brief introduction
The National Security Agency (NSA) is responsible for monitoring radio broadcasting, communications, the Internet, and especially secret military and diplomatic communications. Its funding is more than that of the CIA, and it is the unit that employs the largest number of doctors of mathematics and computer experts alone in the world, but its benefits are very low. Until recently, it was not even known to other departments of the United States government, so its abbreviation NSA was often jokingly called "there is no such institution."
The National Security Agency inherited the work of successfully deciphering enemy passwords in World War II.
The National Security Agency is located in Maryland, in George fort meade, 65,438+06 kilometers northeast of Washington, D.C., and has its own separate exit on the expressway from Baltimore to Washington, marked with the sign "NSA employees only". Usually, it is guarded by two Maryland police cars. The annual electricity consumption of its headquarters exceeds 2 1 10,000 USD, and there are1.8,000 parking spaces in front of it. The general practice is to reserve half of the parking spaces for tourists.
The National Security Agency of the United States is divided into several technical areas, including hardware area and software area, as well as a chip factory and a password research area. In addition, it has signed contracts with several private research institutions and equipment manufacturers.
history
The National Security Agency, formerly known as the Armed Forces Security Agency (AFSA), was established by the Ministry of National Defense and decided by the Joint Chiefs of Staff on May 20th. 1949. It is responsible for the overall coordination of the intelligence work of its subordinate departments, including the Army Security Bureau, the Naval Security Group and the Air Force Security Bureau. At that time, it didn't have much power. 19511210 the director of the central intelligence agency wrote a memorandum to the chairman of the national security Council, suggesting the establishment of a comprehensive communications and intelligence department. The suggestion was adopted and the investigation began. In June 1952, the investigation report Brownell Committee report was completed, and it was suggested to be established in AFSA.
In June, President Truman signed a document stipulating the scope of work of the NSA, which was formally established on June 4, 1952, 165438+, and turned nine members of the intelligence group of the National Security Council into the leaders of the NSA. This document has been kept secret for a generation.
work
From a technical point of view, modern telephone, Internet, fax and satellite communication are all transmitted by atmospheric radio waves, so they may all be monitored. However, article 18 of the NSA directive stipulates that "... American citizens, registered companies and organizations ..." of the intelligence department shall not be monitored and collected, and shall not be used against American citizens without the written permission of the Supreme Court Justice.
However, in practice, NSA cooperates with foreign intelligence agencies to let intelligence agencies in other countries collect and share information of American citizens, thus circumventing the restrictions stipulated in 18.
At the same time, NSA sometimes monitors American citizens overseas. This power is sometimes abused, not only to protect the security of the United States, but also often used for political and commercial espionage.
The National Reconnaissance Bureau (NRO) arranges satellite reconnaissance plans for the entire American intelligence community. Include image and signal information collected by satellite. Specific plans include: keyhole -8 and keyhole -9 image reconnaissance satellites of the Air Force, keyhole-1 1 image reconnaissance satellites of the Central Intelligence Agency, rhyolite signal intelligence satellites of the space program and Baiyun Ocean Monitoring Satellite.
The functions of the National Reconnaissance Bureau are very extensive. It has joined many policy committees. For example, President Kennedy established the National Security Action Memorandum Committee 156 in 1962 to examine the political aspects of the US satellite reconnaissance policy, and it also played an important role in the confidentiality of the reconnaissance plan. For example, in a memo to President Kennedy about the SAMOS-II launcher (SAMOS-II a satellite missile observation system and the Air Force's first image reconnaissance satellite), Arthur Sylvester, deputy secretary of defense in charge of public affairs, wrote that the information obtained by the news about the launcher and its plan "shows that it is greatly abridged compared with the materials originally published". Sylvester also pointed out: "Dr. Charyk (director of the National Reconnaissance Bureau) reviewed these changes and confirmed that they met his safety requirements and those of General Brigadier General Greer, director of the satellite missile observation system program." Recently, the National Reconnaissance Bureau is actively participating in formulating a safety regulation and releasing the payload of military satellites put into orbit by the space transportation system.
The National Reconnaissance Bureau is also responsible for the daily work of satellites, including startup and shutdown, and forcing satellites to perform technical operations such as facing or deviating from the sun. More importantly, the National Reconnaissance Bureau implements and helps to formulate a joint reconnaissance schedule, and records in detail the reconnaissance system's assistance in winning the bid.
Although the National Reconnaissance Bureau is ostensibly affiliated to the Deputy Air Force and the Office of Space Systems, it is a national institution. In fact, it is directly managed by the National Reconnaissance Executive Committee, which is one of the two national executive committees chaired by the Central Intelligence Director.
The National Reconnaissance Bureau was established on August 25th, 1960. Prior to this, the White House, the Ministry of National Defense, the Air Force and the Central Intelligence Agency debated the nature and tasks of the organization for several months. Its establishment is a response to various problems that plagued the early missile and satellite programs, and it is also the result of shooting down the U-2 plane over the Soviet Union on May 1960. In view of the occurrence of the latter incident, the Office of the Ministry of National Defense and the Air Force discussed and revised the plan, so as to use all kinds of reconnaissance data obtained by the test flight of the satellite missile observation system as soon as possible. On June 10, President Eisenhower instructed Secretary of Defense Chaz to re-evaluate the Dae-i plan and put forward information requirements to the National Security Council, as well as the technical feasibility and explanation of the Ministry of National Defense plan that meets these requirements.
Gates appointed a three-member team: Dr. Joseph Charyk, Vice Minister of the Air Force, Dr. John H. Rewbell, Deputy Director of the Defense Research and Engineering Agency, and Dr. George B. Keith Takovski, Special Adviser to the President on Science and Technology. According to the official historical data of the Air Force, they finally wrote a briefing on August 25th. Then, because the National Security Bureau and the President dispelled their initial doubts, they made an important decision, marking the beginning of an unforgettable wartime Manhattan project-the establishment of the National Reconnaissance Bureau. It replaced the air force chief of staff's organization (the high-level technical committee) to coordinate the development of satellites.
The organization has national characteristics, which is very important to its members. Dr George Keith Takovski, President Eisenhower's special adviser on science and technology, pointed out: It is important that "organizations have clear power boundaries, and the highest-level instructions have national characteristics, including the Office of the Ministry of National Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency, not just the instructions of the Air Force". Undoubtedly, one of the reasons for setting up this institution is to deny the Air Force the exclusive right to use "shooting" images.
At present, the National Reconnaissance Bureau is still regarded as a secret or "black" institution by the government, at least by the National Reconnaissance Bureau and the Ministry of National Defense. When the Ministry of National Defense mentioned it in its annual report and executive order, it called it "an institution that collects special foreign intelligence through reconnaissance plans". The Murphy Committee's report is the closest administrative document to the approval of the National Reconnaissance Bureau. The report pointed out that "it is a semi-autonomous organization in the Ministry of National Defense, and its budget exceeds that of any intelligence agency engaged in aerial reconnaissance programs in the entire intelligence community." At the same time, the National Reconnaissance Bureau was also mentioned in two books written by former senior CIA officials (including former director William Kirby) published by the Central Intelligence Agency Publishing Review Committee.
The headquarters of the National Reconnaissance Bureau is located at 4C-956 in the Pentagon. Its public name is "Office of Space Systems", which is led by the Deputy Air Force in charge of space systems. The director of the space system office and the vice minister of the air force are both senior leaders of the National Reconnaissance Bureau.
Traditionally, the deputy air force served as the director, and Joseph Charyk, the first director of the National Reconnaissance Bureau, served as the deputy air force. Hans Mark of Carter's government also held this position. Obviously, only Robert J. Herman, Mark's successor as director of the National Reconnaissance Bureau, is an exception. He is only the Assistant Secretary of Air Force in charge of research, development and logistics. The main reason for breaking this convention is that antonia Chase, the successor of Deputy Minister Mark, knows nothing about reconnaissance. On the other hand, Herman was in charge of the work of the W Group of the National Security Agency of the United States and has been responsible for the decoding work. However, the breakthrough of this convention is only temporary, and Edward C. aldridge, the deputy air force appointed by the Reagan administration, is also the director of the new National Reconnaissance Bureau.
As mentioned above, the National Reconnaissance Bureau is responsible for managing the whole satellite reconnaissance work. At the same time, as we all know, the Science and Technology Department of the Central Intelligence Agency actively participates in the development of reconnaissance satellites through its Development and Engineering Office and Signal Intelligence Office. Specifically, these offices are responsible for developing keyhole-1 1 and rhyolite-1 1 satellite. At the same time, the Naval Aerospace Engineering Department of the Naval Electronic Systems Command is also responsible for the development of naval satellites, including the "Baiyun" ocean monitoring satellite. Therefore, these institutions are affiliated units of the National Reconnaissance Bureau and its branches.
The Air Force Special Planning Office is also a subsidiary of the National Reconnaissance Bureau. It is located in Gondor Space Department, Else, California. When discussing the appointment of a new director of the special planning office, Aviation Weekly and Space Technology wrote:
The special planning organization is responsible for collecting satellite strategic reconnaissance data for the use of national intelligence organizations. It is responsible for acquiring images and designing and developing other types of military reconnaissance satellites and their subsystems. The annual funding is 250-350 million US dollars. The organization is affiliated with the Air Force, but reports directly to the Minister of Air Force.
The National Reconnaissance Bureau has branches in Gondo and Else to keep direct and regular contact with some companies that develop and manufacture reconnaissance satellites, such as Thompson Ramo Wooldridge, Hughes Aircraft, Lockheed and aerospace companies with consulting qualifications.
The current budget of the National Reconnaissance Bureau is between 3 billion and 4 billion, and the number of employees is unclear, but it may be less than that of other national intelligence agencies.