Tools

National Technical Means (NTM) refer to nationally owned instruments for surveying a party’s compliance with agreement obligations, without intruding onto its territory, airspace, or national waters. Typically NTMs comprise a wide range of remote sensing devices such as reconnaissance satellites, reconnaissance aircraft, electronic intelligence, radar, seismic stations, hydro-acoustic stations, and infra-sound stations. These sensors detect agreement-limited objects and/or activities at a distance thereby allowing parties to observe relevant information without intruding, and hence without relying on the collaboration of those being observed. The manner in which NTMs are utilized to perform monitoring depends on the nature of the objects and/or activities to be surveyed and on the provisions of the agreement. (Lexicon, p. 186)

NTMs can be used both to verify compliance with a treaty in the absence of any cooperative measures, and as part of a cooperative monitoring system. (Handbook, p. 20)

Some treaties, such as the US/Russian nuclear arms control agreements, prohibit interference with NTM and may provide for cooperative measures to enhance the value of NTM. Information derived from NTM may be used in international verification regimes by a treaty party to question another party’s compliance and/or to mount a case for a challenge inspection. (Lexicon, p. 125)