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SID ‘s Antipodal Colleagues

SUMMARY

Description of an NSA office in Canberra, Australia, staffed by 16 people who work closely with the Australian and New Zealand spy agencies, including to break a network used by the Papua New Guinea Defence Force.

DOCUMENT’S DATE

Oct 08, 2003

PUBLICLY AVAILABLE

Feb 05, 2018

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Page 1 from SID ‘s Antipodal Colleagues
DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL (U//FOUO) SID 's Antipodal Colleagues FROM: Deputy SUSLO Canberra Run Date: 10/08/2003 (U//FOUO) SUSLO Canberra (SUSLOC) has 16 people working to improve already great relations between NSA and our partners in Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, the NSA-Defence Signals Directorate (DSD) relationship is the strongest and most longstanding of the bilateral intelligence relationships and serves as an example for other agencies. SUSLOC is a vital part of the U.S. Embassy, Canberra, community; the chief is a member of the Australia Country Team and takes part in daily intelligence meetings with the Ambassador and senior staff. The recentlyestablished Associate SUSLOC position in Wellington will help establish closer ties with the U.S. Embassy in New Zealand. The A/SUSLOC position provides both liaison and technical support for many areas of cooperation between NSA and New Zealand's Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB). (C) The United States and Australia have been drawn together dramatically in recent years as a result of increased concerns over terrorism, nuclear proliferation, and weapons of mass destruction. Australia has supported all major U.S. initiatives, providing force protection for U.S. troops in the area and deploying troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Examples of ongoing efforts include cooperation with Australian authorities to ensure security and secure communications for the October visit to Australia by the U.S. President, joint efforts to counteract threats to the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Bangkok, and U.S. assistance to DSD following the October 2002 Bali bombing. (S//SI) We cooperate with DSD and GCSB in major areas such as reporting, collection, SIGINT development, counterterrorism, information assurance, ELINT, cryptology, and sensitive areas like close access. NSA and DSD worked together to support military operations during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Significant examples include OCMC and GEOCELL support to DSD and the Australian Special Air Service, SSA support to DSD for possible Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) operations, sharing of Blue Force tracking, and integration of Australians into the CSG in Baghdad. A continuing success story is the provision and exchange of linguists among U.S., Australian, and New Zealand cryptologic platforms to include ships and aircraft. (TS//SI) Other areas where we are expanding cooperation with DSD include reverse engineering: NSA integrees mentor both cryptomathematicians and engineers while tackling the encrypted Very Small Aperature Terminal (VSAT) network used by the Papua New Guinea Defence Force, a goal mentioned in the DSD Director's business plan. Another notable success highlights close NSA and DSD cooperation on counterterrrorism, resulting in SIGINT reports tying high value targets in the Middle East and the Philippines to extremists in Southeast Asia. These reports led to a number of terrorists being detained in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. GCSB is working closely with NSA and DSD to track terrorists in the region SERIES: (U//FOUO) Second Party SIGINT Cooperation 1. SIGINT Directors Set Strategic Direction for 5-Eyes SIGINT Enterprise 2. Communications Security Establishment (CSE) - Our Good Neighbor to the North 3. JESI: Don't Lose That Number! 4. How SIGINT's Done Down Under! 5. SIGINT Directors to Collaborate Virtually 6. SID 's Antipodal Colleagues 7. TICKETWINDOW: Second Party Collection Sharing 8. The Kiwi Connection - Fellowship of the Ring?
Page 2 from SID ‘s Antipodal Colleagues
and has recently offered to target Burma and Bangladesh, two countries suspected of harboring terrorists, but about which we as SIGINTers know little. Both partners continue to look for new access and collection which will benefit the UKUSA countries in this ongoing global war on terrorism. "(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet without the consent of S0121 (DL sid comms)." DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108