General guidance for the Threat Summary includes:

- Depending on the nature of the recommendations in this document, you can treat this section as OPTIONAL.

- If you skip it entirely, leave all elements below blank/empty.

- If you feel that including this section would benefit your document and inform your audience, consider using it to it’s full, intended capacity by addressing as many of the elements below as you feel appropriate.

- Threats are factors that an adversary can control and direct, or will be able to direct, and do not include environmental or natural factors such as weather, terrain, or mechanical component failure.

- This section ensures that capability requirements and the associated capability gaps are based on consistent threat environment information and references and includes the following topics:

1. Supporting Threat Products: Cite the approved threat assessment products from the Service Intelligence Center or Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) used during the development of the capability requirements identified in the next section of your document (Joint Capability Requirements and Gaps).

2. Adversary Capabilities Against Capabilities Being Reviewed: Identify all anticipated capabilities adversaries might employ against the capability being reviewed. Address the capability and associated capability gaps related to the conduct of operational tasks and missions, rather than only defining threats to a future capability solution and their associated performance parameters.

3. Threat Capabilities in the Expected Operational Environment:

- Describe all threat capabilities, threat tactics, and adversary doctrine, if available, in the expected operational environment and the nature of current and anticipated threats which are a factor in setting the capability requirements and initial objective values.

- Ensure judgments or extrapolations regarding adversarial capabilities are appropriate, logical, complete, and consistent with products from the intelligence agencies.

- Include any CBRN, space, cyber, or kinetic threats and/or threats to a future system’s use of the electromagnetic spectrum if the operational context requires operation in such environments.

- Consider threats to follow-on research, development, testing and evaluation (RDT&E), production, and operation and maintenance (O&M) resulting from technology transfer, espionage, and other adversarial collection efforts.

- Consider threats that are likely to evolve or change to ensure flexibility in capability requirements.

4. Critical Intelligence Parameters (CIPs): This is the first time the sponsor considers CIPs for this capability. CIPs may not be fully understood at this time; however, if the sponsor believes that a potential key performance parameter is “threat sensitive” then the sponsor should consider identifying a CIP.

- CIPs are defined as a threat capability or threshold established collaboratively by the requirements sponsor and the capability developer (Program Management Office (PMO)/acquisition command), changes to which could critically impact the effectiveness and survivability of the proposed system.

- A CIP clearly defines the performance threshold at which a foreign system may compromise mission effectiveness of the U.S. system.

- CIPs may already exist in an online threat repository called the Community On-Line Intelligence System for End Users and Managers (COLISEUM) at SIPRNET: http://coliseum-s.dia.smil.mil/app/common/login/.

- Sponsors may submit a new CIP as well. “Threat Sensitive” means that if the enemy may develop a capability in the future that would negate or partially negate the offensive or defensive capabilities of the weapon system.

- Cite any related CIPs, either as approved CIPs or as proposed new CIPs, for review and approval in conjunction with ICD validation.

- The sponsor identifies a CIP so that the Intelligence Community (IC) will track the enemy in this area of concern.

5. Intelligence Supportability:

- If known, include in the narrative portion of the requirement a description of the intelligence support requirements and resources needed to enable each capability requirement.

- Identify the intelligence support categories applicable to each capability requirement and identify the support requirements and resources within each category.

- Although the policy has been rescinded, the 2021 JCIDS Manual, Annex G to Appendix G to Enclosure B provides a definition of 6 categories of these intelligence support aspects, for your consideration:

1. Intelligence Resources Support

2. Targeting Intelligence Support

3. Intelligence Interoperability Support

4. Space Intelligence Support

5. Intelligence Mission Data Support

6. Counterintelligence and Security Support