How The U.S. Military Plans To Hijack The Airwaves

Forbes – by Michael Peck

If you want to take over a nation, then first take over its airwaves. Broadcast your messages and interdict the enemy’s ability to broadcast theirs. When the U.S. attacked Iraq in 1991, or NATO bombed Serbia in 1999, among the first targets destroyed were TV and radio stations. When there is a military coup in Africa, the first buildings the rebels usually grab are the radio and TV studios.

So it is illuminating that the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), the organization that oversees America’s elite special forces, is quietly searching for equipment that will effectively give it control over every FM and AM radio station in an area. The short, innocuous-sounding announcement on the Federal Business Opportunities site states that SOCOM seeks vendors to provide “a radio broadcast system capable of searching for and acquiring every AM and FM radio station in a specific area and then broadcasting a message(s) in the target area on all acquired AM and FM radio station frequencies.” SOCOM wants equipment that is both lightweight and sophisticated enough to detect and broadcast over multiple frequencies simultaneously. And SOCOM wants it fast. The equipment must be at least Technology Readiness Level 8, a Pentagon measure of technological maturity that means that it is fully developed, tested and ready for use.

“It appears that SOCOM is looking to purchase a preferably commercial off the shelf friendly-foreign or domestic advanced form of Software-Defined Radio (SDR) as a solution for their tactical and theater Psyops or MISO missions,” says a military expert who asked to remain anonymous. “The exact platform – whether it’s ground-based or airborne – cannot be determined from the solicitation. It would appear to be an urgent request because of the TRL 8 or above stipulation. ”

This is what the Pentagon now calls Military Information Support Operations, or MISO. This is a far less sinister name for what the rest of us call Psychological Operations, or Psyops. that subtle form of warfare that uses carefully tailored information – truthful or not – to change foreign hearts and minds in a way that furthers U.S. interests.

“MISO units have the mission to broadcast information and messages to neutral, hostile and, in certain cases, friendly audiences,” says Bryan Karabaich, a former Special Forces colonel and a consultant to the U.S. government on information operations. “Obviously, to do that, one needs to know where on the broadcast spectrum people are listening and what is being said.”

Currently, U.S. special operations forces (SOF) use a Flyaway Broadcast System (FABS), according to SOCOM spokeswoman Lt. Comm. Ligia Cohen (an example of FABS gear for natural disasters is here). However, FABS can only broadcast on a single frequency. “Historically, one got a receiver that operated on the desired spectrum and worked through the channels.  An operator would note time, signal strength and perhaps content, then move on,” Karabaich notes. “If it seemed important, another operator with another set would go directly to the frequency and monitor.  If there were multiple frequencies in use, one needed multiple sets. Then scanners came along and things speeded up.  However, one still needed multiple sets to go back to exploit the hits.  One problem was that as the scanner progressed, it wasn’t listening to other channels.  Should someone come up and broadcast after the scanner passed by, it could be several seconds or longer before it came back.”

An automated, software-based system that could scan and transmit over multiple frequencies would save time and manpower. But there is another benefit as well, and that is electronic warfare. If U.S. forces are transmitting messages over local radio frequencies, then local stations can’t broadcast their messages. And if this happens to every station in an area, then the target government’s ability to communicate with its people, such as exhorting them to fight the Americans, would be muzzled. “This system could be used to jam a frequency,” says Cohen. “During a conflict, an enemy radio station would not be able to broadcast their message at the same time. The FABS capability is required to meet combatant commanders’ need to shape foreign attitude and behavior in support of U.S. regional objectives, policies, interests, and theater military missions.”

Some might wonder whether this technology can be used inside the United States. The answer is yes. “The requirements outlined for this technology are specific to conduct operations overseas,” Cohen says. “However, in some instances and when directed, the MISO forces and equipment can be used during Civil Authority Information Support operations.  During these events, MISO equipment simply is a platform that is used to support organizations such as FEMA to disseminate information to the public regarding safety, and so on.”

Lawrence Dietz, a retired U.S. Army Reserve Colonel who participated in Psyops for 13 years and writes a Psyops blog, suggests that a mass broadcast capability would be very useful during a Katrina-like natural disaster that can transmit emergency information when civilian transmitters have been knocked out. However, he also asks whether it would make more sense to focus on mass messages to cell phones, given how people rely on them for communications. “Perhaps mobile phone ‘takeover’ technology would be in the SOCOM procurement pipeline down the road,” he writes.

However, before Uncle Sam rides roughshod over the radio spectrum, there are some limitations. Karabaich, who thinks the technology will improve U.S. Psyops capabilities, points out that one problem is power. He recalls that in the First Gulf War in 1991, U.S forces could “broadcast on Iraqi frequencies, but the Iraqi transmitters were four times larger than the biggest we had. On top of which, sand absorbs radio waves, cutting down our range and signal strength. We just couldn’t make a dent until the Iraqi transmitters were taken down.” In other words, Iraqi transmitters are so powerful that they can only be taken down by old-fashioned high explosives. And in Afghanistan, “we had cases in Afghanistan where we could hear stations operating but the position of our transmitters could not generate enough signal strength to reach the target audience on the ground.”

And just as stray Hellfire missiles from a Predator drone create collateral damage, so do errant Psyops. Karabaich remembers when a Psyops training exercise by U.S. forces in Germany spilled over from military frequencies into Swiss civilian traffic:  ”Swiss listeners were not happy that their re-broadcasts of Dallas had rock music sound tracks.”

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