It was obvious from its construction speed just how important the new
site in Bavaria was to the Americans. Only four-and-a-half months after
it was begun, the new, surveillance-proof building at the Mangfall Kaserne in Bad Aibling
was finished. The structure had a metal exterior and no windows, which
led to its derogatory nickname among members of the
Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), the German foreign intelligence agency:
The "tin can."
The construction project was an expression of an especially close and trusting cooperation
between the American National Security Agency (NSA) and the BND. Bad
Aibling had formerly been a base for US espionage before it was
officially turned over to the BND in 2004. But the "tin can" was built
after the handover took place.
The heads of the two intelligence agencies had agreed to continue
cooperating there in secret. Together, they established joint working
groups, one for the acquisition of data, called Joint Sigint Activity,
and one for the analysis of that data, known as the Joint Analysis
Center.
But the Germans were apparently not supposed to know everything their
partners in the "tin can" were doing. The Americans weren't just
interested in terrorism; they also used their technical abilities to spy
on companies and agencies in Western Europe. They didn't even shy away
from pursuing German targets.
DPA
German intelligence cooperates closely with the NSA in Bad Aibling.
