The U.S. military has become heavily dependent on orbital systems and their supporting ground networks to connect far-flung forces, collect vital intelligence, detect missile launches, provide precise navigation information, and monitor weather conditions.
Pentagon officials said they would not discuss how the statistics were derived because of security concerns that such information could give clues to how U.S. intelligence officers collect their data.
In Congress, sources said that officials also are considering the creation of a new "terrorism czar" to streamline the flow of intelligenceinformation across agencies, such as the FBI and the CIA, that collect it.