Frenchelon is the nickname given to French signal intelligence system in reference to its Anglo-Saxon counterpart ECHELON.
History
Its existence has never been officially acknowledged by French authorities, although numerous journalists, based on military information have mentioned it, since the European Union investigated ECHELON and also its implications in counter-terrorism.
Operations
The system is allegedly operated by DGSE, whose Direction Technique (Technical Direction) is responsible for signal intelligence. The Largest station is in Domme near Sarlat in Perigord. Some of the other stations in France are: Alluets-Feucherolles (Alluets-le-Roi), Mutzig, Mont Valérien, Plateau d'Albion, Agde, Solenzara (South Corsica), and Filley Barracks in Nice. There are some other stations in overseas territories and former colonies
- Saint-Barthélemy
- Bouar
- Djibouti (camp Le Monier)
- Mayotte (Closed in 1998)
- Réunion
- Kourou
- and base aeronavalle La Tontouta in New Caledonia
These stations in addition to the DGSE headquarters on boulevard Mortier in Paris intercept electronic communications, decipher using software coded communications of diplomatic, military or industrial origin. It shouldn't be confused with the French Army's official listening system Emeraude, which used to be mistakenly confused with Frenchelon.
