More enemies eliminated for less cost. How the Ukrainian army embraced the "religion" of ISTAR and why not everyone is using it.
The well-known issue of "information clutter" arises when it becomes impossible to find anything valuable and significant amidst the endless flow of content and news. A similar trend is observed in warfare. Previously, military forces had very limited data about the enemy, who was only a few kilometers away. Now, thanks to drones, modern communication systems, radars, and satellites, the command receives vast amounts of information.
This has created another challenge: what to do with all this data? A small group of people in the command must analyze terabytes of information about the enemy in just a few hours. It's difficult not to go crazy with such a task, especially since the data can be inaccurate or unhelpful. In modern warfare, the army has two options: either tame the information flows and become more efficient, or drown in Excel spreadsheets, screenshots, tags, and decryption.
To follow the first path, commanders of Ukrainian units in various directions have started creating specialized units that collect and analyze all information from the front using modern technologies. These units are called ISTAR centers, a practice borrowed from NATO countries.
In the 13th National Guard Brigade "Chartia," dispatchers at the ISTAR centers work around the clock in front of monitors displaying several streams from drones and maintain communication with troops at the front. They record everything they see and hear: which roads the Russians are using, what equipment is nearby, and on which frequencies the drones are flying. Afterward, analysts compile a comprehensive battlefield picture for the command.
If immediate response to enemy movements is necessary, dispatchers can summon FPV drones or artillery within minutes and watch the destruction of Russian forces live.
Currently, a well-functioning ISTAR system is not present in every unit. However, its implementation offers a real opportunity for Ukraine to become more effective on the battlefield, eliminate more enemies with fewer resources, and save the lives of soldiers.
The Cost of Information
Any modern army requires a network of units that gathers and analyzes information from the battlefield. This is now obvious, but it wasn't always the case.
"Previously, armies fought infantry against infantry, tanks against tanks. Everything was determined by numbers, but with the advent of modern communication and reconnaissance technologies, everything changed. The Americans considered building a unified network to collect and process battlefield information only after their defeat in Vietnam, and they finalized its principles with the introduction of GPS technology.
A vivid example of ISTAR in action is the Iraq War, where 250,000 Americans defeated 1.4 million Iraqi soldiers in just 21 days. The operation went off without a hitch. The U.S. utilized its entire technological advantage, having complete information about the enemy. After this, their allies began to adopt this approach. Ukraine lagged decades behind the Western world, but is now catching up, as it has no other choice," said Yaroslav Honchar, co-founder of the NGO "Aero reconnaissance," which helps develop ISTAR within the Ukrainian military.
More and more units in the Defense Forces are independently studying NATO standards and building ISTAR systems in their headquarters. One of them is the 13th National Guard Brigade "Chartia," which operates in the Kharkiv direction.
It was established in 2022 as a volunteer formation of several dozen people and has grown into a brigade with thousands of soldiers over the past two years.
3 "The principle of our brigade is that infantry should not engage in battle. If infantry starts shooting, it means we have already failed somewhere. We need to deliver preemptive strikes against the enemy, create chaos, prevent them from accumulating forces, and mine their routes. For this, we need to know exactly what is happening around us," explains a military officer with the call sign "Bit" from the "Chartia" headquarters.
The newly established ISTAR system helps the brigade gather a complete picture of the battlefield. This acronym stands for Intelligence, Surveillance, Target acquisition, and Reconnaissance. In translation, it means analytics, observation, target designation, and reconnaissance. What does this mean in practice?
Initially, the military acquires dozens of technological tools for information gathering. These can include reconnaissance drones that monitor a specific area and record enemy movements; a sniper who observes equipment clusters through a thermal imager; radio electronic reconnaissance systems, radars, satellites, and cameras. The commander of the unit determines the priorities for observation.
4 Enemy coordinates are entered into the "Delta" system. This is a digital map that updates in real-time and records the history of changes. If a soldier cannot physically enter the data, the ISTAR dispatcher, who is constantly in touch and monitoring streams from drones and other sources, will do it for them.
The "Delta" system also incorporates radio intercepts, information from chatbots and open sources, and intelligence reports. As a result, a vast array of tags accumulates on the map, making it nearly impossible to decipher. At this stage, analysts join the process. Their task is to find meaning in the gathered information. They identify patterns, visualize them, and quickly relay them to the main requestor – the unit command. There, commanders strategize on how to disrupt the enemy's plans based on this analysis.
"Recently, our ISTAR team aggregated data showing how the Russians have been using this road for several days," Bit shows a graph on his laptop.
"The guys discovered that the Russians regularly walk several kilometers on foot here for rotations. We draw conclusions and use this information against them. We track the times when they most frequently rotate and preemptively deploy FPV drones for hunting. We also document patterns in their artillery operations to identify the safest times for planning our actions. There are many such examples," he explains.
According to the military, the current goal of their ISTAR unit is to gather even more critical information that could be significant in combat. For instance, analysts can collect data on drone effectiveness. If the equipment does not yield the desired results, command considers how to address this issue.
Ultimately, managing the brigade resembles running a large business, where the success of operations depends on the availability of information and the correct conclusions drawn from it. They even use similar tools: the "Chartia" headquarters utilizes a well-known program designed for business analytics.
5 ISTAR centers can operate at various command levels: battalion, brigade, or operational-tactical groupings. Each has its level of autonomy, area of responsibility, and priorities. Ideally, the centers should communicate with each other, coordinate actions, exchange data from their sources, and assist in targeting enemies using their specific means.
Moreover, technically, each unit can construct the ISTAR system in different ways. The most proactive brigades even develop their own software for analytics. "ISTAR is like a religion. There is one Bible, but everyone interprets it differently," explains Bit.
The "Bible" of ISTAR can be considered the NATO document AJP-2.7. It contains the general principles and recommendations for building this system. According to this document, the main task for the army is to launch a unified synchronized network of "centers" for data collection and processing. So that all units communicate with each other, are aware of the enemy's and their own strengths and weaknesses, and based on this, make correct and timely decisions.
However, how to achieve this with technical tools is up to each unit. For example, in Canada, the U.S., and the UK, ISTAR systems differ. Ukraine has its unique characteristics.
"Compared to Western countries, ISTAR in Ukraine is characterized by strong tactical