Defence High Frequency Communications Service

The Defence High Frequency Communications Service or the DHFCS is a British military beyond line-of-sight communication system operated by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and used predominately by the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and British Army, as well as other authorised users.

Defence High Frequency Communications Service
Transmitting masts at DHFCS Inskip, Lancashire.
TypeMilitary audio, data and voice communications
LocationGlobal
Use
OwnerMinistry of Defence
OperatorBabcock International Group
Established9 July 2003 (2003-07-09)
Current statusOperational

The system operates from six transmitting and receiving sites across the United Kingdom and is controlled from a network control centre located at Forest Moor in North Yorkshire and a backup site at Kinloss Barracks in Moray. Overseas sites are located in Ascension Island, Cyprus and Falkland Islands.

In 2003 VT Merlin Communications (now Babcock International Group) were awarded the contract to operate the system for a period of fifteen years on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

History
Masts at DHFCS Forest Moor, North Yorkshire.

Legacy systems

Prior to the creation of the DHFCS, the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Navy (RN) operated their own independent high frequency (HF) communications systems. The RAF's Strike Command Integrated Communications System (STCICS), later known as Terrestrial Air Sea Communications (TASCOMM), operated from six sites within the UK whilst the RN system had twelve sites.[1] The systems overlapped in their capabilities whilst simultaneously having gaps in overall capability, high running costs, lack of flexibility and neither were used to their full capacity.[2]

Public private partnership

In 2003 the Ministry of Defence (MOD) decided to merge the existing high frequency communications systems into one enhanced system and thereafter operate and manage it as the Defence High Frequency Communications Service (DHFCS). The Defence Communication Services Agency (DCSA) (now Information Systems and Services (ISS) under Joint Forces Command) awarded a £228m public private partnership contract to VT Merlin Communications (now Babcock International Group) to upgrade and operate the system.[3] The contract lasts for fifteen years (ending in 2018) and is funded by a reduction in the number of transmitting, receiving and control sites and a reduction of 266 military personnel.[3]

Site rationalisation

Through the rationalisation of sites, twelve sites (four RAF, seven RN and a joint site in Gibraltar) were closed between 2003 and 2006. Many sites were used for other military purposes with the sites at Bampton Castle, Chelveston and Milltown being the only sites which closed entirely.

Closed legacy system sites
UK Military High Frequency Transmitter, Receiver and Control Centre Sites Closed as Part of DHFCS Rationalisation
Site Name Location Operator Type Notes
DCSA Bampton Castle Former RAF Bampton Castle, Bampton, Oxfordshire, England Royal Air Force
  • Network Control Station
  • Receiver
 Formerly operated by RAF No. 2 Signals Unit and No. 81 Signals Unit.[4]

Approximately seventy-two masts were removed in December 2003 and the final two removed in 2015.

DCSA Chelveston Former RAF Chelveston, Chelveston, Northamptonshire, England Royal Air Force Transmitter Established 1977, closed in December 2003 and sold by the MoD in June 2005. Operated by RAF No. 81 Signals Unit.[5]
DCSA Clach McKenny Rosneath Peninsula, Argyll and Bute, Scotland Royal Navy Receiver Provided local HF services to naval units in the Firth of Clyde.
RNAS Culdrose RNAS Culdrose, Helston, Cornwall, England Royal Navy
  • Transmitter
  • Receiver
DCSA Fort Staddon Plymouth, Devon, England Royal Navy Transmitter Provided local HF services to Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST).
DCSA Gibraltar Gibraltar (British Overseas Territory) Joint Tri-Service
  • Network Control Station
  • Transmitter
  • Receiver
DCSA Milltown Former RAF Milltown, Elgin, Morayshire, Scotland Royal Air Force Transmitter
DCSA Plymouth Plymouth, Devon, England Royal Navy Receiver Provided local HF services to Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST).
DCSA St. Mawgan RAF St. Mawgan, Newquay, Cornwall, England Royal Air Force Network Control Station
DCSA St. Vincent Admiralty Citadel, Whitehall, London, England. (Former HMS St. Vincent) Royal Navy Network Control Station
DCSA Toward Taynuilt Cowal Peninsula, Agryll and Bute, Scotland Royal Navy Transmitter Provided local HF services to naval units in the Firth of Clyde.
RNAS Yeovilton RNAS Yeovilton, Yeovil, Somerset, England Royal Navy
  • Transmitter
  • Receiver

Purpose
Kinloss
Crimmond
Forest Moor
Inskip
St. Eval
Penhale Sands
Anthorn
Skelton
Defence High Frequency Communications Service (DHFCS) sites within the United Kingdom. Red location markers represent HF receiving sites, blue markers are HF transmitting sites and green markers LF sites.

The service provides HF communications for the Ministry of Defence (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, British Army and Joint Forces Command), other British government departments and NATO (including its Partnership for Peace organisation). A memorandum of understanding exists to allow cooperation between the DHFCS and the US Air Force's (USAF) High Frequency Global Communications System (HFGCS) through a link to the HFGCS at the USAF facility at RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire. A link with the Australian Defence Force's High Frequency Communications System (HFCS) based in Canberra also exists.[6][7]

The service allows real-time strategic communications between users which comprise ground stations, submarines, surface vessels, fixed wing aircraft and helicopters.[8]

Structure and operation

The DHFCS was declared operational in March 2008. Within the UK, the system is divided into three stations of paired transmitter and receiver sites. 'UK North' comprises sites at Kinloss Barracks and Crimond in north east Scotland, 'UK Middle' at Forest Moor and Inskip in northern England and 'UK South' at St. Eval and Penhale Sands in south west England. Three overseas stations, with two sites each, are located in Cyprus, Ascension Island and the Falkland Islands.[9]

The system was originally operated from a network control station (NCS) located at Forest Moor, with an alternate network control station (ANCS) at Kinloss which could be used in the event that Forest Moor station was unavailable. Split site working was introduced in 2011 which allows both the Forest Moor NCS and Kinloss ANCS to control 50% of the network, increasing resilience and recovery time in the event of a loss of service and minimising potential network unavailability.[10]

Sites and Anthorn (Formerly HMS Nuthatch) and Skelton in northern England provides a Very Low Frequency (VLF) transmitting capability which is used to send communications to submerged submarines. Due to the low frequencies involved submarines can only receive VLF communications and do not carry VLF transmission aerials. Therefore, there is no requirement for land-based receiver sites as communications are one way.

The DHFCS is known to have the following capabilities.[11]

  • Nuclear Firing Chain (HF/LF Secure Data)
  • Ship to shore Automatic Link Establishment (ALE), Non ALE (Secure Data) – STANAG 5066 ARQ & DRC
  • Direct Access users Channels (Voice)
  • Multi Channel Broadcasts (Secure Data)
  • Single Channel Broadcasts (Data & Voice)
  • NATO Broadcasts (Secure Data)
  • Off the Air Monitoring (Secure Data)
  • Legacy Ship to Shore Services (Secure Data)
  • Rear Links Services (Secure Data)
  • Maritime Air Telecommunication Organisation (Secure Data & Voice)
  • Terrestrial Air Sea Communications (TASCOMM - Voice)
  • Voice Automatic Link Establishment

DHFCS sites in the United Kingdom
UK DHFCS Transmitter, Receiver and Control Centre Sites[9][12][13]
Site Name Location Type Station Callsign Notes
DHFCS Crimond Former RNAS Rattray (HMS Merganser), Aberdeenshire, Scotland Transmitter UK North Formerly operated by the Royal Navy.
DHFCS Forest Moor Former HMS Forest Moor, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
  • Network Control Station
  • Receiver
 UK Middle TASCOMM Formerly operated by the Royal Navy.
DHFCS Inskip Former RNAS Inskip (HMS Nightjar), Lancashire, England Transmitter UK Middle Formerly operated by the Royal Navy.
DHFCS Kinloss Kinloss Barracks, Moray, Scotland
  • Network Control Station
  • Receiver
 UK North TASCOMM Formerly operated by the Royal Air Force.
DHFCS Penhale Sands Cornwall, England Receiver UK South Formerly operated by the Royal Air Force.
DHFCS St. Eval Cornwall, England Transmitter UK South Formerly operated by the Royal Air Force.

Overseas DHFCS sites
Overseas DHFCS Transmitter and Receiver Sites[9][12][13]
Site Name Location Type Station Callsign Notes
DHCFS Airhead RAF Ascension, Ascension Island, Mid Atlantic Ocean TASCOMM
DHFCS Bush Rincon East Falkland, Falkland Islands, South Atlantic Ocean Falkland Islands TASCOMM
DHFCS Donkey Plain Donkey Plain, Ascension Island, Mid Atlantic Ocean Ascension Island TASCOMM
DHFCS Episkopi Episkopi, Western Sovereign Base Area, Cyprus Cyprus CYPRUS
DHFCS Mocho Pond East Falkland, Falkland Islands, South Atlantic Falkland Islands TASCOMM
DHFCS Salt Lake Western Sovereign Base Area, Cyprus Cyprus CYPRUS

References

Citations
  1. Babcock International Group 2011, p. 12.
  2. Babcock International Group 2011, p. 11.
  3. Babcock International Group 2011, p. 9.
  4. "No 81 Signals Unit, RAF Bampton Castle". National Archives. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  5. "Archaeological Desk Based Assessment - Biomass Plant Chelveston Renewable Energy Park" (PDF). Northamptonshire County Council. CgMs Archaeology. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  6. Babcock International Group 2011, p. 26.
  7. Babcock International Group 2012, p. 21.
  8. Babcock International Group 2012, p. 9.
  9. Babcock International Group 2012, p. 6.
  10. Babcock International Group 2011, p. 28-29.
  11. Babcock International Group 2011, p. 22.
  12. Babcock International Group 2011, p. 18.
  13. "Flight Information Handbook" (PDF). Portal Aeronautical Publications. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 8 December 2016.

Sources
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