Swedish National Defence Radio Establishment
Encyclopedia
The National Defence Radio Establishment is a civilian establishment subordinate to the Ministry of Defence
. The two main tasks of FRA are signals intelligence (COMINT and SIGINT/ELINT) and support to government authorities and state owned companies regarding IT security.
Interception of signals is done from fixed sites on Swedish territory, from the SIGINT ship HMS Orion
(operated by the Swedish Navy, and soon to be replaced by another vessel that meets safety regulations) and from two Gulfstream IV
aircraft (operated by the Swedish Air Force).
FRA operated earlier by assignments from several authorities: the Government
, the Armed Forces
, the National Police Board
, the National Inspectorate of Strategic Products, the Board of Customs
, the Defence Materiel Administration, the Defence Research Agency
and the Emergency Management Agency.
Since 2009, FRA only operate by assignment from the Government
, the Government Offices and the Armed Forces
.
Oversight and decisions regarding information interception is provided by the Defence Intelligence Commission, "Statens inspektion för försvarsunderrättelseverksamheten" (a committee subordinate to the Government responsible for assuring that all interception is done according to Swedish law) and The Swedish Data Inspection Board.
The main headquarters is located on the island of Lovön
in Stockholm County
. FRA was assigned a budget of 562 million SEK
in 2008 and has around 650 employees.
and Naval Staff respectively, had departments for signals intelligence and cryptanalysis
. These departments succeeded, for instance, to decode the Russian Baltic Sea Fleet cipher
. After World War I
, this ability mostly ceased as politicians did not see its value and did not grant funding. The Swedish Navy
still continued in a smaller scale and developed the competence further. One of the first major successes was in 1933 when the cipher of the Russian OGPU (predecessor to KGB
) was solved.
In 1937, the Swedish Defence Staff was established and the Crypto Department, with its Crypto Detail IV, was responsible for cryptanalysis. In 1940, when Germany occupied Denmark and Norway, the German Wehrmacht
requested to use the Swedish telephone network
for its communication. This was accepted and Crypto Detail IV immediately started to intercept. The traffic was almost always encrypted by the German state-of-the-art cipher machine Geheimfernschreiber. This device was believed to produce indecipherable messages, with its 893,622,318,929,520,960 different crypto key settings. After two weeks of single hand work, the Swedish professor of mathematics Arne Beurling
decoded the cipher of the G-schreiber with only use of pencil and paper. This achievement was described by David Kahn, in his book The Codebreakers: "Quite possibly the finest feat of cryptanalysis performed during the Second World war was Arne Beurling's solution of the secret of the G-schreiber." During World War II
, some 296,000 German messages were intercepted and possibly as a result of this, the Swedish Government took the decision in 1942 to establish Försvarets Radioanstalt.
The first stationary collection site was located in the middle of Stockholm
, but in 1940 it was moved to a number of villas in the suburban island of Lidingö. More sites were established in Sweden and in 1943, FRA moved its headquarters to Lovön, some 15 km from Stockholm
. In the 1960s, even the location of the FRA headquarters was still highly secret.
An ever-increasing amount of communications has, due to technology development, in recent years been transferred from radio transmissions to cables.
To secure FRA's ability to continue its operations, the question of enabling FRA to collect information from cable communication was addressed by the government in 2003 in a committee report regarding review of FRA (SOU 2003:30). The promemoria (Ds 2005:30) "Updated National Defence Intelligence Operations" with suggested legislation was compiled in 2005 by the Social Democratic
cabinet. It was remitted, following common practice, to some 90 agencies and organisations the same year.
On 18 June 2008, Proposition 2006/07:63, "the FRA law", was accepted by the Parliament of Sweden
(Riksdag), and accordingly FRA was given legal permission to tap communication cables passing the Swedish national borders. The law has been in effect since 1 January 2009. A large public opinion and many experts protested against the increased surveillance by demonstrating and using new media channels like blogs and web pages. Also, a number of members of parliament expressed their doubts towards the new law.
On 25 September 2008, the government informed that the ruling coalition parties had agreed on supplements to the FRA law that would strengthen the integrity aspect. Some modifications were indeed accepted by the Parliament of Sweden on 14 October 2009, with 158 votes for and 153 against; one of the main critics within the ruling coalition abstained. The opposition voted against, and a spokesman declared that if they win the elections in 2010, they will annulate the law, restarting from scratch.
threatened to occupy Finland
, Finnish intelligence requested to transfer about 200 specialists and advanced intelligence equipment to Sweden to establish an exile organisation. A transfer of a small contingent personnel and materials, operation Stella Polaris, was carried out over a couple of nights in September 1944. Stella Polaris gave Sweden access to a wealth of qualified materials and signals intelligence officers, some of which were also employed. For Finland, it resulted in a domestic political affair and due to the Communist Party's strong influence in the government, several of the so-called "Soviet Hostiles" involved received prison sentences.
) disappeared during a radar reconnaissance mission east of the Swedish island of Gotland
. The Swedish government initially claimed that the flight was only a navigational exercise, but later admitted that the aeroplane had U.S. electronic surveillance equipment and five specialists from FRA onboard. Three days later, a Swedish Air Force search-and-rescue plane of the type Tp 47 (Catalina
) was shot down by a Soviet MiG-15
fighter, but the crew was rescued by a nearby West German freighter ship. The Soviet Union denied any involvement in the disappearance of the DC-3, despite the fact that a raft from the aeroplane was found during the search with shrapnel from MiG-15 ammunition. In 1956, the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev
admitted to Swedish Prime Minister Tage Erlander
that the Soviet union was indeed responsible for shooting down the plane, but this was not made public, not even to the relatives of the crewmen. Russia officially acknowledged the shooting down in 1991. In 2003, the wreck of the shot-down DC-3 was found about 55 km east of Gotland
. Several of the crewmen's remains were found in the fuselage and the damage to the plane showed that it really had been shot at by a Soviet MiG-15 fighter.
, called in 2008 for an investigation into whether this was in violation of Swedish Law. Defence Minister Sten Tolgfors
responded to the call for investigation with, "Such intelligence activity has not been considered to need explicit legal support since it is conducted by direct order of the government with the support of the principle of the air of freedom, as expressed in the Act (2003:389) on electronic communications (Chapter 6. 17 §)" and that there was therefore "no need for investigation".
At an inspection in September 2008, the Data Inspection Board had no criticism on FRA's collection of personal data, according to the laws of the time. The Data Inspection Board, however, found that FRA's current procedures for screening of personal data should be reviewed.
credited FRA with owning the world's 5th fastest supercomputer
in their November 2007 list. According to Jonas Strömbäck, chief of the director-general's staff, the computer is being used for "cryptography and information security."
Ministry of Defence (Sweden)
The Ministry of Defence is a Swedish government ministry responsible for the national defence policy.The Ministry of Defence has existed in its present form since 1920...
. The two main tasks of FRA are signals intelligence (COMINT and SIGINT/ELINT) and support to government authorities and state owned companies regarding IT security.
Interception of signals is done from fixed sites on Swedish territory, from the SIGINT ship HMS Orion
HMS Orion (A201)
HMS Orion is a signals intelligence gathering vessel in the Swedish Navy.HMS Orion was first launched in 1984. She was built with extensive support from the United States National Security Agency. In November 1985 HMS Orion was rammed by a Soviet minesweeper, after she got too close to a Soviet...
(operated by the Swedish Navy, and soon to be replaced by another vessel that meets safety regulations) and from two Gulfstream IV
Gulfstream IV
The Gulfstream IV and derivatives are a family of twin-jet aircraft, mainly for private or business use. The aircraft was designed and built by Gulfstream Aerospace, a General Dynamics company based in Savannah, Georgia, United States from 1985 until 2003.-Design and development:Gulfstream, in...
aircraft (operated by the Swedish Air Force).
FRA operated earlier by assignments from several authorities: the Government
Government of Sweden
The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden is the supreme executive authority of Sweden. It consists of the Prime Minister and cabinet ministers appointed by the Prime Minister. The Government is responsible for their actions to the Riksdag, which is the legislative assembly...
, the Armed Forces
Swedish Armed Forces
The Swedish Armed Forces is a Swedish Government Agency responsible for the operation of the armed forces of the Realm. The primary task of the agency is to train, organize and to deploy military forces, domestically and abroad, while maintaining the long-term ability to defend the Realm in the...
, the National Police Board
Swedish Police Service
The Swedish Police Service is a collection of Government agencies concerned with police matters in Sweden. The Swedish Police Service consists of 28,500 employees of which 39 per cent are women. The staff consists of 20,000 police officers of which 25 per cent are women and 8,500 civilian staff of...
, the National Inspectorate of Strategic Products, the Board of Customs
Swedish Customs Service
The Swedish Customs Service is the customs service of Sweden. It is a department of the Government of Sweden.-History:Customs duties have existed in Sweden since the twelfth century, and the current organisation was created in 1636. During this period, the Swedish administration was being...
, the Defence Materiel Administration, the Defence Research Agency
Swedish Defence Research Agency
The Swedish Defence Research Agency is a Swedish government agency for defence research that reports to the Ministry of Defence. It has its headquarters in Kista, Stockholm and other locations in Grindsjön south of Stockholm, Linköping and Umeå...
and the Emergency Management Agency.
Since 2009, FRA only operate by assignment from the Government
Government of Sweden
The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden is the supreme executive authority of Sweden. It consists of the Prime Minister and cabinet ministers appointed by the Prime Minister. The Government is responsible for their actions to the Riksdag, which is the legislative assembly...
, the Government Offices and the Armed Forces
Swedish Armed Forces
The Swedish Armed Forces is a Swedish Government Agency responsible for the operation of the armed forces of the Realm. The primary task of the agency is to train, organize and to deploy military forces, domestically and abroad, while maintaining the long-term ability to defend the Realm in the...
.
Oversight and decisions regarding information interception is provided by the Defence Intelligence Commission, "Statens inspektion för försvarsunderrättelseverksamheten" (a committee subordinate to the Government responsible for assuring that all interception is done according to Swedish law) and The Swedish Data Inspection Board.
The main headquarters is located on the island of Lovön
Lovön
Lovön is an island located in the Swedish Lake Mälaren in Ekerö Municipality of Stockholm County. It was a municipality of its own until 1952, when it was joined with Ekerö Municipality. Lovön's greatest attraction is Drottningholm Palace and its many public gardens, which were built on the island...
in Stockholm County
Stockholm County
Stockholm County is a county or län on the Baltic sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. Stockholm County is divided by the historic provinces of Uppland and Södermanland...
. FRA was assigned a budget of 562 million SEK
Swedish krona
The krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it, but especially in the past, it sometimes preceded the value...
in 2008 and has around 650 employees.
History
Signals Intelligence has existed in Sweden since 1905 when Swedish General StaffGeneral Staff
A military staff, often referred to as General Staff, Army Staff, Navy Staff or Air Staff within the individual services, is a group of officers and enlisted personnel that provides a bi-directional flow of information between a commanding officer and subordinate military units...
and Naval Staff respectively, had departments for signals intelligence and cryptanalysis
Cryptanalysis
Cryptanalysis is the study of methods for obtaining the meaning of encrypted information, without access to the secret information that is normally required to do so. Typically, this involves knowing how the system works and finding a secret key...
. These departments succeeded, for instance, to decode the Russian Baltic Sea Fleet cipher
Cipher
In cryptography, a cipher is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption — a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is encipherment. In non-technical usage, a “cipher” is the same thing as a “code”; however, the concepts...
. After World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, this ability mostly ceased as politicians did not see its value and did not grant funding. The Swedish Navy
Swedish Navy
The Royal Swedish Navy is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet – as well as marine units, the so-called Amphibious Corps .In Swedish, vessels of the Swedish Navy are given the prefix "HMS," short for Hans/Hennes...
still continued in a smaller scale and developed the competence further. One of the first major successes was in 1933 when the cipher of the Russian OGPU (predecessor to KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
) was solved.
In 1937, the Swedish Defence Staff was established and the Crypto Department, with its Crypto Detail IV, was responsible for cryptanalysis. In 1940, when Germany occupied Denmark and Norway, the German Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
requested to use the Swedish telephone network
Telephone network
A telephone network is a telecommunications network used for telephone calls between two or more parties.There are a number of different types of telephone network:...
for its communication. This was accepted and Crypto Detail IV immediately started to intercept. The traffic was almost always encrypted by the German state-of-the-art cipher machine Geheimfernschreiber. This device was believed to produce indecipherable messages, with its 893,622,318,929,520,960 different crypto key settings. After two weeks of single hand work, the Swedish professor of mathematics Arne Beurling
Arne Beurling
Arne Carl-August Beurling was a Swedish mathematician and professor of mathematics at Uppsala University and later at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey....
decoded the cipher of the G-schreiber with only use of pencil and paper. This achievement was described by David Kahn, in his book The Codebreakers: "Quite possibly the finest feat of cryptanalysis performed during the Second World war was Arne Beurling's solution of the secret of the G-schreiber." During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, some 296,000 German messages were intercepted and possibly as a result of this, the Swedish Government took the decision in 1942 to establish Försvarets Radioanstalt.
The first stationary collection site was located in the middle of Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, but in 1940 it was moved to a number of villas in the suburban island of Lidingö. More sites were established in Sweden and in 1943, FRA moved its headquarters to Lovön, some 15 km from Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. In the 1960s, even the location of the FRA headquarters was still highly secret.
Proposition 2006/07:63 - the FRA law
To secure FRA's ability to continue its operations, the question of enabling FRA to collect information from cable communication was addressed by the government in 2003 in a committee report regarding review of FRA (SOU 2003:30). The promemoria (Ds 2005:30) "Updated National Defence Intelligence Operations" with suggested legislation was compiled in 2005 by the Social Democratic
Swedish Social Democratic Party
The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889...
cabinet. It was remitted, following common practice, to some 90 agencies and organisations the same year.
On 18 June 2008, Proposition 2006/07:63, "the FRA law", was accepted by the Parliament of Sweden
Parliament of Sweden
The Riksdag is the national legislative assembly of Sweden. The riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 members , who are elected on a proportional basis to serve fixed terms of four years...
(Riksdag), and accordingly FRA was given legal permission to tap communication cables passing the Swedish national borders. The law has been in effect since 1 January 2009. A large public opinion and many experts protested against the increased surveillance by demonstrating and using new media channels like blogs and web pages. Also, a number of members of parliament expressed their doubts towards the new law.
On 25 September 2008, the government informed that the ruling coalition parties had agreed on supplements to the FRA law that would strengthen the integrity aspect. Some modifications were indeed accepted by the Parliament of Sweden on 14 October 2009, with 158 votes for and 153 against; one of the main critics within the ruling coalition abstained. The opposition voted against, and a spokesman declared that if they win the elections in 2010, they will annulate the law, restarting from scratch.
Stella Polaris
In the final stage of the Finnish Continuation War, 1943–44, when the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
threatened to occupy Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Finnish intelligence requested to transfer about 200 specialists and advanced intelligence equipment to Sweden to establish an exile organisation. A transfer of a small contingent personnel and materials, operation Stella Polaris, was carried out over a couple of nights in September 1944. Stella Polaris gave Sweden access to a wealth of qualified materials and signals intelligence officers, some of which were also employed. For Finland, it resulted in a domestic political affair and due to the Communist Party's strong influence in the government, several of the so-called "Soviet Hostiles" involved received prison sentences.
The Catalina affair
On 13 June 1952, the Swedish Air Force aircraft Tp 79 Hugin (DC-3Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made...
) disappeared during a radar reconnaissance mission east of the Swedish island of Gotland
Gotland
Gotland is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden; it is Sweden's largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, the region makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area...
. The Swedish government initially claimed that the flight was only a navigational exercise, but later admitted that the aeroplane had U.S. electronic surveillance equipment and five specialists from FRA onboard. Three days later, a Swedish Air Force search-and-rescue plane of the type Tp 47 (Catalina
PBY Catalina
The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...
) was shot down by a Soviet MiG-15
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 was a jet fighter developed for the USSR by Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich. The MiG-15 was one of the first successful swept-wing jet fighters, and it achieved fame in the skies over Korea, where early in the war, it outclassed all straight-winged enemy fighters in...
fighter, but the crew was rescued by a nearby West German freighter ship. The Soviet Union denied any involvement in the disappearance of the DC-3, despite the fact that a raft from the aeroplane was found during the search with shrapnel from MiG-15 ammunition. In 1956, the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
admitted to Swedish Prime Minister Tage Erlander
Tage Erlander
was a Swedish politician. He was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and Prime Minister of Sweden from 1946 to 1969...
that the Soviet union was indeed responsible for shooting down the plane, but this was not made public, not even to the relatives of the crewmen. Russia officially acknowledged the shooting down in 1991. In 2003, the wreck of the shot-down DC-3 was found about 55 km east of Gotland
Gotland
Gotland is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden; it is Sweden's largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, the region makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area...
. Several of the crewmen's remains were found in the fuselage and the damage to the plane showed that it really had been shot at by a Soviet MiG-15 fighter.
Recorded conversation regarding telephone tapping
At a demonstration in May 2008, in connection with protests concerning the FRA-law, parts of a recording from 2006, between Rickard Falkvinge and FRA's Director General Anders Wik, were played. The conversation was recorded without Wik's knowledge. In the conversation, Wik says that FRA also intercepts telephone calls and that this type of signal interception is not subject to existing Swedish law. Max Anderson, MP for the Green PartyGreen Party (Sweden)
-External links:**...
, called in 2008 for an investigation into whether this was in violation of Swedish Law. Defence Minister Sten Tolgfors
Sten Tolgfors
Sten Sture Tolgfors is a Swedish Moderate Party politician, Member of the Riksdag and Swedish Minister for Defence and former Minister for Foreign Trade in the Cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt since 24 October 2006. He is a conscientious objector, meaning that he refused to carry arms when called to...
responded to the call for investigation with, "Such intelligence activity has not been considered to need explicit legal support since it is conducted by direct order of the government with the support of the principle of the air of freedom, as expressed in the Act (2003:389) on electronic communications (Chapter 6. 17 §)" and that there was therefore "no need for investigation".
Notification of data storage
In June 2008, the Swedish Data Inspection Board received an anonymous complaint that questioned whether FRA's collection and processing of certain personal information is against the law. According to newspaper reports, this was regarding storage of data on more than 100 Swedes, who in various ways had contact with Russia in the 1990s.At an inspection in September 2008, the Data Inspection Board had no criticism on FRA's collection of personal data, according to the laws of the time. The Data Inspection Board, however, found that FRA's current procedures for screening of personal data should be reviewed.
Computer power
Top500TOP500
The TOP500 project ranks and details the 500 most powerful known computer systems in the world. The project was started in 1993 and publishes an updated list of the supercomputers twice a year...
credited FRA with owning the world's 5th fastest supercomputer
Supercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
in their November 2007 list. According to Jonas Strömbäck, chief of the director-general's staff, the computer is being used for "cryptography and information security."