Circularly disposed antenna array: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Circular antenna for radio direction finding}}

{{aboutredirect|the antenna systems based on the WWII German deviceWullenweber|the Lübeck burgomaster|Jürgen Wullenwever}}

{{RefimproveMore citations needed|article|date=October 2016}}

[[File:NSGA Galeta Island Site.jpg|thumb|Direction-finding system [[Galeta Island (Panama)|Galeta Island]], [[Panama]] ]]

A '''Wullenweber'''circularly {{note|thedisposed originalantenna name introduced by Dr. Hans Rindfleisch was Wullenwearray'''v'''er}} is a type of ('''Circularly Disposed Antenna Array (CDAA)'''), sometimes referred to as a '''Circularlycircularly Disposeddisposed Dipoledipole Arrayarray''' ('''CDDA''') or a '''''wullenweber''''',<ref>the original name introduced by Dr. Hans ItRindfleisch was Wullenwe'''v'''er</ref> is a large circular [[antenna (radio)|antenna]] array used for [[radio direction finding]]. They are used by military and government agencies to [[Triangulation|triangulate]] radio signals for radio navigation, intelligence gathering, search and rescue, and enforcement of broadcasting laws. Because their huge circular reflecting screens lookslook like circular fences, some antennas have been colloquially referred to as "''elephant cages''". The term "''wullenweverwullenweber''" was the World War II German [[Code name|cover term]] used to identify their secret CDAA research and development program; its name is unrelated to any person involved in the program.

Many such CDAA systems are used by many nations, such as the former [[Soviet Union]] and modern -day [[Russia]], [[Germany]], the [[United Kingdom]], and the [[United States]].

==History==

===Origin in World War II Germany===

WullenweberCDAA technology was developed by the German navy communication research command, Nachrichtenmittelversuchskommando (NVK) and [[Telefunken]], working on the ''Wullenweber'' during the early years of [[World War II]]. The inventor was NVK group leader Dr. Hans Rindfleisch, who worked after the war as a Technical Director for the northern Germany official broadcast ([[Norddeutscher Rundfunk|Norddeutscher Rundfunk]] (NDR)]]). Technical team leaders were Dr. Joachim Pietzner, Dr. Hans Schellhoss, and Dr. Maximilian Wächtler. The last was a founder of [[Plath GmbH]] in 1954 and later a consultant to both Plath and Telefunken.

The first ''Wullenwever'' was built during the war at Skibsby, north-east of the city of [[Hjørring]] (in German: Hjörring), Denmark ({{coord|57|2829|3910|N|10|2000|0438|E}}). It used 40&nbsp;vertical radiator elements, placed on the arc of a circle with a diameter of {{convert|120|m}}. In an inner circle, 40&nbsp;reflecting elements were placed behind the radiator elements, suspended from a structure of circular wooden support poles with a diameter of 112.5&nbsp;meters. To more easily obtain true geographic bearings, the north and south elements were placed exactly on the north-southnorth–south meridian.

===Post-war development===

Although Pietzner, Schellhoss, and Wächtler retired in West Germany, some of their second-echelon technicians were taken to the [[USSR]] after the war. At least 30&nbsp; Krug (Russian for circle) arrays were installed all over the Soviet Union and allied countries in the 1950s, well before the U.S. military became interested and developed their own CDAAs. Several Krugs were installed in pairs less than 10&nbsp; kilometers offrom each other, apparently for radio navigation purposes. At least four Krugs were installed near Moscow; just to the north, east and south ({{coord|55.46408|N|37.3698|E|scale:10000}}) of the city. The Krugs were used to track the early Sputnik satellites, using their 10 and 20&nbsp;MHz beacons, and were instrumental in locating re-entry vehicles. The Soviet Krug arrays also use the 40-element WullenweverCDAA configuration. [https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP81T00618R000101110001-5.pdf]

The array in Skibsby was extensively studied by the British, and then destroyed following the war in accordance with the Geneva Convention. Dr.&nbsp;Wächtler arranged to have a second array built, at Telefunken expense, at Langenargen/Bodensee, for further experimentation after the war. In the years following the war, the U.S. disassembled the Langenargen / Bodensee array and brought it back to the U.S., where it became known as the "''Wullenweber''" array.

One of the German antenna researchers, Dr.&nbsp;Rolf Wundt, was one of hundreds of German scientists taken to the U.S. by the Army after the war under [[Operation Paperclip]]. He arrived in New York in March&nbsp;1947 on the same ship as [[Wernher Vonvon Braun]] and his wife and parents. He was first employed by the U.S.&nbsp;Air Force, thenand bythen GT&E&nbsp;Sylvania Electronics Systems on WullenweberCDAA and other antenna projects.

Professor Edgar Hayden, then a young engineer in the [[University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign|University of Illinois]] Radio Direction Finding Research Group, led the reassembly of the ''Wullenweber'', studied the design and performance of [[HF/DF]] arrays and researched the physics of HF/DF under contract to the U.S.&nbsp;Navy from 1947 through 1960.

Hayden led the design and development of a large Wullenwebercircularly disposed array at the university's Bondville Road Field Station, a few miles southwest of Bondville, IL. The array consisted of a ring of 120&nbsp;vertical monopoles covering 2–20&nbsp;MHz. Tall wood poles supported a {{convert|1000|ft|m|adj=mid|&nbsp;diameter}} circular screen of vertical wires located within the ring of monopoles. His research is still used today to guide the design and site selection of [[HF/DF]] arrays. Records of his research are available in the university's archives. Hayden was later employed by [[Southwest Research Institute]] where he continued to contribute to HF direction finding technology.

===The 1960s–1970s construction boom and subsequent demolition===

In 1959, the U.S. Navy contracted with [[ITT Corporation|ITT]] Federal Systems to deploy a worldwide network of [[AN/FRD-10]] HF/DF arrays based on lessons learned from the Bondville experimental array.

[[File:Sobe Communications Site.jpg|thumb|left|CDAA at US Navy Sobe Communications base, [[Yomitan]], [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]], Japan]]

The FRD-10 at NSGA Hanza, Okinawa was the first installed, in 1962, followed by eleven additional arrays, with the last completed in 1964 at NRRF Imperial Beach, CA. (Silver Strand) which was demolished in 2014. Due to their immense size, the ___location of the Bondville array ({{coord|40.0494|N|88.3807|W|scale:2000}}) and the other post-war Wullenweberantenna arrays are clearly visible in high-resolution aerial photography now available on the internet.

Also in 1959, a contract to build a larger Wullenweber arrayCDAA — the [[AN/FLR-9]] antenna receiving system — was awarded by the U.S.&nbsp;Air Force to GT&E&nbsp;Sylvania Electronics Systems (now [[General Dynamics]] Mission Systems).

The first FLR-9 was installed at [[RAF Chicksands]] ({{coord|52.0443|N|0.389182|W|scale:5000}}) in the United Kingdom in 1962. The second FLR-9 was installed at [[San Vito dei Normanni Air Station]] ({{coord|40.64700|N|17.83900|E|scale:5000}}), Italy also in 1962. Following base closures, the arrays at Chicksands and San Vito were dismantled in 1996 and 1993, respectively.

[[File:CDAA Elmendorf AFB.PNG|thumb|left|FLR-9 Wullenwebercircularly disposed antenna array at [[Elmendorf Air Force Base]], [[Alaska]], USA, completed in 1966.]]

A second contract was awarded to Sylvania to install AN/FLR-9 systems at [[Misawa AB]], Japan; [[Clark AB]], Philippine Islands; Pakistan (never built); [[Elmendorf AFB]], Alaska; and Karamürsel AS, Turkey. The last two were completed in 1966. The Karamürsel AS was closed and array was dismantled in 1977 in retribution for the suspension of U.S. military aid to Turkey. The Clark AB array was decommissioned after the Mt.&nbsp;Pinatubo volcano eruption in 1991. It was later converted into an outdoor amphitheater which is part of the [[Nayong Pilipino Clark]] theme park. Demolition of the Misawa FLR-9 began in October&nbsp;2014.

A pair of FRD-10s not equipped for HF/DF were installed in 1969 at NAVRADSTA(R) Sugar Grove, WV ({{coord|38.5129|N|79.2790|W|scale:5000}}), for naval HF communications, replacing the NSS receiver site at the Naval Communications Station in Cheltenham, Maryland.

[[File:Elmendorf AFB Alaska - 10sep2002.jpg|thumb|An overhead view of [[Elmendorf Air Force Base|Elmendorf AFB]], [[Alaska]], in late 2002. The Wullenweberantenna array is the large circle in the forested area, in the upper left, comparable in size to the adjacent [[airstrip]].]]

The Elmendorf array was decommissioned in May 2016<ref>[http://www.25af.af.mil/News/ArticleDisplay/tabid/6217/Article/779267/silencing-the-arctic-mammoth.aspx Silencing the Arctic Mammoth] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018233223/http://www.25af.af.mil/News/ArticleDisplay/tabid/6217/Article/779267/silencing-the-arctic-mammoth.aspx |date=2016-10-18 }}", ''25th Air Force website'', 23&nbsp;May 2016.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ktva.com/inside-a-classified-cold-war-era-antenna-site-now-shut-down-625/|title= A look inside a classified Cold War-era antenna site, now shut down|website=KTVA|date=25 May 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170501061010/http://www.ktva.com/inside-a-classified-cold-war-era-antenna-site-now-shut-down-625/|archive-date=May 1, 2017}}</ref> due to its age and unavailable repair parts.

The U.S.&nbsp;Army awarded a contract in 1968 to F&M&nbsp;Systems to build AN/FLR-9 systems for [[USASA Field Station Augsburg]], Germany, and Ramasun Station in [[Mueang Udon Thani District#Ramasun Station|Udon Thani]], Thailand ({{coord|17.2919|N|102.8682|E|scale:2000}}). Both were installed in 1970.<ref>The Army version has the same design as the Air Force version, but the design of the delay lines in the Beam Forming Networks inside the Central Building are different. The Army used what is called a "Lumped Constant" delay line design and the Air Force used a "Coaxial" delay line design.</ref> The Ramasun Station array was dismantled in 1975 following base closure.

During the 1970s, the Japanese government installed two large Wullenweberantenna arrays, similar to the FRD-10, at [[Chitose, Hokkaidō|Chitose]] and [[Miho, Ibaraki|Miho]].

===Surviving arrays and replacements===

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In 1998 the Augsburg array ({{coord|48.45121|N|10.86275|E|scale:10000}})—located in Gablingen, a town in the north of Augsburg—was turned over to the [[Bundesnachrichtendienst]]. Technology enthusiasts, reporters, and even local politicians are still not admitted to the complex and there are few official statements about its purpose. The area was greyed out in the map layers of Google Maps<ref>Remark: It was clearly visible in Google on 22&nbsp;May 2015.</ref> and Bing Maps. Therefore, it is believed to be still in service being used by BND and NSA as part of a larger complex of combined informational technology.

===Post–Cold War arrays===

Currently,{{when|date=July 2020}} the Strategic Reconnaissance Command of the [[Bundeswehr|German Armed Forces]] operates a Wullenweber array in [[Bramstedtlund]] with a diameter of {{convert|410|m}} as one of its three stationary [[Sigint]] battalions.

[[File:NASA FIRMS 2025-08-17 Chernyakhovsk CDAA 0.8km.png|thumb|Satellite imagery of the 0.8&nbsp;km radius [[Chernyakhovsk CDAA]]]]

{{Asof|November 2020}} the Strategic Reconnaissance Command of the [[Bundeswehr|German Armed Forces]] operates as one of its three stationary [[Sigint]] battalions a {{convert|410|m}} wide circularly disposed array in [[Bramstedtlund]]. It was inaugurated in 1995 with construction started in 1989.<ref>{{cite web|title= Ein Vierteljahrhundert “Kastagnette“ |url= https://www.bundeswehr.de/de/organisation/cyber-und-informationsraum/aktuelles/ein-vierteljahrhundert-kastagnette-4184780 |work= [[Bundeswehr]] |date=2022-11-12 |access-date=2025-08-25 |lang=de |trans-title= A quarter-century Kastagnette“}}</ref>

In August 2025 media reported on [[Chernyakhovsk CDAA]], an almost finished, 1,600&nbsp;m wide circularly disposed array circa 5&nbsp;km southeast of the [[Chernyakhovsk (air base)|Chernyakhovsk airbase]] in the [[Kaliningrad enclave]].<ref>{{cite news|title= Satellite Images Appear To Show Russia Has New Spy Base on NATO's Doorstep |url= https://www.newsweek.com/russia-kaliningrad-spy-base-satellite-images-baltic-sea-nato-2117706 |work= newsweek.com |first1= Jordan |last1= King |first2= John |last2= Feng |date= 2025-08-22|access-date=2025-08-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-08-20 |title=Putin lässt Mega-Abhörstation bauen – direkt an Nato-Grenze! |url=https://www.bild.de/politik/ausland-und-internationales/putin-laesst-mega-abhoerstation-bauen-direkt-an-nato-grenze-68a46c8ece696d388164233a |access-date=2025-08-22 |website=bild.de |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Huge Antenna System is Being Built in Kaliningrad to Monitor NATO |url=https://militarnyi.com/en/news/huge-antenna-system-is-being-built-in-kaliningrad-to-monitor-nato/ |author=Vladislav V. |date=2025-08-21 |access-date=2025-08-23 |website=Militarnyi |language=en-US}}</ref>

==See also==

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*[[Radio direction finding]]

*[[Direction finding]]

*[[AN/FLR-9]], a ''Wullenweber''-class antenna array

*[[SIGINT]]

*[[Silver Strand Training Complex]]