Chinaradioswl: Clandestine radios what is this ??? Psychological Operations

vendredi 2 janvier 2026

Clandestine radios what is this ??? Psychological Operations

Underground Radio Stations

In the vast world of broadcasting, so-called "underground" stations occupy a unique position. They share with pirate stations the characteristic of being unofficial most of the time, and for those broadcasting from the territory where their potential audience lives, of being illegal.

To give a general idea of the situation, let's say that a pirate radio station is unauthorized and broadcasts sporadically and casually to a non-targeted audience, playing music or satire, while an underground radio station is authorized (or not) but broadcasts a regular program of a political nature (propaganda) to a specific audience.

The vast majority of underground radio stations broadcast from a third country, either through the facilities of official transmitters or by renting airtime from privately owned stations (a common practice in the United States). Therefore, few truly deserve their

"clandestine" title by disseminating, at their own risk and peril,

Political opposition programs broadcast from conflict zones within the country they target.

One of the most famous clandestine radio stations is Radio Venceremos, which broadcast from El Salvador during the civil war and was legalized with the peace accords. Since then, it appears to broadcast only locally, using FM, in San Salvador. (A book has recently been published in England recounting the history of this station.)

It is common practice to analyze the history of clandestine radio stations by dividing them into three categories according to their political strategy:

• "White" radio stations, which are openly and clearly propagandistic;

• "Grey" radio stations, which are more subtle in their messaging;

• "Black" radio stations, which preach the opposite of the beliefs of the group that operates them in order to attribute false narratives to their enemies.

This short article does not aim to be a historical analysis,

particularly of such a fascinating period for the world of

clandestine radio as the years of the Second World War,

for example, I will not use this classification.

For a contemporary listener navigating the shortwave

waves in search of a clandestine station, or who stumbles upon one

one evening by pure chance, the most important thing is first

to be certain of the station's identity, and then

to know, if possible, the organization using broadcasting

to make itself heard in order to situate the station within the

current geopolitical context.

Identification is often a real problem because the broadcast language is rarely French or English. A friend who managed to extract

some recent data from the internet sent me

a short while ago a list of broadcast times, frequencies, and languages

used. The languages used are mostly those not widely spoken by the average European listener: Tajik, Kurdish, Arabic, Persian, Somali, Dahri, and many other vernacular languages.

The second difficulty to consider is the possibility of receiving a usable signal. Either the signal originates from a small transmitter belonging to a small guerrilla group in a South American country, in which case it will be difficult to receive the signal in Europe except in favorable propagation corridors, or the signal arrives strongly but is often jammed by dedicated transmitters that cover it, in whole or in part, with various electronic noise. This is particularly true for stations transmitting to Iran; they are very numerous, have comfortable transmission power, are geographically close to Europe, but are severely hampered by multiple jammers deployed by the authorities in Tehran. To find usable information for your HF receiver, you generally have a few lines in the internal newsletters of the numerous listening clubs that sparingly discuss existing clandestine stations, mostly reprinting information provided by the BBC's Listening Service. Thus, American magazines contain the same information as French fanzines or German journals. However, there are a few clubs that give the subject more importance, and we have a listener in France who has written extensively, in French, about the world of clandestine stations; it is a shame that his writings are not more widely distributed in France and that many of his articles have only been published in Canada. There are also a few books, mostly written in English. My favorite is a book published in the United States entitled "Clandestine Radio Broadcasting - A Study of Revolutionary and Counterrevolutionary Electronic Communication." The authors

are Lawrence C. Soley and John S. Nichols. The publisher is Praeger

of New York. Published in 1987, I managed to obtain this book in

Great Britain for 40 pounds sterling in 1989 (it was at the time

available in France but at a significantly higher price).

and the American publisher had refused to sell it directly (I). If you are interested in 20th-century radio history, I highly recommend acquiring this 385-page book, written in accessible English.

For those seeking to confirm the stations they receive, it is worth noting that it is sometimes possible to obtain excellent QSL cards from certain clandestine stations, provided one is patient, persistent, and has the right addresses.

For all the information useful in your QSL hunt, I invite you to consult the documents published by the American listener Gerry L. Dexter (who writes a column in the renowned Popular Communications, published by CQ). He should be reachable through the editorial staff of "PopCom" at: Popular Communications, 76 North Broadway, Hicksville, NY 11801, USA. Gerry, like his French counterpart Bernard Chenal, has the merit of possessing a multidisciplinary vision of the radio world (technical, political, historical). If you are only looking for a simple list of stations and the social aspect leaves you unmoved, I recommend the "Clandestine List" published by the Danish club DSWCI, Tavleager 31, 2670 Greve, Denmark. Finally, for those who wish to try listening to a station that was once a clandestine Angolan station benefiting from South African aid, and whose current status is not yet very well defined, tune in to 7090 kHz in the early evening where you might hear Radio Vorgan's Portuguese and English programming (the main one).

(UNITA forces station of Jonas Savimbi). It is possible that

this radio station will soon disappear from the HF spectrum and

only broadcast legally at the regional level, as was the case

for Radio Venceremos in El Salvador. So hurry up and

form your own opinion on the matter!

73, Fabien article in 1996 " CQ Radioamateur " SWL : LES RADIOS CLANDESTINES Par Franck F-14368

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_operations_(United_States)

The Air National Guard provides support for Psychological Operations using a modified C-130 Hercules aircraft named EC-130 COMMANDO SOLO, operated by the 193d Special Operations Wing. The purpose of COMMANDO SOLO is to provide an aerial platform for broadcast media on both television and radio. The media broadcast is created by various agencies and organizations. As part of the broader function of information operations, COMMANDO SOLO can also jam the enemy's broadcasts to his own people, or his psychological warfare broadcasting.

The Commando Solo aircraft currently is the only stand-off, high-altitude means available to PSYOP forces to disseminate information to large denied areas. Two orbits were established during Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 2003 invasion of Iraq, one in the northern area and one in the southern part of the country, both far enough from harm’s way to keep the aircraft out of reach of potential enemy attack. At their operational altitude of 18,000 feet (5,500 m) and assuming clear channels, these aircraft can transmit radio and TV signals approximately 170 miles (270 km), which does not reach the objective areas near Baghdad. Straightforward physics dictate the range, given the power installed and the antenna configuration and assuming clear channels.

The enhanced altitude capability of the Commando Solo EC–130J (now funded) is increasing transmitter range. While this is an improvement over 130E capability, it is a small step, since the increase in altitude is only 7,000 feet (less than 50 percent) and the range increase is governed by a square root function (that is, a 14 percent increase in range).^[16]

A challenge to COMMANDO SOLO is the increasing use of cable television, which will not receive signals from airborne, ground, or any other transmitters that the cable operator does not want to connect to the system. At best, in the presence of cable TV, COMMANDO SOLO may be able to jam enemy broadcasts that are not, themselves, transmitted by cable.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Free_Europe/Radio_Liberty

https://elradioescucha.net/2025/07/04/efemeride-75o-aniversario-de-radio-europa-libre-rfe/?fbclid=IwY2xjawPE-tNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEe5VDLJzv8Q80-ndp5XLNYfcC7rkDEdJpn1O5z8Q3RDt7AGfgWsDmsGTOvZgc_aem_Eb3btgeoW53PJhmHUGS2aw

2025 grant suspension

In February 2025 the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) proposed that RFE/RL and Voice of America be considered for closure as a cost saving measure for the U.S. government.^[143] The latest proposal comes after previous suggestions by other government officials to close RFE/RL.^[144]^[145]^{[clarification needed]}

On 14 March, Trump signed an executive order to eliminate USAGM, among other agencies, "to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law."^[146] An anonymous source told Politico that DOGE imposed a 30-day total freeze on funding to RFE/RL and other USAGM outlets, with the intention of making that permanent.^[147]^[148] On 15 March 2025, the United States Agency for Global Media terminated grants to RFE/RL and Radio Free Asia following a directive from the Trump administration.^[13] Reporters and other employees at broadcasters including RFE/RL received an email over the weekend stating that they would no longer be allowed access to their offices and would have to surrender press credentials, work phones, and other equipment.^[149] In response, Steve Capus, president of RFE/RL, said that "The cancellation of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's grant agreement would be a massive gift to America's enemies."^[150]^[151] On 18 March, RFE/RL sued USAGM and two USAGM officials to block the grant termination.^[14]^[15]

On 22 March 2025, the Czech government pledged to support RFE/RL following funding cuts by the U.S. administration under President Donald Trump.^[152] Meanwhile, rock band R.E.M., who had an early hit with the song "Radio Free Europe", released a remixed version with proceeds going to the organization.^[153] In May 2025, Kaja Kallas stated that the EU would provide US$6.2 million to RFE/RL and Sweden pledged US$2 million.^[154]