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"TEMPEST and QinetiQ" – Electronic eavesdropping counter-measures
Throw the word "tempest" into a conversation with a bunch of forty-somethings and you're likely to evoke fond childhood memories of square-jawed hero Troy Tempest in that classic 1967 Gerry Anderson puppet series, "Stingray". Fast forward almost 40 years into the 21st Century and the word takes on an altogether more sinister meaning in the shadowy world of espionage.
The acronym "TEMPEST" has many interpretations, but the most widely accepted one is "Telecommunications Electronics Material Protected from Emanating Spurious Transmissions".
"TEMPEST" refers to the measures that need to be put in place to counter the interception of electromagnetic radiation being emitted from everyday apparatus such as hard drives, printers, fax machines, computer monitors and so on.
These emissions can be intercepted by covert agents and used to spy on an individual or organisation. For example, the radiation fields surrounding a seemingly innocuous CRT display may be picked up by rogue operatives, the signals demodulated and then, amazingly, the data that was originally displayed on the computer monitor can be pieced back together again.
Surely, you think, corporations and governments must be aware of this. But if so, what are they doing about it? The race is on to develop materials and equipment to counter this electronic surveillance activity. The methods may involve modifying power supplies and cables and shielding rooms and even whole buildings against "TEMPEST" attack.
If not good old Troy Tempest, who's coming to the rescue? Enter the UK Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) - the Government's key Ministry of Defence (MoD) research and development body.
In 2001, DERA was split into two parts: DSTL and QinetiQ. DSTL, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory network, represents the most secretive MoD laboratories and test facilities, like the Chemical and Biological Warfare Research Lab at Porton Down and the Forensic Explosives Lab (among other things) at Fort Halstead, Kent, which are still under strict MoD control.
QinetiQ - a play on the word "kinetic" in the style of "quality" - is the commercial public sector wing of the old DERA facilities, bringing together the best UK scientific minds and using their cutting edge research in the wider industrial arena.
QinetiQ Aquila, at the end of typical residential Golf Road in Bickley, Bromley (below), is a comparatively little known former DERA site in the south east London commuter belt on the edge of Kent. It has been researching, developing and testing "TEMPEST" technology since at least the mid-1980s. Other activities there have included the test, evaluation and calibration of electronic components for inclusion in military defence projects.
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QinetiQ Aquila
now replaced with the
Aquila housing estate
[ 51 23 54N, 00 03 41E ] |
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'Aquila' is the Latin word for 'eagle' and in Greek Mythology, Aquila was the beloved bird of the God Zeus, entrusted with bearing his weapons of choice, the thunderbolts.
QinetiQ Aquila was only closed down in the last few years and was earmarked for development into a prime location for over 200 houses (below), as the main train line into central London lies next door. Indeed that train track, with its high voltage third rail, caused many a headache for the Aquila scientists, playing havoc with their equipment.
The site, which had been in MoD use since 1946, has been abandoned for some time but fear not, Getmapping's aerial photo of the site (also below) was shot in Summer 2002, before the bulldozers were called in.
Check out the Bird's Eye view from Windows Live Local (further below) and you can see the Aquila housing estate under construction in 2005. In late 2006, Google Earth's imagery (also further below) was updated and now shows the Aquila housing estate instead!
In 2004, just a month before the whole MoD site was demolished, urban explorer Simon Cornwell documented every Aquila building on his Urbex website, in a fascinating gallery of photographs:-
The old Aquila "TEMPEST" facilities have been transported over to another long standing DERA location at the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Hampshire. QinetiQ's enclave at Farnborough (further below) can be spotted at the Cody Technology Park, named after Samuel Franklin Cody (actually born Cowdery), the American aviation pioneer who had made a powered flight from Farnborough Airfield in 1908.
The Aquila housing estate under development in early 2006
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QinetiQ Farnborough
[ 51 16 44N, 00 47 34W ]
QinetiQ Pyestock
[ 51 17 00N, 00 48 30W ] |
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Getmapping's aerial photo of the Farnborough site (above, top) shows the QinetiQ enclave in the south east of the shot but also an intriguing development in a clearing in Pyestock Wood to the north west. Note the overpass running across the main road apparently connecting the two locations.
That clearing in the wood turns out to be yet another DERA facility more recently run by QinetiQ. It is the Pyestock annexe to QinetiQ Farnborough, responsible for the development and testing of jet engines and also the research into their noise reduction. Take a look at Google Earth's close-up aerial photo of the Pyestock site (above, bottom) and note the massive network of pipelines.
The jet engine complex at Pyestock (developed from inventor Sir Frank Whittle's original Power Jets plant in the 1940s) has suffered closure too, apparently a victim of the Government's reluctance to invest further, when a glut of similar facilities is available elsewhere in the world.
In February 2005, controversial planning applications were made to transform the majority of the former QinetiQ Pyestock site into Hartland Park – a huge goods distribution logistics park containing massive warehouses. After lengthy consultation with the local council and residents, an exhibition of the latest revised master plans was made in June 2006. The material can be viewed on the official Hartland Park website.
In September 2007, intrepid urban explorer Simon Cornwell gathered together the fruits of yet another of his expeditions. He launched a fantastic website devoted to the Pyestock National Gas Turbine Establishment (NGTE). His website is constantly being expanded as he adds more and more material. Well worth bookmarking and visiting regularly!
Secretive Government research and test laboratories may come and go, but thanks to the various online mapping and aerial photography research tools, the truth is always out there ... just a few clicks away.
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All the locations featured in this article at high resolution courtesy of Google Maps!
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