Disinformation of the enemy by manipulating intercepted radio messages.
Aviation Week and Space Technology.- 1996 .- July 8 .- P. 48-49
Disinformation of the enemy by manipulating intercepted radio messages.
Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine published an article reporting on the development in the United States of a new system for disinformation of the enemy by manipulating intercepted radio messages, and also provides some information about the company Raytheon E-Systems — the main US company for the production and integration of secret equipment for government communications and electronic intelligence.
The specified system ensures the interception of voice messages transmitted over enemy radio lines, changing their meaning and transmitting modified messages in the same voice in order to mislead enemy pilots, operators of surface-to-air missile launchers or even commanders of ground forces units.
It may take several minutes or even tens of seconds for an experienced radio intercept specialist to change the meaning of an intercepted message. Intelligence experts believe, however, that spontaneous use of this method will not ensure sufficiently effective use of the system. For such use, the transmission of intercepted messages with changed meaning must be considered as part of a structured, long-term plan to disinformation the enemy.
The equipment for intercepting and manipulating voice communications can be connected to existing US Air Force, Navy and Army communications systems, including onboard aircraft systems. Even a prototype of such equipment weighs no more than 22 kg.
The initial development of this equipment was carried out by the CIA and the US Naval Research Laboratory, and it is manufactured by Raytheon E-Systems.
The specified equipment works only in cases where open voice messages are intercepted. However, in conditions of a rapidly changing tactical situation, they are transmitted most often. This is explained by the fact that closed messages in many cases are subject to sound distortion, which makes it difficult to understand individual details of these messages.
In voice manipulation equipment, intercepted speech messages are broken down into individual fragments of 1/4 sec duration. These fragments can be excluded or inserted into the intercepted word stream in order to create a false message without changing the voice of the subscriber of the intercepted communication channel. One example of the practical use of this method may be the following. The pilot of an enemy aircraft has received instructions from the operator of his ground flight control center regarding the performance of certain actions (return to the air base, refueling, use of onboard weapons, etc.). After these instructions, the voice of the same operator will transmit false messages that contradict or reject the true ones.
With careful verification, this method of disinformation in real time can be detected by the enemy. However, the calculation here is to cause at least short-term confusion and delays in the implementation of necessary measures in the combat zone in conditions when decisions often have to be made in a split second.
In response to the revelations of message manipulation to deceive adversaries, U.S. Defense Department officials have issued statements warning that this technique should be used with extreme caution and only by highly trained intelligence professionals. Such precautions are necessary to avoid transmitting false messages that could be intercepted by U.S. and allied signals intelligence as if they were real adversary communications. In addition, spontaneous and poorly designed false messages could provoke an adversary to respond in a way that would disrupt large-scale U.S. deception efforts. Therefore, message manipulation should be used only as part of a carefully designed intelligence plan.
Despite these warnings, at the tactical level, deception through message manipulation is regularly used in the Green Flag electronic warfare exercises held annually at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
By accumulating and storing a large vocabulary of a particular enemy radio subscriber, U.S. intelligence specialists can create highly sophisticated disinformation messages and instructions. For example, surface-to-air missile crews can be instructed not to fire on aircraft that intrude into their airspace. Aircraft pilots can be instructed to fly a course that takes them away from U.S. strike or reconnaissance aircraft. Ground units can be ordered to retreat instead of attack.
Raytheon E-Systems is currently developing additional hardware for the communications interception and manipulation system that will enable U.S. intelligence specialists to use more sophisticated techniques to mislead adversaries.
The said equipment allows the vocal spectrum of the enemy's radio line subscriber to be divided into a multitude of phonemes, with the help of which it is possible to create certain sounds of his voice instead of manipulating whole words. Individual phonemes are converted into electronic sound standards, which are sent for storage to an electronic library, from which they can be retrieved by the system on request.
US intelligence specialists can speak in their own voice, but in the language of the enemy subscriber. After appropriate transformations, the message will be transmitted in a voice that exactly matches the voice of this subscriber. Thus, false messages are created in real or near real time, which determines their usefulness in combat situations.
The Raytheon E-Systems messaging equipment is consistent with U.S. military efforts to exploit new ways to disrupt enemy command and control in military operations. Carefully crafted false messages in voices known to enemy officials can help wreak havoc on enemy command, control, and communications systems. Added to this are efforts by computer hackers in the Air Force's new information warfare units to gain access to enemy e-mail and disrupt enemy databases.
According to one senior US Air Force officer, if a conflict were to break out, the US would plan strikes so that to an enemy trying to determine the intentions of the attackers, the strikes would appear completely random. Air raids, for example, could be conducted with a small number of aircraft, at different time intervals, and from several air bases. In these cases, enemy observers near the combined air force bases would see no unusual activity that would allow them to predict the direction or timing of the air strikes.
Using stealth aircraft that are not detected by air defense systems until the strike, the destruction of the enemy's defense system, communications and control centers can begin from the center of the country. Then the strike zone will expand beyond the central part. Such actions are considered more effective compared to the use of US Air Force aircraft formations, which punch holes in border air defense systems and allow the enemy to judge the intentions of allied forces.
In the United States, E-Systems has long been the leading company in the production and integration of classified equipment and software for government communications, electronic intelligence, and signal interception and analysis. The company's annual revenue is $3 billion. About 80% of this amount comes from military contracts for the development and production of primarily intelligence equipment. Much of the work is done directly with the CIA and the National Security Agency (NSA). The NSA has a powerful computer base that allows it to analyze encrypted transmissions or signals that are too complex to analyze in the field, obtained with E-Systems equipment. In April 1996, T-Systems received a no-bid contract for the U.S. Army to create an improved Trackwolf system, which is used in Europe to analyze high-frequency radio signals using 1,300 high-speed processors operating in parallel. The use of special signal processing techniques provides operators with the necessary time to detect and analyze them.
Raytheon E-Systems' Falls Church facilities manufacture electronic self-defense systems that are installed on Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical's Global Hawk long-duration high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Some experts estimate that in a few years, this UAV, which can fly for a day or more, will become the primary platform for intercepting voice communications.
The United States uses General Atomics Predator medium-altitude UAVs launched from Hungary to conduct aerial reconnaissance over Bosnia. By September 1996, these UAVs are to be equipped with E-Systems-developed radio intelligence equipment. The high sensitivity of this equipment will allow intercepting voice messages even from very low-power portable ground radio stations such as the «walkie-talkie».