RADIO COMMUNICATIONS FACILITIES IN SERVICE WITH MILITARY INTELLIGENCE

 

Ivan Ya. Petrov, retired Major General, was born in 1915. In 1936, he graduated from the Leningrad Military Communications School and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. In the same year, he was commissioned to continue service in Moscow with the Intelligence Department of the People's Defense Committee. He took part in combat operations at the Khalkhin-Gol river. During World War II and afterward, he was chief of the radio node of the Leningrad front intelligence, then he was appointed chief of separate radio nodes in Ufa and Chita. In 1949, he graduated from the Frunze Military Academy (intelligence department) and then occupied various positions at the Main Intelligence Department (GRU), including the position of the chief of the radio communications service of military intelligence. In 1962, he was promoted to major general. He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War, Grades I and II, two Orders of the Red Star and many medals. Presently, he is a member of the Council of Veterans of Military Intelligence. In all, more than 7,000 Sever radio sets were supplied to agents and guerrillas who operated in the territory occupied by the Germans.

  
This information about military intelligence communication facilities is made public for the first time. Earlier, such materials were categorized "Top secret." 
The editorial staff extends gratitude to the author of this article.
 

The techniques used presently to pass intelligence are as follows. A "source" of intelligence information can meet personally with an undercover agent or send information via a third person (go-between), information can be cached or transmitted by means of various technical facilities. The most reliable and fastest method, however, is to communicate by radio.

When employed to gather intelligence, radio communication can be two-way (the operator is equipped with a transceiver) or one-way (the operator is equipped with either a receiver or a transmitter). In all instances, while organizing radio communications links, one must appraise all the details of the situation in which a secret service agent is to work abroad or in enemy territory and his undercover status in a certain place. A radio set for communication with the intelligence center should be small, lightweight, easy to operate, reliable and suitable for transportation, storage and operation in a city and outside.
 

Sever radio set

 
In the early years of military intelligence, radio sets for contact with intelligence centers were often assembled by secret agents themselves from radio components bought at local markets. Although the performance characteristics of such radio sets were low, roughly on the level of radio amateurs' sets, they were successfully used by radio operators such as Max Clauzen (Richard Sorge's station), Ursula Hamburger (Sonya's station) and Ginyu Stoinov and Svoboda Ancheva (Geno's station). In the countries where intelligence was gathered, radio transmitters were mainly set up, while radio receivers were bought at local markets and adapted to receive the Morse code in the CW on-off keying mode. The radio transmitters were rated at 10 to 12 W and weighed 5 to 7 kg.

Using such a transmitter, Richard Sorge sent to the intelligence center the information regarding the time Germany was planning to attack the Soviet Union and about Japan's preparations for war against the Soviet Union.

A great number of radio messages were received in the prewar period from European countries. For example, in December 1940, Dora informed the Soviet command of the deployment of 230 German divisions, including 150 divisions in full combat readiness close to the Soviet Union's border, and the approximate time of the invasion.
 

Electron radio set

  
The PP-16, Belka and Omega were the first radio sets used by military intelligence in the prewar period and at the beginning of the war. A limited number of these radio sets were manufactured by a military intelligence research institute. Omega was the best. It weighed about 3 kg and had a power output of 1.3 W. The radio set was a little larger in size than a standard telephone set and its operating range was up to 300 km. At the outbreak of World War II, military intelligence and guerrillas raised their activities. In the territory occupied by German troops, a great number of intelligence, saboteur and guerrilla units (groups, detachments, operational centers and large formations) started their activities. Naturally, the need arose to sharply increase the output of more reliable radio sets. In mid-1941, designer B. Mikhalin completed development of a radio set, dubbed Sever, on the basis of Omega. Its production was launched at the Kozitsky plant in besieged Leningrad. In December 1941, only 300 radio sets were produced, but during 1942 the number reached 2000 sets a month. Powered by the BAS-80 or BAS-60 dry batteries, this small portable 1.2 W radio set weighing 3 kg became popular with intelligence agents and guerrillas. It provided a communication range of up to 400 km and even more under favorable conditions. Upon the commissioning of the radio set, it became possible for the Soviet command not only to receive intelligence in good time from agents stationed behind enemy lines but also to determine the areas of activities of intelligence and guerrillas, assign missions to them, coordinate their actions with the army units, provide them with the required supplies and evacuate the wounded and the sick. The Sever radio set was also used for other purposes. For example, all negotiations concerned with the arrival in Moscow of officials of the Polish Provisional Government from Nazi territory were conducted over this radio set. In all, more than 7,000 Sever radio sets were supplied to agents and guerrillas who operated in the territory occupied by the Germans.
 

Orel radio set

 
During the war, for communication at ranges of up to 2,500 km, military intelligence used the Tenzor radio set and the Dzhek transmitter. Tenzor was a small-size portable three-unit radio set that drew power from AC mains. It weighed 7 kg and had a 45 W transmitter. The 50 W Dzhek transmitter was composed of two units with a total weight of about 10 kg. It also was supplied with power from AC mains.

Before and during the war, all of the radio sets were operated in the audio search mode. Use was made of a telegraph key and Morse code. Radio link-ups were fairly long, permitting the enemy to intercept the transmitted information and even pinpoint the location of the transmitter. This generated a need for more advanced principles of radio communication and better performance characteristics of transmitters. After making a thorough analysis of the experience gained by the end of the war, a decision was made to reject transmission of information by Morse code in favor of fast-acting telegraphy using various types of signal modulation (amplitude, frequency and phase) and replace audible reception of Morse code by automatic reception and recording. As a consequence, these measures presented a severe problem to an enemy's radio countermeasures elements and made radio communication more reliable.

One of the first radio sets designed to meet the above requirements was Atom. Although the search method of establishing contact with the other party was still used on this radio set, the data transmission rate grew to 150 five-digit groups per minute. The transmitted information was accumulated on a storage device whose working element was photographic film. Digital groups (message) were punched on it in response to the transmitted Morse code. To send out the text, the film was passed through a sensing device rotated manually by a handle. This small-size radio set was equipped with a 35 W transmitter and operated from the AC mains. The weight of the set was 8 kg and its operating range was about 3,000 km.

The postwar generation of radio sets were noted for the higher performance characteristics. They featured high telegraphy speed and searchless method of tuning to the desired radio center, which required no trimming and which made it possible to reduce by an order of magnitude the duration of contact and thus make communication less vulnerable to countermeasures. A typical model of such radio sets was called Elektron. It could operate both from the AC mains and storage batteries and had a transmitter delivering the output power of  50 W. The weight of the set that used the AC mains as a power source was 8 kg and the weight of the set powered by storage batteries was 10 kg. The set could transmit 250 to 500 groups per minute over a range of up to 3,000 km. This radio set was successfully used for radio communication from Japan.
 

Zemlya radio set

  
In addition, such radio sets as R-350 (Orel), R-353 (Proton), R-354 (Shmel) were developed and adopted for service. At first, the Orel radio set was used most extensively. The performance characteristics of this radio set permitted its use in establishing communication with frontal reconnaissance communications nodes that were outfitted with the appropriate equipment. The equipment of the communications nodes could automatically retune transmitters and receivers to 10 preset frequencies. This considerably reduced the time of radio sessions and accelerated information transmission. The information  was stored on a standard 35 mm film. The message was transmitted at a rate of 150 groups per minute. 

The information received at the communications node was recorded on a disc-type rape recorder. The radio set was equipped with a 3.5 W transmitter and weighed 13 kg. It could operate both from the AC mains and from storage batteries, including those of vehicles. 
Another radio set, called Zemlya, was regarded as a more advanced model. In the training of personnel, there was no need for a trainee to learn Morse code and possess skills in searching for signals transmitted by a communications node, as he could read on a display the frequency to which his transmitter was to be tuned and, moreover, he could see on that same display the various commands transmitted by the intelligence center. Information was stored on a magnetic tape and transmitted to the communications node at a high rate (a message consisting of 300 groups of five-digit text could be transmitted within a few seconds). The transmitter power was 75 W and the weight of the entire set was 14 kg.

To provide communication over a distance of 10,000 to 12,000 km, the Irkut radio set was adopted for service. Much like Zemlya, this radio set worked in a searchless mode and the incoming commands could be read on a display. Information was stored on a magnetic tape and transmitted to the center at a rate of several hundred groups per minute. The transmitter was rated at 180 to 250 W and the entire radio set weighed 15 kg.
The Irkut radio set was employed in the rear of American troops in Vietnam.

With advances made in science, technology and electronics, radio communications equipment used by military intelligence improved. These radio sets are just a small fraction of the equipment that was used by military intelligence in the past.

Simultaneously with the development of new radio sets, the equipment mounted at intelligence centers was upgraded. Powerful transmitters, highly sensitive receivers and highly effective directional antenna systems were installed. For each type of new radio set, the specific equipment was installed at an intelligence center. This equipment was designed for automatic reception and analysis of the incoming information. Depending on the season and time of the day, prior to transmitting or receiving the information, the ionosphere was probed by the sounding equipment installed at radio nodes to determine optimal operating frequencies.

Fast-acting facilities and computers used by military intelligence have considerably improved reliability, effectiveness and invulnerability of radio communication, thus contributing materially to the efficiency of military intelligence as a whole.