Blue Mission Tracking: Real-Time Location of UN Peacekeepers

Abstract

A basic but as yet unachieved goal for UN missions is to know the exact locations of their peacekeepers at any given time. Such tracking would help field missions plan operations, avoid and respond to ambushes, kidnappings and friendly fire incidents, rapidly send reinforcements and retrieve wounded peacekeepers, ultimately saving lives. Improved effectiveness could be obtained from ‘precision peacekeeping’, where soldiers, police and civilians are deployed to precise locations and events, while operational leaders follow their movements. Fortunately, tracking technology has improved considerably so that commercial solutions for real-time tracking of personnel and vehicles are now available at lower cost and increased accuracy and sophistication, while being more user-friendly. The advances in phone and vehicle tracking systems are reviewed here to identify the benefits, drawbacks and challenges, especially any political ones, for the United Nations. The world organization can benefit from modern blue mission tracking, without having to develop costly, customized solutions. Such initiatives have few technological or financial hurdles but the politics and institutionalization of continuous positional surveillance needs policy modernization, guided by a nuanced understanding of technological empowerment.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are most appreciative of the useful comments and support received from researchers at the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies – Kyle Matthews, Meagan Boissé, Neeko Collett, Ecem Oksay and Marie Lamensch – and the International Peace Institute – Adam Smith and Michael Snyder.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

A. Walter Dorn is a Professor of Defence Studies at the Royal Military College of Canada, and teaches mid-career military officers at the Canadian Forces College. He served as a member of the UN's Panel of Experts on Technology and Innovation in UN Peacekeeping. His latest book is an edited volume, Air Power in UN Operations: Wings for Peace (Ashgate, 2014).

Christoph Semken is a researcher at the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies. He previously served as an Assistant for Information Technology and is currently completing his Master of Arts in International Relations and Economics at the University of Aberdeen.

Notes

1. See UN, ‘Performance Peacekeeping: Final Report of the Expert Panel on Technology and Innovation in UN Peacekeeping', 19 Feb. 2015, pp.27–8 (at: www.performancepeacekeeping.org/offline/download.pdf); and A. Walter Dorn, Keeping Watch: Monitoring, Technology and Innovation in UN Peace Operations, New York: United Nations University Press, 2011.

2. UN (seen. 1 above), pp.27–8.

3. In 2014, 39 peacekeepers died in Malicious Acts as defined by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), more than in any other year except 1961 and 1993. Source: UN, DPKO, ‘Fatalities by Year and Incident Type’, 31 Mar. 2015 (at: www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/fatalities/documents/stats_5.pdf).

4. These numbers include all UN associated personnel that were killed in attacks according to the Staff Union. Source: UN, ‘With Increased Number of United Nations Personnel Deliberately Killed in 2014, Staff Unions Calls on Organization to Do More towards Protecting Lives’, UN doc., ORG/1593, 13 Jan. 2015 (at: www.un.org/press/en/2015/org1593.doc.htm).

5. UN, ‘Increase in Deadly Attacks against the United Nations Claimed More than 58 Lives in 2013, Staff Union Says’, UN doc., ORG/1576, 8 Jan. 2014 (at: www.un.org/press/en/2014/org1576.doc.htm).

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid.

8. David Pugliese, Ian MacLeod, Mark Kennedy and Norman Provencher, ‘Canadian Commandos Gunned Down despite Prearranged Code Words’, Ottawa Citizen, 9 Mar. 2015 (at: http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/canadian-soldier-dies-in-friendly-fire-incident-in-iraq-dnd-says).

9. Between 1 Jan. and 15 Nov. 2014, the number of carjacking incidents was 37, compared to 27 in 2013 and 22 in 2012. Source: UN, ‘Report of the Secretary-General on the African Union–United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur', UN doc., S/2014/852, 26 Nov. 2014. Data compiled from S/013/852 and its predecessors S/2014/515, S/2014/279, S/2014/26, S/2013/607, S/2013/420, S/2013/225, S/2013/22, S/2012/771, S/2012/548 and S/2012/231.

10. Patrick Cammaert, communication to one of the authors after his return from Cambodia, Geneva International Peace Research Institute, Geneva, 25 Aug. 1993. General Cammaert was later appointed Military Adviser to the Secretary-General and then Force Commander in several peacekeeping missions.

11. Dorn (see n.1 above), pp.49–50.

12. Analytical Graphics, ‘GPS Satellite Outage Information’, AGI Developer Network, 20 Dec. 2014 (at: http://adn.agi.com/SatelliteOutageCalendar/SOFCalendar.aspx).

13. Dan Elliott, ‘Air Force GPS Problem: Glitch Shows How Much U.S. Military Relies on GPS’, Huffington Post, 6 Jan. 2010 (at: www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/01/air-force-gps-problem-gli_n_595727.html).

14. Miikka Ohisalo, Otto Tiuri, Tatu Urpila, Pasi Kämppi and Jyri Rajamäki, ‘Risks and Vulnerabilities of Future Satellite-Based Tracking Systems’, International Journal of Geology, Vol.5, No.4, 2011, pp.142–9.

15. CNN, ‘Bush Plans for Shutdown of GPS Network during Crisis’, 18 Dec. 2004 (at: http://web.archive.org/web/20041218020813/http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/12/16/positioning.satellites.ap/index.html).

16. US government, ‘Selective Availability’, accessed 8 Mar. 2015 (at: www.gps.gov/systems/gps/modernization/sa/); Mike Gruss, ‘Launch of First GPS 3 Satellite Now Not Expected until 2017′, Space News, accessed 8 Mar. 2015 (at: http://spacenews.com/launch-of-first-gps-3-satellite-now-not-expected-until-2017/).

17. Pasi Kämppi, Jyri Rajamäki and Robert Guinness, ‘Information Security Risks for Satellite Tracking’, International Journal of Computers and Communications, Vol.3, No.1, 2009, pp.9–16.

18. Chinese government, ‘BeiDou Navigation Satellite System – System Introduction’, 14 Dec. 2012 (at: www.beidou.gov.cn/2012/12/14/2012121481ba700d7ca84dfc9ab2ab9ff33d2772.html); European Commission, ‘Galileo: Satellite Launches’, 2012 (at: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/satnav/galileo/satellite-launches/index_en.htm).

19. The GSM Association (GSMA) has created coverage maps for all its members (at: www.m4dimpact.com/data/networks-coverage). Coverage is very poor in countries such as the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Cote d'Ivoire and Sudan. However, the maps produced by GSMA are from 2009; up-to-date coverage maps are not publicly available.

20. ITU, ‘ICT Indicators Database’, 23 Dec. 2014 (at: www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/statistics/2014/ITU_Key_2005-2014_ICT_data.xls).

21. BBC News, ‘Syrian Internet Back after Blackout’, 8 May 2013 (at: www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22447247); Iain Thomson, ‘Syria Cuts off Internet and Mobile Communications’, The Register, 29 Nov. 2012 (at: www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/29/syria_internet_blackout/).

22. Hui Hu and Na Wei, ‘A Study of GPS Jamming and Anti-Jamming’, Proceedings from the 2009 2nd International Conference on Power Electronics and Intelligent Transportation System (PEITS), Shenzhen, 19–20 Dec. 2009, Vol.1, 2009, pp.388–91; M. Petracca, M. Vari, F. Vatalaro and G. Lubello, ‘Performance Evaluation of GSM Robustness against Smart Jamming Attacks’, Proceedings from the 2012 5th International Symposium on Communications Control and Signal Processing (ISCCSP), Rome, 2–4 May 2012, pp.1–6; J. Rantakokko, P. Handel, M. Fredholm and F. Marsten-Eklöf, ‘User Requirements for Localization and Tracking Technology: A Survey of Mission-Specific Needs and Constraints’, Proceedings from the 2010 International Conference on Indoor Positioning and Indoor Navigation (IPIN), Zurich, 15–17 Sept. 2010, pp.1–9.

23. Interview by one of the authors by Skype with Catherine Lewis, Executive Vice President of Mix Telematics, 28 Jul. 2014.

24. ViaSat Inc, ‘Faster, More Effective Situational Awareness from the New U.S. Army FBCB2′, Youtube, 16 Jul. 2012 (at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDdZGiy8Luw).

25. In Bosnia, UN peacekeepers communicated ‘in the clear’ (unencrypted messaging) the landing positions from mortar fire. The Serb attackers used this information to correct their fire to make it more lethal. This is a clear example of the need for encrypted communications. A. Walter Dorn, ‘The Cloak and the Blue Beret: The Limits of Intelligence-gathering in UN Peacekeeping', International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, Vol.12, No.4 (Winter 1999), p.416.

26. Daniel Fischer, B. Markscheffel, S. Frosch and D. Buettner, ‘A Survey of Threats and Security Measures for Data Transmission over GSM/UMTS Networks’, Proceedings of the 2012 International Conference for Internet Technology and Secured Transactions, London, 10–12 Dec. 2012, pp.477–82.

27. Woongryul Jeon, Jeeyeon Kim, Youngsook Lee and Dongho Won, ‘A Practical Analysis of Smartphone Security’, in Michael J. Smith and Gavriel Salvendy (eds), Human Interface and the Management of Information. Interacting with Information, Berlin: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2011, pp.311–20; Giles Hogben and Marnix Dekker, Smartphones: Information Security Risks, Opportunities and Recommendations for Users, European Union Agency for Network and Information Security, 10 Dec. 2010 (at: www.enisa.europa.eu/activities/identity-and-trust/risks-and-data-breaches/smartphones-information-security-risks-opportunities-and-recommendations-for-users).

28. Craig Timberg, ‘German Researchers Discover a Flaw that Could Let Anyone Listen to Your Cell Calls’, The Washington Post, 18 Dec. 2014 (at: www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/12/18/german-researchers-discover-a-flaw-that-could-let-anyone-listen-to-your-cell-calls-and-read-your-texts/).

29. Army Times, ‘Army Integrating FCS, Blue-Force Tracking’, 10 Aug. 2008 (at: http://archive.armytimes.com/article/20080810/NEWS/808100314/Army-integrating-FCS-blue-force-tracking ).

30. Harris Corporation, ‘Harris Corporation Receives New Orders to Deliver Programmable Encryption Devices to U.S. Department of Defense Blue Force Tracking Network’, 22 Jun. 2011 (at: http://harris.com/view_pressrelease.asp?pr_id=3257).

31. Globecomm, ‘NATO GPS Based Forced Tracking System’, 27 May 2014 (at: www.globecommsystems.com/in-the-news/press-releases/press-release-5-27-contract-extension-nato.shtml).

32. Price estimates based on interviews by one of the authors by Skype with Jason Koch, President and Manager of Telogis Fleet at Telogis, 24 Jul. 2014; Catherine Lewis, Executive Vice President of Mix Telematics; Philippe Bisson, Business Development Director at Geothentic, 22 Jul. 2014; Ron Konezny, Vice President for Transportation & Logistics at Trimble Navigation Limited, 21 Jul. 2014.

33. For comparison, in 2006, MONUC bought 336 Carlog devices for $173,100, or $515 per device. Source: MONUC, ‘2006–7 Acquisition Plan – United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo’, 27 Sept. 2006 (at: http://web.archive.org/web/20060927081538/ http://www.un.org/Depts/ptd/2007_monuc.htm).

34. M. G. Michael, Sarah Jean Fusco and Katina Michael, ‘A Research Note on Ethics in the Emerging Age of überveillance’, Computer Communications, Vol.31, No.6, 2008, pp.1192–9.

35. United Nations, Secretariat, ‘Staff Regulations’, New York, 2008 (at: www.peacekeepingbestpractices.unlb.org/PBPS/Library/N0832434.Staff%20Regulations.pdf).

36. The SPOT personal tracker, launched in 2007, claims to be the ‘world's first Satellite GPS Messenger’ which provides ‘location-based communications to friends, family or professional services’ from virtually anywhere. A SPOT device weighs only 200g and can be kept in a shirt or pants pocket or in a bag. Source: Spot LLC, ‘The SPOT Personal Tracker’, 2015 (at: www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=101).

37. As of 4 Jul. 2014, Capterra was listing 274 fleet management software products (at: www.capterra.com/fleet-management-software/www.capterra.com/fleet-management-software/).

38. Dorn (see n.1 above).

39. Online descriptions can be found for Motorola's MOTOLocator (at: www.motorolasolutions.com/XU-EN/Product+Lines/Dimetra+TETRA/TETRA+Applications/Motorola+TETRA+Applications/MOTOLocator), Airbus' Imp@ct (at: www.defenceandsecurity-airbusds.com/fi/web/guest/c4isr-solutions) and Sepura's SICS-NET Visualise (at: www.sepura.com/products/tetra/applications/command-control/sics-net-visualise/).

40. PSNI, ‘Freedom of Information Request F-2010-03334: Running Costs of Radio Communication Equipment’, 2010 (at: www.psni.police.uk/costs_radio_equip.pdf).

41. Interview by one of the authors by Skype with Clem Driscoll, C.J. Driscoll & Associates, 10 Jul. 2014.

42. Geothentic, for example, has customers in Mali, and Mix Telematics is based in South Africa and operates another data centre in the Middle East.

43. Interview by one of the authors by Skype with Jason Koch, President and Manager of Telogis Fleet at Telogis.

44. A. Walter Dorn, ‘Intelligence-Led Peacekeeping: The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), 2006–07′, Intelligence and National Security, Vol.24, No.6, 2009, p.826.

45. UN, ‘Security Council Resolution 2164′, UN doc., S/RES/2164, 25 Jun. 2014, sec. 12.

46. Ibid., sec. 10, 25–27. Another example is the UN Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) which coordinated with at least 20 agencies, including: the Chadian army; the gendarmerie; police forces; the government; the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office in the Central African Republic (BONUCA); the Multinational Force of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (FOMUC); and the Community of Sahelo-Saharan States (CEN-SAD). Jim Rolfe, ‘Partnering to Protect: Conceptualizing Civil–Military Partnerships for the Protection of Civilians’, International Peacekeeping, Vol.18, No.5, 2011, p.567.

47. A. Walter Dorn, ‘United Nations Peacekeeping Intelligence’, in Loch K. Johnson (ed), The Oxford Handbook of National Security Intelligence, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, p.293.

48. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UNHCR, UNOSAT and the World Food Programme (WFP) asked for the help of the SBTF in, for instance, Colombia (2010), Libya (2011), Somalia (2011), South Sudan (2012), the Philippines (2013) and Pakistan (2014).

49. See Linet Özdamar and Mustafa Alp Ertem, ‘Models, Solutions and Enabling Technologies in Humanitarian Logistics’, European Journal of Operational Research, Vol.244, No.1, 2015, pp.55–65; M.T. Ortuño, P. Cristóbal, J.M. Ferrer, F.J. Martín-Campo, S. Muñoz, G. Tirado and B. Vitoriano, ‘Decision Aid Models and Systems for Humanitarian Logistics: A Survey’, in Begoña Vitoriano, Javier Montero and Da Ruan (eds), Decision Aid Models for Disaster Management and Emergencies, Paris: Atlantis Press, 2013, pp.17–44.

50. Rolfe (see n.46 above), p.566.

51. UN, ‘Model Status-of-Forces Agreement for Peace-Keeping Operations: Report of the Secretary-General', UN doc., A/45/954, 9 Oct. 1990.

52. UN, Procurement Division, ‘Request for Expression of Interest: Provision of Fleet Management and Vehicle Tracking Systems for DFS’, 13 Jan. 2015 (at: www.un.org/depts/ptd/pdf/eoi10644.pdf).

53. UN, DPKO and DFS, ‘A New Partnership Agenda: Charting a New Horizon for UN Peacekeeping’, 2009, p.32 (at: www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/documents/newhorizon.pdf).

54. B.T. Robinson, ‘Who Goes There?’, IEEE Spectrum, Vol.40, No.10, 2003, p.45.

55. Claire Heininger, ‘Army Develops Smart Phone Framework, Applications for Battlefield Operations’, Army Communicator, Summer 2011, pp.56–7.

56. Richard J. Dunn, III, ‘Blue Force Tracking: The Afghanistan and Iraq Experience and Its Implications for the US Army’, Reston: Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, 2003, p.4 (at: www.northropgrumman.com/aboutus/analysiscenter/documents/pdfs/bft-afghanistan-and-iraq-exper.pdf).

57. Robinson (see n.54 above), pp.45–6; Dunn (see n.56 above), p.4.

58. Robinson (see n.54 above), p.46; Dunn (see n.56 above), pp.5–6.

59. Robinson (see n.54 above), pp.46–8.

60. Dunn (see n.56 above), pp.7–12; John W. Charlton, ‘Digital Battle Command Baptism by Fire’, Armor, Vol.112, No.6, 2003, p.28.

61. Bryan D. Brown, ‘Statement of General Bryan D. Brown, US Army Commander United States Special Operations Command before the House Armed Services Committee Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities on the Current Manning, Equiping, and Readiness Challenges Facing Special Operations Forces’, 2007 (at: www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/congress/2003_hr/brown.pdf).

62. Pamela A. Savage-Knepshield, ‘Adaptive Soldiers: Overcoming Obstacles Imposed by New Technology’, Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, Vol.50, No.23, Orlando, 26–30 Sept. 2006, pp.2514–5; Charlton (see n.60 above), p.29.

63. John Brophy and Preston A. Cooper, ‘Joint Blue Force Situational Awareness: Helping Save Warfighter Lives and Improve Operations through Information Integration’, Army Space Journal, 2005, p.2; Timothy L. Rider, ‘Blue Force Tracking to Expand across Force’, Army AL&T, Sept.–Oct. 2004, p.3.

64. David J. Bryant and David G. Smith, ‘Impact of Blue Force Tracking on Combat Identification Judgments’, Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Vol.55, No.1, 2013, p.88.

65. Michael M. Sweeney, ‘Blue Force Tracking: Building a Joint Capability’, DTIC Document, 2008, p.12 (at: http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA482366).

66. Daniel Gonzales, John Hollywood, Jerry M. Sollinger, James McFadden, John DeJarnette, Sarah Harting and Donald Temple, Networked Forces in Stability Operations: 101st Airborne Division, 3/2 and 1/25 Stryker Brigades in Northern Iraq, Santa Monica: Rand Corporation, 2007.

67. Ibid., pp.xvii–xxvi.

68. Ibid., pp.115–20.

69. Ibid., p.119.