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NSA and Turkey Cooperate on WAGTAIL Collection

SUMMARY

"WAGTAIL," a new system for collecting PCM (pulse code modulation) signals, has been established in Turkey as a collaboration between the NSA's Technical Liaison Office and the Turkish military. From its location on a Turkish base, the NSA hopes to intercept fax and call signals from Syrian intelligence, several mujahideen and terrorist organizations, and the Syrian presidential palace that will lead to new sources of intelligence, which it will share with its Turkish counterpart.

DOCUMENT’S DATE

Jan 24, 2005

PUBLICLY AVAILABLE

Feb 05, 2018

TAGS

Syria, Turkey

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Page 1 from NSA and Turkey Cooperate on WAGTAIL Collection
DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL (S//SI) NSA and Turkey Cooperate on WAGTAIL Collection FROM: (C) SIGINT Engineer, NSA/CSS Representative (NCR) Turk Run Date: 01/24/2005 WAGTAIL PCM collection system to be installed in Turkey; analysts will be able to task Syrian numbers (S//SI) (S//SI) The Technical Liaison Office (TLO, aka NCRTurk) in Turkey has been approved for and is finalizing a new pulse code modulation (PCM) collection system, called WAGTAIL, for its Turkish military partners. The system will be installed at a Turkish base where the Turks will collect a Syrian PCM that contains a number of channels of high-interest to both the U.S. and Turkey. (S//SI) The WAGTAIL system is currently being assembled and integrated at the European Technical Center in Germany and, once completed, will be staged at the Turkish headquarters facility for testing and extensive training of the operators. Support for the training is being provided by both our National Cryptologic School resources at Ft. Meade and by NSA contractors. (S//SI) So - what's in it for us, you might ask? During a survey of this PCM, these channels were found to contain faxes and calls from Syrian Intelligence, the Ansar Al Islam terrorist organization, several Iraqi and Syrian mujaheddin numbers, and even the Sy Al Shaab Royal Palace. Using the analytical tools that WAGTAIL promises, NSA analysts hope to link these known numbers to previously unknown sources of foreign intelligence service and terroristrelated intelligence. The collection will be forwarded back to the Turkish HQ and to the TLO (for NSA analyst access), and the system can be tasked for numbers of interest from both locations. (U) The implementation of this system serves as an excellent example of an all-hands effort that enhances and bodes well for the future of the United States' oldest Third Party partnership. (U//FOUO) This article is reprinted from the January Foreign Affairs Digest . "(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)." DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108