National Strategy for Maritime Security: National Plan to Achieve Maritime Domain Awareness
Understanding. Ability to comprehend the sense or meaning of something based on the
application of knowledge against data, information, and intelligence.
By delivering these elements in a manner quickly and easily comprehended, MDA
shortens decision cycles and enables decisive operational response.
KNOWLEDGE CAPABILITIES
Understanding the maritime domain will result from the employment of traditional
intelligence capabilities and processes fed by, and synchronized with, operational
decision-making processes. The collection, fusion, analysis and dissemination of
prioritized categories of maritime intelligence and all-source information are the
fundamental building blocks of MDA.
The global maritime domain includes a wide variety of interlocking and connected
systems operating within, adjacent to and beyond the physical oceans and waterways that
must be brought into better focus. Detecting and interdicting threats within a system that
crosses domestic and international jurisdictions requires a persistent awareness.
Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities are required in a
layered approach that provides more comprehensive awareness of threats and
illegal activities as they approach the United States.
Achieving MDA requires integration of data, information and intelligence from a broad
range of sources, categorized as follows:
Vessels—characteristics such as flag, type, tonnage, maximum speed, origin, and
track
Cargo—from a vessel’s manifest, shipment origin, human intelligence (HUMINT),
or as input from chemical/biological/nuclear/radiation/explosive detection sensors
Vessel crews and passengers—to include crew, dockworkers, and passengers
Maritime Areas of Interest—a focusing of surveillance capabilities to particular
geographic points such as sea lanes or oceanic regions
Ports, waterways, and facilities - port terminals, piers, cranes, petrol facilities, and
other characteristics
The Environment - weather, currents, natural resources, fish stocks
Maritime Critical Infrastructure – nuclear power plants, rail heads, transportation
nodes, bridges, and undersea fiber optic cables and pipelines
Threats and Activities - identified threats and inherently dangerous activities such as
illegal migration, drug smuggling, or offshore drilling
Friendly Forces – operational information on military, federal, state, local, and/or
allied assets operating in the maritime domain
Financial Transactions - illegal money trails, hidden vessel or cargo ownership
Of the above categories, priority is placed on the data, information, and intelligence
associated with people, cargo, and vessels engaged in maritime activities. The