Establishing a Commercial Reserve Imagery Fleet

Precision-guided weapons employment during and since the Gulf War highlights the critical role space assets, particularly reconnaissance systems, play in modern military operations. This, along with other developments, has led to a proliferation of commercial satellite remote sensing systems. Congress directed the National Reconnaissance Office and National Imagery and Mapping Agency to investigate commercial satellite imaging systems as a supplement to national reconnaissance systems. This paper investigates one of the recommendations in the response to Congress: the development of a Commercial Reserve Imagery Fleet (CRIF) to augment national imagery systems during crises. The CRIF concept is explored in detail using the successful Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) model that supplies surge airlift capacity for comparison