In addition, the American media also reported that any American embassy or consulate located overseas, with its closely arranged communication antennas, has almost become a small eavesdropping base. But the eavesdropping system, which is more powerful and can better reflect the "global characteristics" of the United States, is an "echelon" monitoring system jointly established by the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. This system was born in 1948, led by the National Security Agency of the United States, and established an electronic eavesdropping network all over the world. Although the US government has always denied the existence of this system, a part of the declassified documents of the US National Security Agency finally confirmed its existence.
According to western media reports, the "echelon" system has established at least seven large-scale monitoring base facilities around the world, mainly the Monwitz Mountain Base and Mo Visztov Base in Britain, Yakima Base and Shugrorov Base in the United States, Lee Triem Base in Canada, Geraldton Base in Australia and Waiho Base in New Zealand. Among them, the Mount Monwitz base in England is the central base of the European echelon spy system, located in Yorkshire, England. Built in 1956, there are at least 30 satellite antenna devices at present. Although local residents in Europe are well aware of the nature and functions of the Monwitz Mountain Base, American officials have always claimed that the main functions of the base are "providing radio communication relay services and conducting communication research".
According to American military experts, eavesdropping on Asian countries, especially East and Southeast Asian countries, is mainly done through three ground eavesdropping stations, one near Geraldton Town, Western Australia, another near Waiho River, New Zealand, and the third at a US military base in eastern Washington, USA. These three eavesdropping stations mainly eavesdrop on international long-distance calls and high-frequency diplomatic lines. Among them, the eavesdropping station in Washington state "is most likely to monitor the communication between the foreign ministries of East Asian countries and their embassies in the United States".
American media reported that the "echelon" system was "amazing". It can eavesdrop on all electronic communications sent and received by any country in the world-telephone, telegraph, fax, e-mail, as well as various radio signals including short wave, civil aviation and maritime communications, and make use of large monitoring stations located around the world and spy satellites operating in space.
Under pressure, the US military closed the Bart Eberlin monitoring station in southern Germany for nearly 40 years last year. When the National Security Agency made the revocation decision, it stubbornly stated: "The mission of Bart Eblin Station is not over."
At present, the eavesdropping technology of the National Security Agency has reached the point where eavesdroppers can distinguish between burping and farting. During the Gulf War, American eavesdroppers clearly recorded the incoming and outgoing calls of the personal bodyguards of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in the underground secret bunker. The US National Security Agency once captured the voice of the former Soviet leader Brezhnev talking in a special car. Fortunately, Brezhnev didn't talk about state affairs at that time, but just chatted with others on a confidential phone.
Commenting on the current eavesdropping capabilities and means of the United States, American intelligence scientist Chelson said that there are many ways for the United States to eavesdrop on other countries' intelligence, and submarine platforms, such as submarines, can be used underwater; There are various equipment such as radar on the ground; There is a space antenna system running at an altitude of more than 40,000 kilometers in the sky. He also said that there are many kinds of bugs used by the United States to intercept communication signals, ranging from "electronic branches" disguised as branches and grafted on an air base in a country to spy satellites worth 500 million US dollars.
At present, the top spot of stealing intelligence means in the United States has given way to deep-sea optical cable eavesdropping. Most communication experts believe that the use of submarine optical cable not only has a large information flow, but also can realize communication confidentiality. The wired eavesdropping technology developed by the United States for many years poses a great challenge to this communication mode. Most optical cables crossing the Pacific Ocean need to pass through American military sites-Guam and Hawaii, and many of them start or end in the United States. This virtually facilitated the interception of submarine optical cable communications by the United States. In the mid-1990s, the National Security Agency finally conducted the first submarine cable eavesdropping experiment. Several former intelligence officials who participated in this top secret action revealed that in this top secret action, agents took a special spy submarine to dive into the seabed, pulled a cable into the special working cabin of the spy submarine by special means, and successfully cut off a submarine optical fiber cable. A humorous military expert once said that American intelligence personnel can't wait to get into the bottom of the sea, put their ears on the optical cable and eavesdrop on what others are saying.
In distant space, American spy satellites also undertake a lot of eavesdropping and surveillance tasks. According to US military sources, the United States has been using ground satellite receiving facilities in Japan, South Korea and other places to eavesdrop on overseas satellite phones in other Asian countries. In order to strengthen the ability of eavesdropping in the air, the US military has done a lot of experiments. First, the United States recently tested the use of Orion spy satellite to track microwave transmission. By this means, the United States can even eavesdrop on calls within the Asian continent. Second, the National Security Agency found through experiments that the spy satellites over the Arctic can eavesdrop on the cell phone signals of Asian countries in the United States. Third, the CIA has successfully developed a new spy satellite eavesdropping technology. With this technology, the United States can eavesdrop on microwave signals from any corner of the earth. In addition, American intelligence agencies can also activate the micro eavesdropping device hidden next to the target in advance through spy satellites.
At the same time, seemingly insignificant pets and insects can also become the "right arm" of the United States to collect intelligence. Some US military personnel revealed that they have "turned many seemingly impossible things into reality", that is, let small animals that look alive and kicking act as "spies" for them. According to American media reports, a batch of documents released by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in September last year revealed that they had conducted an experiment codenamed "Sound Kitten" during the Cold War, with the aim of transforming the pets around eavesdroppers into "spies". A former CIA agent who knows the inside story said: "They cut the cat open and put bugs, batteries and wires in it, and the cat's tail was used as an antenna. They simply turned the kitten into a monster. " According to the original idea of the CIA, they will eventually turn the cat into a "senior spy" who can command remotely and obey orders. It was only because of the failure of the experiment that the American absurd plan was forced to fall through. But later, they succeeded in another simple similar experiment. It is also reported that in order to get more useful information in the future battlefield, the United States is ready to put into use eavesdropping equipment that simulates insects. It is estimated that if the research goes well, insects exactly like butterflies, dragonflies, cockroaches and locusts will soon be put into use. These insects can go deep into the "enemy" headquarters, secret bases and arsenals that cannot be detected by satellites and large reconnaissance planes for eavesdropping activities.
Although various and technologically advanced eavesdropping methods make American intelligence officials complacent, since the "9. 1 1" incident, some senior officials of the US government have noticed the "discordant voice" of the American intelligence community and are ready to make some necessary adjustments and reforms. According to informed sources, the White House is currently considering a top-down comprehensive review of American foreign espionage activities to determine the areas where espionage activities have problems and what adjustments should be made.
It is reported that george tenet, director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, recently proposed to President Bush to conduct a comprehensive review of the entire US intelligence system, involving the CIA and the National Security Agency. US officials say that Bush will make a final decision on this issue in the near future. In an interview with Reuters, a government official said that this review will cover many aspects, including intelligence policy, the target and scope of intelligence gathering, and where spies should be deployed. I wonder if the United States will restrain its "eavesdropping antenna" by then.