National Defence Radio Establishment (Sweden)
The National Defence Radio Establishment (Swedish: Försvarets radioanstalt, FRA) is a civilian establishment subordinate to the Ministry of Defence. The two main tasks of FRA are signals intelligence (COMINT and SIGINT/ELINT) and support to government authorities and state owned companies regarding IT security.
Interception of signals is done from fixed sites on Swedish territory, from the SIGINT ship HMS Orion (operated by the Swedish Navy, and soon to be replaced by another vessel that meets safety regulations) and from two Gulfstream IV aircraft (operated by the Swedish Air Force).
FRA operated earlier by assignments from several authorities: the Government, the Armed Forces, the National Police Board, the National Inspectorate of Strategic Products, the Board of Customs, the Defence Materiel Administration, the Defence Research Agency and the Emergency Management Agency. Since 2009, FRA only operate by assignment from the Government, the Government Offices and the Armed Forces.
Oversight and decisions regarding information interception is provided by the Defence Intelligence Commission, "Statens inspektion för försvarsunderrättelseverksamheten" (a committee subordinate to the Government responsible for assuring that all interception is done according to Swedish law) and The Swedish Data Inspection Board.
The main headquarters is located on the island of Lovön in Stockholm County. FRA was assigned a budget of 562 million SEK in 2008 and has around 650 employees.
Read more about National Defence Radio Establishment (Sweden): History, Proposition 2006/07:63 - The FRA Law, Computer Power
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