Radio Moscow and the Cold War

Radio Moscow

Geopolitics and international conflicts during the Cold War made it important for the United States and the Soviet Union to inform people or influence their political views, and this in many countries around the world. But how did they reach their audience?

Today, we can hardly imagine a world without the Internet, cable TV and satellites that brings all the news and information from across the globe in your lap. Yet, during most of the Cold War, people only had newspapers, local TV, FM and AM radio. The only solution to spread ideas was shortwave radio, as these waves travel around the globe and can be listened to by everyone with a shortwave radio.

Further down, you can listen to many fascinating English-language broadcast samples from Radio Moscow and other world services.

Both East and West had, and still have, shortwave radio stations with a world service. The best known are Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty on one side, and Radio Moscow, Radio Havana Cuba and Radio Peking on the other side. Everyone had their own truth and accused the other side of expansion drift, disinformation and inciting across the world. See also Cold War Signals.

One truly iconic station was Radio Moscow World Service. Their foreign service broadcasting started in 1929 with transmitters in Moscow and Leningrad, and later also relay stations in Vladivostok and Magadan. Radio Moscow reached the whole of Eurasia, Africa and North and South America. During the Cold War, their broadcasts reached across the world with transmitters in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and Cuba, and this in more than 70 languages.

Joe Adamov

Their most popular program was without doubt Moscow Mailbag with Joe Adamov answering letters from Americans. They dared to asked a wild range of questions, some critical and some truly hilarious, but Joe handled them all.

The iconic radio host, born in 1920, started working for Radio Moscow in 1942. He began hosting Moscow Mailbag in the 1950’s and did this for more than forty years. Raised in England and fluent in English, Adamov interviewed many important western politicians and was official translator at the trial of downed U-2 pilot Gary Powers. When Radio Moscow was renamed Voice of Russia in 1993, Adamov continued working as radio host until 2004. He passed away in 2005.

Moscow Mailbag clearly intended to disprove claims that circulated in the western world but also gave an interesting view on the Soviet mindset. There's a CBS audio interview with Joe Adamov at Expo 67 in Canada and one at PBS Red Files.

Unfortunately, few broadcast recordings survived the pre-digital Cold War era, and sometimes you need a stroke of luck, like studio recordings of Radio Moscow that surfaced in New York.

It all started in the 1960s, when New York Public Radio WNYC tried to bridge the cultural and political gap between the Soviet Union and the United States. They broadcast recordings on reels they received from Radio Moscow. Their content and sometimes obvious propaganda eventually caught the attention of the FBI, ending the propaganda party.

Fortunately, many tapes survived. They are now available at the New York Municipal Archives, and you can listen to many audio samples that immerse you in the Cold War atmosphere. The WNYC archive has some hundred recordings, so I selected some gems for you to get a taste of the collection.

In 1960, Joe Adamov explained in one of the many Moscow Mailbag episodes that there are no shortages in the USSR. He also talked about the 1960s prediction by Soviet economists, who expected the Soviets to have the highest standard of living in the world by 1980, leave the US far behind in production, and more optimistic news. In 1965, he countered rumours about the ousted Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and explained life in the USSR.

Nina Petrovna Khrushcheva, the wife of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, addressed in 1962 the concerns in letters of American women and explained the good intentions of the Soviets. Vladimir Pozner, another well known journalist, discussed bread and its historic and cultural significance in Moscow Meridian.

Radio Moscow discussed in 1960 the automation of Soviet industries and benefits for the workers. Moscow Radio wasn't always in the defensive, they also attacked the U.S. involvement in Vietnam and western propaganda in 1960. The Weekly Press Review (there are many episodes) are another gem that leaks the Soviets sentiment.

The complete archive is available at WNYC's New York Municipal Archives. They also explain how the tapes ended up in New York and the stir they eventually caused. Whether the broadcasts of Radio Moscow actually influenced the opinion of people remains a question. Mark Winek examined this in Radio Moscow and the Early Cold War.

Shortwave and DX enthusiasts also recorded many shortwave stations on reel-to-reel tapes or cassettes, and these are preserved in the fascinating digital Shortwave Radio Audio Archive (SRAA). They have recordings of Radio Moscow and their American counterparts Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe (RFE), Radio Liberty (RL) and many other stations.

There are quite a few interesting VOA recordings. They covered the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, the 1970 Palestinian aircraft hijacking in Jordan, a 1979 news broadcast that covers the 10th anniversary Apollo 11 moonlanding and the 1981 assassination attempt on President Reagan, to name a few. Over the years, RFE and RL have broadcast in 54 languages of the targeted countries and regions, such as Russian, Turkmen, Belorussian and many more.

Some fascinating recordings of Radio Moscow are the 1968 crisis in Czechoslovakia with the invasion of Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces. There's also the 1981 Polish crisis with declaration of martial law and the Soviet view on the situation in Poland.

SRAA also has various Radio Havana Cuba recordings, such as the 1974 speech by Fidel Castra, both in Spanish and English, and the 2016 commemoration on Castro's death. They also have many Radio Peking recordings, like China's First Satellite in 1970. You can also listen to the 1990 final broadcast of Radio Berlin International, marking the end of both the station and the existence of East germany.

You can search the SRAA database for any broadcast station, or search all Radio Moscow recordings or all Voice of America recordings. If “no results found” is returned, simply refresh their page to find the stations anyway..

More about the battle over radio waves on Cold War Signals. Interested in shortwave listening? The SWL Shortwave Listening page gives you an introduction. The SWLing Post blog has a wealth of information about shortwave, receivers and broadcast stations. Radio Moscow is still in the air, but changed its name in 1993 into Voice of Russia and renamed it again in 2014 into Radio Sputnik.

Note that the archived historical recordings are not intended to promote any point of view. Bear in mind that these stations had specific propaganda purposes in the Cold War era, and might not always portrait the facts accurately.

Happy listening... and don't believe everything you hear!

Mysterious Cold War Signals

ASA SIGINT truck at Czech border
Source: ASA Det J Schneeberg Vets

An important part of the Cold War was fought over radio waves and all sorts of radio signals filled the aether. A shortwave or VHF receiver with a good antenna was, and still is, all you need to discover innumerable signals. Of course, these signals also caught the attention of both radio amateurs and intelligence organisations.

 

Signals intelligence (SIGINT) comprises communications intelligence (COMINT) and electronic intelligence (ELINT). The latter is the interception and analysis of various technical signals such as weapons systems, navigation and radar. ELINT was an important part of the Cold War and is today still an indispensable part of modern intelligence gathering and warfare.

The secrets behind the signals were often revealed, either by ELINT or HUMINT (Human Intelligence i.e. espionage). However, some signals remained unidentified for decades and even rose to the stardom of mysterious Cold War signals. Speculation about their purpose fueled the paranoia of that era. Occupying certain frequencies for use in case of war, or the notorious Dead Hand autonomous launch system for nuclear missiles that would initiate a launch when the mysterious signal interrupted. Eerie, but only speculations.

Tracking Nukes

One of those mysterious signals was nicknamed Russian Woodpecker, with its characteristic repetitive tapping noise. The Woodpecker's annoying high-power signal - an estimated 10 Megawatt - switched between different frequencies and disrupted legitimate HF signals (3-30 MHz) from utility and amateur communications across the world. The signal first appeared in 1976 and continued until 1986. Only after the fall of the Soviet Union it was confirmed that the signal came from an over-the-horizon (OTH) radar, part of Soviet early warning system for  ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles, i.e.nukes).

Receiver antennas Chernobyl-2 site from the Duga-1 (source: Ingmar Runge)

The Soviet Duga-1 OTH (Rus. Дуга-1 ЗГРЛС) comprised two military sites in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR). The Liubech-1 transmitter site near Kloniv, and 50 km southwest the Chernobyl-2 receiver site near Chernobyl. Both transmitter site and receiver site each had two giant antennas. The huge antenna for the lower HF frequencies (right on photo) was 450 m (1476 ft) wide and 150 m (492 ft) high. The "small" antenna for the higher HF frequencies (left) was 250 m (820 ft) wide and 90 m (295 ft) high.

Duga-1 became operational in 1976 and was directed over Greenland towards North America. The Chernobyl-2 site was codenamed STEEL YARD by Western military intelligence, who apparently managed to photograph the site during the Cold War.

Coverage Duga-1, 2 and N radars
(Earth's northerly top view)

The first experimental OTH radar, called Duga-N or Duga (no number) was located in Ukraine near Mykolaiv at the Black Sea and directed towards China. Duga-N became operational in 1972.

The Duga-2 radar was located in the far east of the USSR, in the region Komsomolsk-on-Amur, with the transmitter in Lian and receiver in Bol'shaya Kartel, 50 km southeast of Lian. Duga-2 was directed over the North Pole towards Canada and North America. Note that the map shows the approximate coverage of the radars, not necessarily the actual reach, which depended on various conditions.

The Duga was designed to track ICBMs at 6-10.000 km (3400-6200 mi) and aircraft up to 3000 km (1865 mi). The actual range depended on the ionospheric conditions. They operated between 5 and 28 MHz, right on HF band (3-30 MHz), causing the strong interference. The huge antennas were phased array antennas where the beam could be directed electronically without any moving parts. The received signals were processed digitally.

 

Peeking Beyond the Horizon 

 

Most radar waves (30 MHz up to 300 GHz) go straight ahead. Radar therefore works line-of-sight (LOS) and the curvature of the Earth limits its range. You can't look beyond the horizon, only above it. If the Duga with its 150 m (492 ft) high antenna was a normal LOS radar, it's horizon was a mere 44 Km (27 mi) away, since the distance to its horizon in kilometer = √ 13 x 150 m (for miles use 1.5 x ft).

Therefore, the further an ICBM or nuclear bomber is, the higher it must fly or the closer it must get to become visible above the radar's horizon, and that's way too long after its launch. LOS radar was therefore insufficient to provide early warning in case of an attack against the Soviet Union.

The solution to this problem was the over-the-horizon radar station. In Russian, Загоризо́нтная радиолокационная станция (ЗГРЛС) i.e. Zagorizóntnaya radiolokatsionnaya stantsiya (ZGRLS).

Over-the-horizon radar principle

Over-the-horizon (OTH) radar transmits a powerful HF signal towards the ionosphere. Depending on the angle of the signal, the ionosphere reflects the signal back to Earth over a long distance, a so-called skip (hence the name Duga, Russian for arc) and can also reflect the signal from Earth back to the ionosphere multiple skips in a zigzag pattern, traveling huge distances around Earth.

When the OTH signal hits a moving ICBM, the reflected signal creates a small frequency shift (Doppler effect) as any radar does. However, only a very small portion, called backscatter, is reflected back by the ionosphere and effectively received by the OTH station. Complex digital processing is required to extract and analyse the very weak signal and the effect of the ionosphere and skips on the backscatter. Its accuracy and resolution are low, but the system works good enough for a raw early warning.

Disaster and Downfall of Duga- 1 

 

Noteworthy is that the Duga-1 receiver site Chernobyl-2 is located only 10 km (6 mi) from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. According to Vladimir Musiyets, former Commander Chernobyl-2, the installation was damaged during the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and never became operational again. The site now lays within the 30 km (18 mi) Chernobyl exclusion zone. Some sources state that the Woodpecker continued broadcasting until 1989. These reportings possibly refer to other OTH sites.

On the history of over-the-horizon radar (translation) by Yuri Davydov, chief designer OTH radar, details the history and technical aspects of the Duga radars. The Ukrainian Chernobyl -2: the secret twin of the city Chernobyl (translation) from the exclusion zone website has a short history and photos. Global Security also has details on the Duga stations. Radartutorial explains phased array antennas for radar, but if you're not that technical, watch Duga Radar - How it Works.

 

Chernobyl 35 Years Later has excellent photos of the Duga-1 antenna, the control station and its consoles. To get a good sense of the sheer size of the Duga-1 antennas, visit English Russia and check the 14th photo with people underneath the antenna. Many more photos at Lost Places and Egorka's gallery.

Note: The following video mistakenly states "Duga-3 alias Chernobyl 2". The Chernobyl-2 receiver in this video was, together with the Liubech-1 transmitter, part of Duga-1. There was never a Duga-3.

Chernobyl: The Duga radar (Russian Woodpecker)

 

Note: The BBC video mistakenly translated site "Chernobyl-2" into system "Duga-2", although Sergei Babakov in the interview correctly said "Чернобыль-2", which is part of Duga-1. Duga-2 was in the Far East, 9000 Km from Chernobyl. The video title should be Duga-1.

 

The secret Soviet radar hidden in Chernobyl’s shadow - BBC REEL

The mistakes about the different Duga radars are understandable, as each Duga had two separate sites, one transmitter and one receiver site, and the site numbers didn't match the unrelated Duga number.

 
Substitutes for the Duga System

By the mid-1980s it became clear that the computer technology, used for the Duga phased array radars, was insufficient. However, the 1972 Око program for early warning satellites resulted in the first-generation US-K and US-KS satellites, operational in 1982 and the Око-1 program with second generation УС-КMO satellites in 1991. From 2015 on, these satellites were replaced by satellites of the Unified Space Detection System and Combat Control system.

 

In 2005 the Russian Federation also started to build a new generation of phased array radars for early warning, called Voronezh. Seven of these radars are already operational across Russia. More detailed info at Russia's Modern Early Warning Systems.

Buzzing Air and Messages for Spies

Another famous mysterious Soviet signal is known under its call-sign UVB-76. The station, nicknamed The Buzzer, started in 1982 with a two-seconds beep tone and switched after a decade of operation to a monotonous 25 buzz tones per minute, every single day. The station was extensively observed by radio amateurs (without doubt an equally monotonous job) and only a handful of voice conversations were recorded in its 28 years of operation.

Its call-sign UVB-76 was revealed during one of its rare voice conversations. The purpose of The Buzzer remains unknown until today. UVB-76 stopped broadcasting in August 2010 and remains silent since then. The transmitter site is located near Povarovo, 40 km (25 mi) north-west of Moscow, and now appears abandoned.

The UVB-76 "Buzzer" at Numbers Stations Research and Information Center, including some rare voice recordings. Photos of the abandoned alleged Buzzer site are published on English Russia.

Another true Cold War icon are the notorious Numbers stations. The stations broadcast streams of numbers or letters in voice or Morse and are used by intelligence agencies to communicate with their agents, operating abroad. Although the Cold War officially ended, there are still many active numbers stations and new keep popping up.

 

Further Information about SIGINT on the Blog

• Tracking Cold War Signals Wullenweber FLR-9 antenna
• 3 Second from World War 3 Early warning going wrong 
• Russia's Modern Early Warning Systems
  
• OXCART and ELINT Research Stealth for A-12 and SR-71
• Silent Warriors, USAF C-130 downing in Soviet airspace
• USS Pueblo Incident Capture SIGINT ship by North Korea
• Numbers Stations and many related spy cases on the blog
  
• More posts about signals intelligence
  
  

More About SIGINT on the Website

Cold War Signals details the SIGINT battle during the Cold War. You can listen to many audio samples of signals from spy transmitter and international shortwave broadcast stations.

Numbers Stations explains the origins of these broadcasts, their purpose, who uses them and their encrypted messages. Also many documents of the spies cases that involved numbers stations.

Cold War Radio Jamming

SW jamming antenna array

Radio jamming is the deliberate broadcast of an interference signal to prevent the reception of a radio transmission. When talking about radio jamming during the Cold War, we generally think about the disruption of enemy military radio communications and weapon systems signals, a small part of what is known as electronic warfare or EW.

However, radio jamming was also used extensively for non-military purposes during the Cold War. Although the Iron Curtain divided the world physically between East and West, no barbed wire, high fence or border guard could stop radio signals from travelling across borders. During the Cold War, propaganda was a powerful weapon in politics and the battle between ideologies. Winning the hearts of the enemy's civilian population was just as important as depicting the enemy as a tyrannic aggressor.

Both East and West excelled in doing so, but probably the best known examples are the extensive jamming of the powerful shortwave and medium wave stations of Radio Free Europe (RFE) and the Voice of America (VOA). Both these stations have broadcast for decades in various languages, mostly towards eastern-block and Latin American countries, to bypass the censored press in those countries.

Many Soviet citizens listened - often illegally - to these stations to catch a glimpse of what was happening in the West. Of course, these stations not only scheduled the usual international news and entertainment, but also propaganda, directed against the Soviet regime. Sometimes they even inserted covert messages for dissidents or intelligence personnel, operating inside the Soviet Union. It was hardly a secret that RFE initially was a CIA funded station, set up specifically to fight the Cold War by political and propaganda means.

As eager the Western policy makers and intelligence services were to get their broadcast across, into the Eastern-Bloc countries, so eager were the Soviets to prevent these signals from arriving to their citizens' radios. To counter this threat by the West, many very powerful jamming transmitters operated in Russia, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Poland, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria, to name a few. It was often a cat and mouse game between the radio stations, slightly changing the frequency to enable their listeners to tune in clearly, and the jamming station operator tuning his jamming signal right onto the broadcast frequency.

To disrupt the reception of powerful shortwave radio stations, they used even more powerful jamming transmitters, up to 500 Kilowatt (that's a massive 500.000 Watt) with various interference signals such as noise, non-stop music or even recorded voices played backwards. These high-power jamming stations were often located near densely populated areas to increase their effectiveness. Radiation and health apparently were not an issue in those days.

Although the Cold War has ended more than two decades ago, the practice of jamming radio stations still continues in several countries. Amoung them are North Korea, China, Iran and Cuba. Radio jamming is a popular technique for some regimes to (try to) keep their citizens ignorant by extensive censorship.

To get an idea of the jamming equipment and methods they used, I highly recommend Rimantas Pleikys' Radio Jamming website with detailed information, many photos and sound samples of former East European jamming transmitters. He wrote Radio Jamming in the Soviet Union, Poland and other East European Countries (pdf - archived) and the book Radio Jamming, which is no longer available (maybe you can catch it second-hand).

Pleiky also made the video documentary Jamming (in English). Rimantas Pleikys is a former Minister of Communications and Informatics of Lithuania, amateur radio operator and founder of several radio stations.

Empire of noise from Polski Radio

More on Cold War Radio

• Radio Moscow and the Cold War
• Cold War Signals on our website.

Cold War Propaganda on Shortwave Radio

A true Cold War icon

An important part of the Cold War was fought over radio waves, but this battle was not limited to communications signals in voice, Morse or data, technical signals and signals intelligence.

 

There was also a fierce open battle of words that raged through the world. A battle for the minds and hearts of the enemies' people. Just as people could not easily cross the borders between East and West, accurate political and economic information and news could neither travel freely.

 

This was solved by using powerful shortwave transmitters that either spread information to those who were denied access to free press, or spread disinformation to turn the population against their government. Some shortwave world service stations, like Radio Moscow, Voice of America, Radio Havana or Radio Free Europe became true Cold War icons.

The Cold War Signals page at the website is now expanded with the Cold War of Words, fought over shortwave radio, including many fascinating audio samples. That page also explains the electronic battle between East and West, SIGINT collection, eavesdropping on the enemy, and mysterious signals of the Cold War. Another new addition to that page is Maximator, the secret European SIGINT alliance between Germany, the Netherlands, France, Denmark and Sweden.

More about Cold War Radio

• Radio Moscow and the Cold War
• Cold War Radio Jamming

Listen and learn... but don't believe everything you hear!