NIMA

[DIRSUP KORLING]

It aint the NRO no more and hasn't been for some time. Awhile back the NRO and DMA (and 5 or 6 lesser known entities) merged to form NIMA.

Mario

[pumpkinking12]

there is still an NRO and it is still called the NRO, you can take that to the bank, maybe they wanted you to think it had changed hahaha

[Max Power]

Yep, NRO is still alive and kicking. There is a NIMA as well though. Differences are this, basically (non-OPSEC): NRO is in charge of building infrastructure, they build the satellites whether imaging, SIGINT, radar, communications backbone for the spy sat constellation. NIMA is in charge of gathering photographic evidence, etc. and analyzing it. When they make 3D relief maps and virtual reality fly throughs, all that data comes from NIMA and their assimilation of color/black & white/hyperspectral/IR/etc. imagery, SAR imagery, and topographic data.

All I gotta say is... thank God for Aviation Leakly.

[5thgpsquint]

ebbert is right, NRO is still alive and kicking. NIMA was formed around 95 as the combination of the Defense Mapping Agency (DMA) and the National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC). Basically they took all Geospatial activities and lumped them together.

[USAFINTEL]

NRO is still there although with all the open source collection going on these days they wish they were still behind closed doors.

One of those cases where you need to be known to get funding but not that you are known there are too many hands in the cookie jar wanting to control things.