“The Soviet Union has developed a doctrine of ‘maskirovka’ which calls for the use of camouflage, concealment and deception (CC&D) in defense-related programs and in the conduct of military operations,” wrote President Ronald Reagan in the recently declassified 1983 National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) 108.
“Several recent discoveries reveal that the Soviet maskirovka program has enjoyed previously unsuspected success and that it is apparently entering a new and improved phase. Many of these discoveries resulted only after concentrated and intensive examination of intelligence accumulated over many years,” the Directive said.
“I have decided that a more aggressive and focused U.S. program is essential to better understand and counter Soviet CC&D activities,” President Reagan wrote.
Most but not all of the two-page NSDD 108 was declassified in August of last year and made available through the Reagan Presidential Library. A copy of the directive is available here (with thanks to Michael Ravnitzky).
To increase the real and perceived benefit of research funding, funding agencies should develop challenge goals for their extramural research programs focused on the impact portion of their mission.
Without trusted mechanisms to ensure privacy while enabling secure data access, essential R&D stalls, educational innovation stalls, and U.S. global competitiveness suffers.
Satellite imagery has long served as a tool for observing on-the-ground activity worldwide, and offers especially valuable insights into the operation, development, and physical features related to nuclear technology.
This year’s Red Sky Summit was an opportunity to further consider what the role of fire tech can and should be – and how public policy can support its development, scaling, and application.