Japan works to support Ukraine in geospatial intelligence, including radar and satellite imagery

The Japanese military delegation was quite active during the March 11 meeting in Paris, which gathered around 30 military representatives from countries supporting Ukraine, despite trying to maintain a low profile. Despite its traditionally reserved public stance, Tokyo is ready to take on a more active role in supporting Kyiv, particularly in the field of geospatial intelligence (GEOINT).

Photo: NASA by Chris Meaney, https://creativecommons.org/public-domain/pdm/

Satellite CloudSat

Since late February, negotiations have been ongoing between Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) and Japanese authorities regarding the supply of radar imagery to Ukraine, Militarist Telegram channel says. These discussions intensified after the United States suspended its assistance in this area on March 6. Negotiations have continued even after US aid was resumed a few days ago.

In practice, Japan’s assistance will involve products from the private Japanese company Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space (iQPS) Inc., which will provide GUR with access to its satellite imagery. On March 15, the company launched its fifth synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite from New Zealand and plans to have a total of 27 satellites in orbit by 2027.

These new capabilities are being deployed as part of Tokyo's broader effort to strengthen its geospatial intelligence capabilities. It would be ironic if Japan were to sign a contract to supply imagery to Kyiv, considering that its initial goal was to expand its GEOINT capabilities to meet the needs of the Quad alliance (Tokyo, Canberra, New Delhi, and Washington). Now, Tokyo may find itself involved in the Ukrainian conflict—a conflict from which the US is trying to distance itself.

Kyiv’s need for radar imagery to replace US-provided images seems less urgent than its need for optical imagery. However, in this regard, it can rely on the Finnish company Iceye, which has been supplying Ukraine with images since the start of Russia’s special military operation in February 2022. Given the current instability among Western allies and Iceye’s connections to the US defense sector, Kyiv believes it would be wise to diversify its sources.

Nevertheless, Iceye, with backing from the Finnish government, has resisted US pressure and has not halted its supplies to Ukraine, even when Washington previously suspended its support.

Details

In the United States, geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) is intelligence about the human activity on Earth derived from the exploitation and analysis of imagery, signals, or signatures with geospatial information. GEOINT describes, assesses, and visually depicts physical features and geographically referenced activities on the Earth. GEOINT, as defined in US Code, consists of imagery, imagery intelligence (IMINT) and geospatial information. GEOINT knowledge and related tradecraft is no longer confined to the U.S. government, or even the world's leading military powers. Additionally, countries such as India are holding GEOINT-specific conferences. While other countries may define geospatial intelligence somewhat differently than does the U.S., the use of GEOINT data and services is the same. Geospatial Intelligence can also be referred to as "Location Intelligence". Although GEOINT is inclusive, HYDROSPATIAL is preferably used to refer and to focus on the aquatic and coastal zones spatial elements.