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The United Kingdom – United States of America Agreement (UKUSA, juː )
is a multilateral agreement for cooperation in signals intelligence among the United Kingdom
, the United States
, Canada
, Australia
, and New Zealand
. It was first signed in March 1946 by the United Kingdom and the United States and later extended to encompass the three former British dominion
s. The UKUSA Agreement was a follow-up of the 1943 BRUSA Agreement
, the World War II
agreement on cooperation over intelligence matters. This was a secret treaty
, allegedly so secret that it was kept secret from the Australian Prime Ministers until 1973.
The agreement established an alliance of five English-speaking countries for the purpose of sharing intelligence, especially signals intelligence. It formalized the intelligence sharing agreement in the Atlantic Charter
, signed in 1941, before the entry of the U.S. into the conflict.
(GCHQ) and the U.S. National Security Agency
(NSA) at the beginning of the Cold War
. The document was signed on March 5, 1946 by Colonel Patrick Marr-Johnson for the U.K.'s London Signals Intelligence Board and Lieutenant General Hoyt Vandenberg
for the U.S. State–Army–Navy Communication Intelligence Board. Although the original agreement states that the exchange would not be "prejudicial to national interests", the United States often blocked information sharing from Commonwealth
countries. The full text of the agreement was released to the public on June 25, 2010.
Under the agreement, the GCHQ and the NSA shared intelligence on the Soviet Union
, the People's Republic of China
, and several eastern European countries (known as Exotics). The network was expanded in the 1960s into the Echelon collection and analysis network.
system; however, processed intelligence is reliant on multiple sources of information and the intelligence shared is not restricted to signals intelligence.
, Indonesia
, and southern China.
and conducting sweeps of all communications traffic that could be picked up from embassies around the world. In the post-Cold War
era, a greater emphasis has been placed on monitoring satellite, radio and cellphone traffic originating from Central and South America, primarily in an effort to track drugs and non-aligned paramilitary groups in the region.
New Zealand
is responsible for the western Pacific
. Listening posts in the South Island
at Waihopai Valley
just south-west of Blenheim
, and on the North Island
at Tangimoana
. The Anti-Bases Campaign
holds regular protests in order to have the listening posts closed down.
, Asia, Asiatic Russia, and northern China
.
is a multilateral agreement for cooperation in signals intelligence among the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. It was first signed in March 1946 by the United Kingdom and the United States and later extended to encompass the three former British dominion
Dominion
A dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of autonomous polities that were nominally under British sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, beginning in the latter part of the 19th century. They have included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland,...
s. The UKUSA Agreement was a follow-up of the 1943 BRUSA Agreement
1943 BRUSA Agreement
The 1943 BRUSA Agreement was an agreement between the British and US governments to facilitate co-operation between the US War Department and the British Government Code and Cypher School...
, the 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...
agreement on cooperation over intelligence matters. This was a secret treaty
Secret treaty
A secret treaty is a treaty between nations that is not revealed to other nations or interested observers. An example would be a secret alliance between two nations to support each other in the event of war...
, allegedly so secret that it was kept secret from the Australian Prime Ministers until 1973.
The agreement established an alliance of five English-speaking countries for the purpose of sharing intelligence, especially signals intelligence. It formalized the intelligence sharing agreement in the Atlantic Charter
Atlantic Charter
The Atlantic Charter was a pivotal policy statement first issued in August 1941 that early in World War II defined the Allied goals for the post-war world. It was drafted by Britain and the United States, and later agreed to by all the Allies...
, signed in 1941, before the entry of the U.S. into the conflict.
History
The agreement originated from a ten-page British–U.S. Communication Intelligence Agreement, also known as BRUSA, that connected the signal intercept networks of the U.K. Government Communications HeadquartersGovernment Communications Headquarters
The Government Communications Headquarters is a British intelligence agency responsible for providing signals intelligence and information assurance to the UK government and armed forces...
(GCHQ) and the U.S. National Security Agency
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
(NSA) at the beginning of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. The document was signed on March 5, 1946 by Colonel Patrick Marr-Johnson for the U.K.'s London Signals Intelligence Board and Lieutenant General Hoyt Vandenberg
Hoyt Vandenberg
Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg was a U.S. Air Force general, its second Chief of Staff, and second Director of Central Intelligence....
for the U.S. State–Army–Navy Communication Intelligence Board. Although the original agreement states that the exchange would not be "prejudicial to national interests", the United States often blocked information sharing from Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
countries. The full text of the agreement was released to the public on June 25, 2010.
Under the agreement, the GCHQ and the NSA shared intelligence on the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, and several eastern European countries (known as Exotics). The network was expanded in the 1960s into the Echelon collection and analysis network.
Collection mechanisms
The UKUSA alliance is often associated with the ECHELONECHELON
ECHELON is a name used in global media and in popular culture to describe a signals intelligence collection and analysis network operated on behalf of the five signatory states to the UK–USA Security Agreement...
system; however, processed intelligence is reliant on multiple sources of information and the intelligence shared is not restricted to signals intelligence.
Global coverage
Each member of the UKUSA alliance is officially assigned lead responsibility for intelligence collection and analysis in different parts of the globe.Australia
Australia hunts for communications originating in IndochinaIndochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, and southern China.
Canada
Formerly the northern portions of the former 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....
and conducting sweeps of all communications traffic that could be picked up from embassies around the world. In the post-Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
era, a greater emphasis has been placed on monitoring satellite, radio and cellphone traffic originating from Central and South America, primarily in an effort to track drugs and non-aligned paramilitary groups in the region.
New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
is responsible for the western Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. Listening posts in the South Island
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
at Waihopai Valley
GCSB Waihopai
New Zealand's Government Communications Security Bureau operates what it describes as a satellite communications monitoring facility in the Waihopai Valley...
just south-west of Blenheim
Blenheim, New Zealand
Blenheim is the most populous town in the region of Marlborough, in the north east of the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the regional council. It has a population of The area which surrounds the town is well known as a centre of New Zealand's wine industry...
, and on the North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
at Tangimoana
GCSB Tangimoana
The New Zealand Government Communications Security Bureau operates what it describes as a radio communications interception facility at Tangimoana, 30 kilometres west of Palmerston North, in New Zealand....
. The Anti-Bases Campaign
Anti-Bases Campaign
Anti-Bases Campaign is an organisation campaigning to remove foreign military bases and intelligence installations from New Zealand, and to dismantle the Government Communications Security Bureau....
holds regular protests in order to have the listening posts closed down.
United States
Monitors most of Latin AmericaLatin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, Asia, Asiatic Russia, and northern China
Northern China
Northern China or North China may mean:* North China* North China Plain* Northern and southern China - rough geographic regions in China* North China * Northeast China * Northeast China Plain* Northwest China...
.
See also
- ABCA ArmiesABCA ArmiesABCA Armies is a program aimed at optimizing interoperability and standardization of training and equipment between the armies of the United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, plus the United States Marine Corps and the Royal Marines...
- Combined Communications Electronics BoardCombined Communications Electronics BoardThe Combined Communications Electronics Board is a military communications-electronics organisation established between five nations: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom & United States...
- Special RelationshipSpecial relationshipThe Special Relationship is a phrase used to describe the exceptionally close political, diplomatic, cultural, economic, military and historical relations between the United Kingdom and the United States, following its use in a 1946 speech by British statesman Winston Churchill...
- The Technical Cooperation Program
- AUSCANNZUKUSAUSCANNZUKUSAUSCANNZUKUS is a naval C4 interoperability organization involving the nations of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
Further reading
- Bryden, John. Best Kept Secret: Canadian Secret Intelligence in the Second World War. Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1993.
- Frost, Mike and Michel Gratton. Spyworld: Inside the Canadian and American Intelligence Establishments. Toronto: Doubleday Canada Limited, 1994.
- Hamilton, Dwight. Inside Canadian Intelligence: Exposing the New Realities of Espionage and International Terrorism. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2006.
- Hager, Nicky (1996) Secret Power, New Zealand's Role in the International Spy Network; Craig Potton Publishing, Nelson, NZ; ISBN 0-908802-35-8; (ONLINE EDITION)
- Richelson, Jeffrey T.; Ball, Desmond (1985). The Ties That Bind: Intelligence Cooperation Between the UKUSA Countries. London: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 0-04-327092-1.
- Richelson, Jeffrey T. The United States Intelligence Community, fifth ed. Westview Press, Boulder, Colo.; ISBN 978-0-8133-4362-4; 2008.
- Rosen, Philip. The Communications Security Establishment: Canada’s Most Secret Intelligence Agency. Ottawa: Library of Parliament Research Branch, 1993.
- Rudner, Martin. Canada’s Communications Security Establishment: From the Cold War to Globalization in Intelligence and National Security. Volume 16 Number 1 (Spring 2001). 97–128.
- Whitaker, Reginald. Cold War Alchemy: How America, Britain, and Canada Transformed Espionage into Subversion in Intelligence and National Security.
External links
- UKUSA Agreement at The National Archives
- UKUSA Agreement at the National Security AgencyNational Security AgencyThe National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...