{"id":9218,"date":"2019-10-30T22:02:17","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T02:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ss.sites.mtu.edu\/mhugl\/?p=9218"},"modified":"2019-12-16T18:02:20","modified_gmt":"2019-12-16T23:02:20","slug":"project-sanguine-gecooper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ss.sites.mtu.edu\/mhugl\/2019\/10\/30\/project-sanguine-gecooper\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Sanguine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the 1960s the US Navy devised a plan to create a way to communicate with deep-sea submarines anywhere in the world. To create this world\u2019s largest radio antenna, 41 percent of Wisconsin would have a large grid of cables running underneath it, ultimately turning its bedrock layer into this giant radio antenna. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This idea came up during the Cold War, because there was no dependable way to send signals to the nuclear-powered submarines that would be submerged for months at a time. Radio waves do not travel well through water, so Project Sanguine was an attempt at ensuring that there was an antenna capable of transmitting extremely low-frequency (ELF) waves through the water to reach the submarines uninterrupted. As it turns out, this project never came to fruition, largely based on its overwhelming cost, and the environmental impact it would have. These concerns that kept this project from being completed will be discussed in more detail in the rest of this report. Even though Project Sanguine never came to be, it led to the creation of another, much smaller project, Project ELF. Project ELF was built between Wisconsin, and Michigan\u2019s Upper Peninsula and was operated from 1989 to 2004.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The need of ELF communication was directly from the cold war between the USA and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). At that time there was not an efficient way of communicating with deep water submarines. This caused concern that if they were needed to enact a preemptive or retaliation attack, there would be no way of getting a hold of the submarine until it resurfaced, and by that time, it could be too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Basic concept of different communication signals<\/a> (Vox-CDN.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Using ELF radio waves, the frequencies of the bandwidth of the\ntransmission is very small, therefore the system was only able to transmit short\ncoded text messages at a very slow rate. The signals were designed and used to\ncommunicate with submarines that were deep under the surface of the water to\nalert them to surface, so that a longer message could be sent. To ensure that\nthe sub was always within communication range, there was a constant signal\nbeing sent 24 hours a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ELF Development<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once World War II came to an end, political tensions rose\nbetween the US and the USSR stemming from differing opinions on what political\nsystem needed to be implemented in Europe. Along with this rise in political\ntension came a rise in the buildup of weapons of extreme destruction, including\nthe use of nuclear weapons (Millett and Maslowski). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US started analyzing weapons system capable of withstanding any\ntype of attack without losing communication. This led the US Navy to discover\nthat weapons systems that operated predominantly in ocean waters would be the\nmost resilient from any of these types of attacks. Ultimately, the Navy\nimplemented the TRIDENT weapon system which was used on nuclear submarines\nstarting in 1979 (Klessig). With this new technology, came the\nneed of ELF more than ever, without timely contact with the nuclear submarine,\nthe TRIDENT could not be used. This new technology would allow the Navy to keep\ntheir nuclear submarines submerged while still being within radio contact so\nthat the submarine could receive a message without becoming susceptible to\nenemy attack (Kruger).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ELF waves are transmitted using a low frequency of 45 to 75 Hz. This\nfrequency is very reliable and has the ability to be received extreme depths\nthe nuclear subs are traveling at due to low atmospheric and sea water\nattenuation (Kruger). The signal from the transmitter does\nnot degrade significantly from atmospheric conditions as well as the depth of\nsea water. If the US were to be attacked and hit by a nuclear blast, the signal\nwould still not degrade while traveling though the blast wave, because of the\nlow frequency transmission used (Kruger).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Beginning of Project Sanguine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Overall size of the project (Vox-CDN) <\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Project Sanguine was officially proposed in 1968, originally,\nthe proposed system would create a giant antenna consisting of 6000 miles of\nburied cables. The cables would be assembled in a rectangular grid that would\nspan over 22,500 miles, covering nearly 40% of the state of Wisconsin. This\ngrid would be powered by 100 underground power plants in concrete bunkers. The cables\nthemselves would be grounded at their ends, with loops of AC current flowing 6\nfeet deep through the bedrock layer, resulting in the generation of ELF waves. The\nproject was on track to cost billions of dollars and consume 800 megawatts of\npower. This large cost was justified in the minds of the supporters because it\nwas a matter of national security. This system was able to survive nuclear\nattack, enemy jamming and, deep water, and inclement weather. This is all to\nensure that in a moment of need, the signal is available to emergency messages.\nThe key to being able to withstand anything is because without having a\nguarantee of constant communication, it no longer acts as a viable deterrent\nfrom foreign attacks (Kruger). There was also a fail safe incorporated into the\ndesign of Project Sanguine, if any part of the system was destroyed by a\nnuclear bomb or was interfered with by enemy jamming, the system would not only\nkeep sending the constant signal, but will increase the rate of signal\nmessages, with limited loss in signal strength from the transmission facility\n(Kruger). This increased frequency of transmission also acts as a signal that\nthe system is under duress and needs to have attention towards it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A project that is planning on covering 40% of the state of\nWisconsin is a huge undertaking. Especially if the system did not work as\ndesigned. This measure was though of and countered with the creation of the\nSanguine Test Facility in Clam Lake, Wisconsin in 1968 (Klessig). This was a\nsmall-scale test of the much larger system, but the project needed to be tested\nand verified on a much smaller scale in order to ensure that all will work as\ndesigned. The Clam Lake test facility was built not only to ensure the project\nwould work, but also to test and find limits of ELF communication, allowing for\nfuture modifications to be made and have the whole system improved upon. Part\nof the testing was to analyze the effects of ELF transmissions on nearby\ntelephone poles and electric power lines running through the area for local\nresidential housing. The research that was conducted found these flaws and then\ntechniques to eliminate the effects of the interference on the lines (Kruger).\nPublic opinion takes a large role in a project this large, and if it begins to\nalter regular living of citizens or other important communications, there is a\nlarge chance of the project being shut down and given up on. The field tests\nthat were conducted were sending ELF transmissions around the world to a\nsubmarine that was traveling underneath the polar ice cap above the Artic\nCircle (\u201cExtremely Low Frequency\u201d, 2001). The next step after the successful\ntransmission would be to analyze all of the results of the tests and ensure\nthat the facility would be able to operate as it was initially designed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon analysis, the US Navy determined that the site would be\ncapable of operating effectively and efficiently without causing any effects\nthat would negatively affect surrounding population, or the environment. The\nstrength of the electric field radiating off of the lines between stations was\nfound to have a maximum strength of 0.07 Volts per meter. This small amount of\nelectric field strength was found to have no effect on the surrounding wildlife\nor vegetation in any vicinity near the lines providing limited ecological\nimpacts (Kruger). Any instances that was found to have interference with the\nlocal power poles and telephone lines was able to be alleviated or eliminate\ncompletely. This ensured the Navy that there would be no threats to society,\nand the project continued with operation of the facility (Kruger).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Fate of Project Sanguine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the results test analysis of the project was announced, a\nprovisional panel was created by the National Academy of Sciences and the\nNational Academy of Engineering in 1973. The purpose of this committee was to\nreview the US Navy\u2019s statement that the ELF system would perform as expected. There\nwas hesitation in the belief that this system would come without draw backs,\nthese were expressed in two papers that were written questioning whether the\nsystem would work correctly and if certain technical issues were identified\ncorrectly. Following the publishing of these papers, the committee reviewed the\nconcerns and checked these against the data collected at the Wisconsin Test\nFacility, consulting with experts in that field of study to determine if the\narguments proposed against this project were valid (Booker). Many of the\nconcerns mentioned pertained to atmospheric issues like signal jamming,\nattenuation and signal noise. Signal noise issues could come from natural\nevents, such as thunderstorms, but upon analysis from the panel, concluded that\nwhile it could be an issue, it would depend entirely on the location and time\nof the incident. The secondary issue with noise was the difference between the\ncommunication cable being buried or above ground, and the panel determined the\neffects were negligible (Booker). Enemy Jamming concerns were addressed in the\nsame fashion, experts concluded that while it is possible, the amount of power\nwould be unrealistic to expect that an enemy would be capable of jamming the\nsignal. The process of jamming that could affect the system would be so\ndifficult and expensive, that it was deemed capable of resisting any attempt of\nenemy jamming (Booker). Concluding the investigation of these possible flaws of\nSanguine\u2019s system, the panel ultimately concluded that the Navy\u2019s initial\nproposal would in fact work as designed and there would be no environmental\nimpact causing the project to fail. The panel of experts proposed that more\ntests should be concluded to ensure all operations of the system would be to\nstatus quo (Booker)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this project was validated to work as expected, another\nproject by the name SEAFARER was concluded to be a more effective design of the\nsystem. Ultimately, in 1975, the new project SEAFARER was launched, utilizing\ntwo transmission stations as opposed to Sanguine\u2019s single station. The location\nof this second station was picked to be in Michigan\u2019s upper peninsula, in\nRepublic, MI (Webbe).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As it seems, the project was extremely controversial from the\nstart and attacked by environmental groups, politicians, and antiwar groups who\nwere concerned about the effects of high ground currents and electromagnetic\nfields on the environment. The Navy eventually abandoned the project, but\nproposed some more mild variants. Both Project Seafarer (1975) and Austere ELF (1978)\nwere shut down once again, until Project ELF (1981) was finally approved.\nSenator Gaylor Nelson, Democrat of Wisconsin, had fought the project for five\nyears, and finally in 1973 went on the record saying,\u201d The expenditure of $57\u2010million for development of Project Sanguine\nhas been a tragic waste of the taxpayers\u2019 money\u201d. In 1995, Russ Feingold\nsubmitted a bill to congress to shut down project ELF entirely (Feingold). Ultimately,\nthe Project was reviewed, and on September 30, 2004, the Navy determined that\ndue to the collapse of the USSR in 1991, there need for nuclear deterrence was\nnot as extreme, and was deemed outdated and unnecessary (The Nuclear Resister).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After years of fighting and appealing, Project Sanguine was\nultimately dropped by the US Navy, but had three more proposed projects to\nreplace it. Ultimately, Project ELF was launched and grew roots in Northern\nWisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but being that there were six\ncommunication systems set up for communicating with submerged vessels, the\nproject was ultimately shut down in 2004.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Primary Sources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
  1. Booker, H. G. and N. R. C. Summary Statement of the Ad Hoc Panel on Sanguine<\/em>, Department of Defense, Defense Technical Information Center. 1972.<\/li>
  2. Feingold, Russ. (1995). \u201cExtremely Low Frequency Communication System Termination and Deficit Reduction Act<\/a>\u201c. Congressional Record  \u2013 Senate \u2013 January 4, 1995 141.1:<\/em> S231- S232.<\/li>
  3. Kruger, Bodo. Project Sanguine, FBM Command and Control Communications<\/em>. Department of the Navy, Electronic Systems Command. 1972.<\/li>
  4. The Nuclear Resister. (2004). \u201cProject ELF Closes<\/a>\u201c. The Nuclear Resister<\/em>: 135.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Secondary Sources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    1. \u201cExtremely Low Frequency Transmitter Site Clam Lake, WI.\u201d<\/a> (2001). The United States Navy Fact File.<\/em><\/li>
    2. Manaugh, Geoff. \u201cProject Sanguine and the Dead Hand<\/a>.\u201d BLDGBLOG<\/em>, 4 May 2017, <\/li>
    3. Millett, Allan Reed., and Peter Maslowski. For the Common Defense: A Military History of the United States of America<\/em>. New York: Free, 1994. <\/li>
    4. \u201cPROJECT SANGUINE IS DEBATED AGAIN<\/a>.\u201d The New York Times<\/em>, The New York Times, 15 June 1975, <\/li>
    5. Special, Anthony Ripley. \u201cPROJECT SANGUINE IS SET BACK AGAIN<\/a>.\u201d The New York Times<\/em>, The New York Times, 28 Nov. 1973, <\/li>
    6. Sonnenberg, Mike. \u201cProject Sanguine In The Upper Peninsula<\/a>.\u201d Lost In Michigan<\/em>, 10 Feb. 2019, <\/li>
    7. Stromberg, Joseph. \u201cWhy the US Navy Once Wanted to Turn Wisconsin into the World’s Largest Antenna.<\/a>\u201d Vox<\/em>, Vox, 10 Apr. 2015, <\/li>
    8. Webbe, Stephen. (13, Oct 1981) Navy gets go-ahead for new sub communication system.<\/a> The Christian Science Monitor<\/em> [Boston, Mass].<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      For Further Reading<\/h2>\n\n\n\n