ELINT stands for ELectronic INTelligence, and refers to intelligence-gathering by use of electronic sensors. Intelligence Gathering Disciplines HUMINT - Human Intelligence - gathered from a person on the ground GEOINT - Geospatial Intelligence - gathered from satellite, aerial photography, mapping/terrian data IMINT - Imagery Intelligence - gathered from satellite and aerial photography MASINT - Measurement and Signature Intelligence ACOUSTINT - Acoustic Intelligence - gathered from acoustical sources CBINT - Chemical and Biological Intelligence...

The data gathered is typically pertinent to a rival's defense network, especially the electronic parts such as radars, SAM systems, aircraft, etc. It can be performed from ground stations near the opponent's territory, ships off their coast, aircraft near or in their airspace, or by satellite. The USA is believed to be the premier ELINT expert. They are known to gather data on countries such as Russia (ex-USSR) and China. This has lead to several embarrassing incidents with aircraft or ships straying into hostile waters or airspace and one particularly bad incident where a Chinese MiG fighter collided with a U.S. Navy EP-3E reconaissance aircraft, which was forced to land on the island of Hainan, China. This long range radar antenna (approximately 40m (130ft) in diameter) rotates on a track to observe activities near the horizon. ... A surface-to-air missile (SAM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft. ... MIG may refer to one of the following. ... The Lockheed EP-3E Orion Aries II is a turboprop-based signals reconnaissance aircraft, operated by the United States Navy. ...

The primary goal of ELINT is to acquire data which would be invaluable in the event of a conflict. Knowing where each SAM and AAA system is and its type means that air raids can be plotted to avoid the most heavily defended areas and to fly on a flight profile which will give the aircraft the best chance of evading ground fire and fighter patrols. It also allows for the jamming or spoofing of the enemy's defence network (see electronic warfare). A surface-to-air missile (SAM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft. ... American troops man an anti-aircraft gun near the Algerian coastline in 1943 Anti-aircraft, or air defense, is any method of combating military aircraft from the ground. ... The term Jamming can refer to several things: Jamming as an electronic warfare (EW) - a technique to limit the effectiveness of an opponents communications and/or detection equipment, like Radio Jamming and Radar Jamming E-Mail Jamming- used by electronic political activists or hackers to disable e-mail systems... A spoof is a humorous take on an established idea, cultural movement, television program, movie, play, or book. ... Electronic warfare (EW) has three main components: Electronic Attack (EA) This is the active use of the electromagnetic spectrum to deny its use by an adversary. ...

ELINT can also acquire data about where the ships, command and control centers, surface-to-air missile systems and other assets of the enemy are so they can be struck in the event of a war. Good electronic intelligence can be very important to stealth operations; stealth aircraft are not totally undetectable and need to know which areas to avoid. For more information, see Stealth. Similarly, conventional aircraft need to know where fixed or semi-mobile air defence systems are so that they can shut them down or fly around them. ELINT is an important component of the sensor grid for Network-centric warfare. For online phenomenon of shipping, see Shipping (fandom). ... In telecommunications, command and control (C 2) is the exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commander over assigned and attached forces in the accomplishment of the mission. ... A surface-to-air missile (SAM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft. ... Stealth can refer to several things: Look up stealth on Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... American troops man an anti-aircraft gun near the Algerian coastline in 1943 Anti-aircraft, or air defense, is any method of combating military aircraft from the ground. ... Network-centric warfare is essentially, a new Military doctrine made possible by the Information Age. ...

Combining other sources of information and ELINT allows traffic analysis to be performed on electronic emissions which contain human encoded messages. The method of analysis differs from SIGINT in that any human encoded message which is in the electronic transmission is not analysed during ELINT. What is of interest is the type of electronic transmission and its location. For example during The Battle of the Atlantic in World War II, Ultra SIGINT was not always available because Bletchley Park was not always able to read the U-Boat Enigma traffic. But "High Frequency Direction Finders" Huff-Duff was still able to find where the U-Boats were by analysis of radio transmissions and the positions through triangulation from the direction located by two or more Huff-Duff systems. The Admiralty was able to use this information to plot courses which took convoys away from high concentrations of U-Boats. Traffic analysis is the process of intercepting and examining messages in order to deduce information from patterns in communication. ... SIGINT stands for SIGnals INTelligence, which is intelligence-gathering by interception of signals, whether by radio interception or other means. ... HMS Repulse (British battlecruiser, 1916-1941) leading HMS Renown and other ships during maneuvers. ... Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 17 million military deaths 7 million military deaths World War II, also known as the Second World War (sometimes WW2 or WWII), was a mid-20th century conflict that engulfed much of the globe and is accepted as... Ultra (sometimes capitalised ULTRA) was the name used by the British for intelligence resulting from decryption of German communications in World War II. The term eventually became the standard designation in both Britain and the United States for all intelligence from high-level cryptanalytic sources. ... During World War II, British and American cryptographers at Bletchley Park broke a large number of Axis codes and ciphers, including the German Enigma machine. ... Look up enigma in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... High Frequency Direction Finder is usually known by its acronym HF/DF, pronounced Huff-Duff. ... U-boat is also a nickname for some diesel locomotives built by GE; see List of GE locomotives October 1939. ... Old Admiralty House, Whitehall, London, Thomas Ripley, architect, 1723-26, was not admired by his contemporaries and earned him some scathing couplets from Alexander Pope The Admiralty was historically the authority in the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. ...

See also

• HUMINT: Human intelligence
• COMINT: Communications intelligence
• SIGINT: Signals intelligence
• IMINT: Imagery intelligence