The NATO ISR Force is a foundational component of NATO's Joint Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (JISR) structure. Since its establishment, NISRF has grown and developed steadily. With NISRF the alliance now has extensive Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance capabilities at its disposal at the Sigonella Air Base in Sicily. 

NISRF is equipped with the appropriate systems and personnel to receive collection and exploitation tasking, to plan and operate UAV`s and to act as a Federated Process, Exploitation, and Dissemination (FEDPED) Node for the alliance. Once NISRF received surveillance and reconnaissance date from NATO, member nations and its own, its intelligence specialists can analyze it, exploit it, fuse it with other information from other data sources and produce intelligence products. With their Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) fleet of five RQ-4D "Phoenix" unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), NISRF is able to carry out radar reconnaissance and surveillance autonomously and independently of the weather, day and night - a unique capability for the alliance.

The NISRF mission is to conduct and support full-spectrum ISR Processing, Exploitation, and Dissemination operations in support of the alliance. NISRF carries out all ISR tasks ordered by SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) in accordance with the Allied Air Command (AIRCOM). NISRF provides high-quality intelligence products to NATO decision makers and member nations at the speed of need and makes a significant contribution to the operational readiness of the Alliance.