Naval Intelligence is part of the "corporate enterprise" of military intelligence agencies working within the Intelligence Community. Naval intelligence products and services support the operating forces, the Department of the Navy, and the maritime intelligence requirements of national level agencies. The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), located primarily in the National Maritime Intelligence Center in Suitland, Maryland, is the national production center for global maritime intelligence.
ONI is the center of expertise for every major maritime issue--from the analysis of the design and construction of foreign surface ships to the collection and analysis of acoustic information on foreign sensor systems, ocean surveillance systems, submarine platforms and undersea weapons systems. Its analysis of naval air warfare ranges from appraisals of opposition combat tactics to analysis of rival missile signatures, making it the authoritative resource for maritime air issues.
ONI is the principal source for maritime intelligence on global merchant affairs and a national leader in other non-traditional maritime issues such as counternarcotics, fishing issues, ocean dumping of radioactive waste, technology transfer, and counterproliferation. ONI also provides specific products in support of national level acquisition programs, including characteristics and performance data on foreign threat platforms and weapons systems. Its foreign material exploitation programs provide assessments to Navy organizations, laboratories and system commands engaged in developing new weapons systems and countermeasures.
Finally, ONI's technical expertise in analyzing naval weapons and systems, combined with the operational expertise of its intelligence and warfare specialists, allows for more effective analysis of the complex questions of contemporary naval capabilities and for a more accurate projection of those capabilities into the future.