrum and navigation warfare, generating the intelligence and the effects for commands and units that are not otherwise privy to certain sources or methods.

Just a lot of gobbledygook? Some criticize “multi-domain” operations of being just the latest in a long line of fads going all the way back to “all source” of the 1970’s. As the other domains become as important (or more important) than infantry and tanks, NIFE is a peek into the fact that the most secret capabilities are being integrated into actual operations. More to come. — Bill Arkin.22 November 2022.