How shortwave radio is resurfacing as a tool in Ukraine

Old school technology is making an important comeback in today’s world of satellites and mobile phones. The longwave radio, which was used by spy agencies for decades to send encrypted messages is being resurrected in time for the conflict in Ukraine.

According to Dr. Andrew Hammond, curator and historian at Washington, D.C.’s International Spy Museum, the shortwave radio “is a classic tool that was used for espionage.

“With a shortwave radio like this, you can transmit information over huge distances,” he told CTV National News.

However, the shortwave radio is now being used again, decades after its demise.

The BBC went back to school after Russia attacked Ukrainian communication towers. They broadcast their news service using the shortwave frequency in an effort to counter Russian propaganda.

“The BBC is using it to transmit it because it’s a lot harder to block those transmissions,” John Figliozzi, a shortwave radio expert and author of the book ‘The Worldwide Listening Guide,’ told CTV National News. “It’s an old technology, but it works.”

Use shortwave in conflict zones is easier than other communication avenues and travels further than TVs or cell phones.

Radio waves are electromagnetic signals. They can be broadcast or tuned into by others. Tuning a radio to the right frequency such as AM or FM channels in your car, will allow you to broadcast radio waves.

Shortwave radios are able to tune into all frequencies including the highest frequency bands. The ionosphere is a layer of atoms that bounces off shortwave transmissions when they are directed at the sky. This allows them to travel farther than other radio frequencies which are restricted by their ability to transmit in straight lines.

In the last few months amateur radio hobbyists used shortwave to reach Russian soldiers and discuss battle plans. Anti war protestors have also used it to ‘troll’ the Russian military, by blasting the Ukrainian national anthem or jamming their channels with annoying ear worms.

“Just from this little box,” Hammond said. “And during the Cold War, this little box came into its own.”

While shortwave was used back in the First World War, it became more widespread in the Cold War era, when the U.S. and the Soviet Union were highly invested in hearing each other’s secret communications and hiding their own.

The Shortwave revolutionized the way spy spies communicate by sending cryptic messages via so-called number station numbers that could be traced back to governments around the globe.

A mysterious monotone voice could be heard if you tuned in at the right moment to any of these stations readThese numbers appeared to be random.

The one-time pad is a type of cipher key that allows the intended recipient to crack these codes.

And it’s still used by modern day Russian spies, including a husband and wife team who had been posing as Canadians for two decades and were arrested in Boston in 2010, inspiring the hit series, ‘The Americans’.

“The shortwave radio is unbreakable,” Hammond said. “So you know that’s a pretty powerful tool.”

Could shortwave be a factor in Ukraine’s success?

“You know necessity is the mother of invention right?” said Figliozzi. “If you need to get through, you’re going to try anything.”

Sending signals and listening — with a tool from the past, reborn.