The Directorate of Military Intelligence

The Military Intelligence Directorate, DRM, is a joint organization responsible for military intelligence and military interest directed by the French Ministry of Armed Forces. It is part of the French intelligence community, like the DGSE and the DGSI for example.

It was created on June 16, 1992 by the Minister of Defense with the aim of bringing together the different intelligence services of the armed forces. The DRM is responsible for information collection, analysis and dissemination of intelligence to the armed forces, forces in operation and to central defense organizations. 

  

Table of Contents:

• Presentation
• Missions

  

 

http://www.defense.gouv.fr/en/accueil

 

The Military Intelligence Directorate works in coordination with multiple organizations, centers and regiments of the three armed forces (army, air force and navy) that contribute to the production of military intelligence and in particular with special forces units.

It is an integral part of the first circle composed of the Ministry of Armed Forces, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Finance and Public Accounts. The latter includes in total five other services in addition to the DRM:

- General Directorate for External Security DGSE;

- Directorate of Defense Intelligence and Security DRSD;

- General Directorate of Internal Security DGSI;

- National Directorate of Intelligence and Customs Investigations DNRED;

- Service for Intelligence Processing and Action against Clandestine Financial Circuits TRACFIN.

It also participates in the national intelligence system organized around the National Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism Coordinator.

 

The DRM is composed of five specialized centers and one training center:

- The Joint Training and Interpretation Center for Imagery CF3I, collects image information from all sources (space, aerial and terrestrial) and trains interpreters from French armed forces and NATO countries.

- The Training and Employment Center for Electromagnetic Emissions CF3E, directs listening sensors and trains armed forces personnel in the electromagnetic field. It exploits production in electromagnetic intelligence and updates the national military technical reference system.

- The Joint Center for Human Intelligence Research and Collection CI3RH, collects and analyzes human intelligence and trains human intelligence specialists from the armed forces before their deployment on missions.

- The Cyberspace Research and Analysis Center CRAC, conducts specialized digital research, particularly on social networks and assesses the threat.

- The Joint Geospatial Intelligence Center CRGI, merges intelligence and provides all available data on the same geo-referenced support.

- The Joint Intelligence Training Center CFIAR, provides training in military intelligence, in a national or multinational framework, and language learning necessary for intelligence.

 

 

 

http://www.defense.gouv.fr/en/accueil

 

The DRM guides the planning and conduct of operations at the strategic level while contributing to the orientation of maneuvers at the tactical level. It provides the President of the Republic, the Minister of Armed Forces, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and major commands with information necessary for the exercise of their responsibilities.

 

It follows 4 main axes:

- Research : The DRM deploys its sensors and those made available by the armed forces to collect raw information;

- Exploit : It integrates, cross-references, analyzes and interprets the raw data collected and produces elaborate, relevant and objective intelligence;

- Disseminate : The DRM transmits the processed intelligence to political decision-makers, military leaders and armed forces in operations;

- Orient : The DRM receives from political and military authorities and major commands intelligence requests which it orders and transcribes into research orders.

  

The DRM is responsible for informing political and military authorities and helping them in their choices, as part of strategic monitoring of risks and threats. It must also provide the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, under whom it directly reports, with the intelligence necessary to propose military options and conduct operations on different theaters. The DRM provides information that necessarily impacts forces in operations in current or potential crises.

The director of military intelligence also assists and advises the Minister of Defense on matters of military intelligence.