E15 was an Egyptian numbers station that utilized letters rather than numbers, but did not use standard NATO phonetic. Instead it used another version of Phonetic alphabet from 1948 that many radio organizations used. (Observed to be used by the American Radio Relay League (1948))
The indication it had Arabic origins stemmed from the reversed group count employed, and triangulation attempts that pointed to Egyptian origin. The station emitted in USB very strongly in European countries near Africa, but was weak farther north. E15 was last heard in May of 2006.
Message Sample
E15 Phonetic
| A= Adam | B= Baker | C= Charlie | D= David | E= Edward |
| F= Frank | G= George | H= Henry | I= Italy | J= John |
| K= King | L= Louis | M= Mary | N= Nancy | O= Otto |
| P= Peter | Q= Queen | R= Robert | S= Susan | T= Thomas |
| U= Union | V= Victor | W= Wiliam | X= X-Ray | Y= Young |
| Z= Zebra |
E15 Message Format
All digits were read right to left like standard Arabic is. (ex. Group count 92 = 29 groups)
| FNA | QTC QTC QTC | NR 2 NR 2 NR 2 | GR 92 GR 92 GR 92 | GSDLW … | RA RA |
| 3-letter ID | Q code indicating message (3x) |
Message serial number (3x) |
Group count (3x) |
5-letter single groups |
Indicates end of transmission (2x) |
| Repeats 5 minutes |
Null Format
| MIS | QRU |
| 3-letter ID | Q code indicating no traffic |
| Repeats 5 minutes | Repeats 1 minute |
Numbers Station Summary
Nickname: Nancy Adam Susan
Activity: Inactive
Emission Mode: USB + Carrier
Voice Summary: Possibly automated voice, though live read could be possible as well. Both male and female voices have read the transmissions with noticeable Arabic accents.
Believed Country of Origin: Egypt
Sources
“ENIGMA Control List #25.” – ENIGMA 2000
ENIGMA 2000 Newsletter Issue #35 (July 2006) – Withdrawn but archived
ENIGMA Newsletter Issue #5 (May 1994), Page 5
