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(S//SI) Installation of 'Big Dish' at Intelligence HQ in Budapest
FROM:
FAD's Central/Eastern Europe Office (DP13) and
Gary Layman, FAD's Technical Liaison Office (DP32)
Run Date: 08/15/2005
(S) A 6.3-meter parabolic dish antenna was recently installed on the roof of the Hungarian
Military Intelligence Organization's Headquarters in Budapest -- but this is not the beginning of
the story! The requirement for the antenna actually began over four years ago. Obtaining and
installing the antenna was a team effort that involved several people and different organizations.
(S) Engineers from ETC compiled the requirement and wrote the specification to purchase the
antenna; personnel from FAD , with the assistance of the NSAW antenna team, ordered the
antenna. When the antenna arrived at Fort Meade this spring, the antenna team took on the job
of inspecting the components for conformity with the specification and managing the
construction of a template needed for installing the antenna in its new home in Budapest.
(U) Construction of the antenna finally begins with the lifting of the pedestal
(S) Although 6.3 meters may not sound that big, shipment of this antenna from NSAW to
Budapest turned out to be a mammoth task. It took three shipping containers, two 40-feet long
and one 20-feet long, to hold all of the antenna parts and installation tools. That's 100 feet of
shipping containers and that is a lot of stuff! Ironically, it was the small overnight air shipment of
pre-installation items that went astray and nearly ended up last to arrive in Budapest.
(S//SI) The eight-member-strong installation team was co-led by
from NSAW and
of ETC. When asked for the status of the installation,
the newly
arrived SLO (SIGINT Liaison Officer) in Budapest, said, "It was quite awesome to see, especially
since I've never attended an antenna installation before now. The crane cleared the entrance by
about one foot. The weather cooperated 100%. Bright blue sky and no wind . . . All eight
members of the team were busting butt and doing heavy labor stuff. Of course, I simply stayed
out of their way."
(U) Later in the week the temperature in Budapest soared to a record high of 100 degrees
Fahrenheit, creating oven-like conditions in the radome where the installation was taking place.
Everyone persevered, with a constant supply of water and sodas provided by the partner, and
completed the antenna installation on 6 June.
(U)
and
agreed that each person on the team brought a unique skill to the table and
played a crucial role.
reported, "Everything went incredibly well. We couldn't have asked for
a better team, and I don't think that the Hungarians could be happier."
(S//SI) With the antenna in place, plans are underway for a survey using this and other
Hungarian partner antennas in Budapest. The hope and expectation is that we will be able not
only to confirm Hungarian collection, processing and analytic capabilities against Russian
COMSATs and Russian links on other satellites, but that we will also be able to identify the traffic
on and capabilities of various platforms, including the recently launched Yamal and Express-AM
series satellites.
(U) It's starting to look like an antenna!
(U) This article is reprinted from the Foreign Affairs Digest , July edition.
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet
without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)."
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DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108