New number station for spies reportedly located in Germany
British agent radio Type 3 Mk.II from World War II – probably unusable for number stations today.
(Bild: Nikonysta / Shutterstock.com)
Near Böblingen, between two US military facilities, numbers are likely broadcast daily in Farsi – since the start of the Iran war.
Since February 28, 2026, the beginning of the war between the USA and Israel against Iran, there has been a new number station for coded messages. According to a volunteer organization of radio enthusiasts, the station called “V32” is said to be located in Baden-Württemberg. Specifically, between the Böblingen tank barracks and the Patch Barracks. Both military facilities are bases for US troops in Germany.
The radio operators who claim this are not unknown. It is “Priyom”, an international group of radio amateurs and others who have been researching spy stations since 2010. Among other things, Priyom provided insights into “The Buzzer”, a station active since the 1970s, which can be received worldwide depending on the weather, with a characteristic hum. It is said to be located near Saint Petersburg.
Why number stations are still effective
While The Buzzer has apparently served various purposes over the decades as a very powerful station, “V32” from Baden-Württemberg is a classic number station. This is how stations are described that send encrypted messages in the form of read-out numbers. They have primarily been used since World War I to give instructions and information to agents in distant countries.
With good encryption via codebooks with one-time pads (OTP), the method is quite inconspicuous and secure: an agent only needs to regularly tune a small and easily obtainable shortwave receiver to the correct frequency, write down the numbers, and later decrypt them at leisure. The spy does not transmit themselves, which makes them difficult to detect.
“V32” broadcasts daily
The regularity and fixed format of “V32” broadcasts strongly suggest that this is also a classic number station. It broadcasts daily at 3 a.m. German summer time, and the same broadcast is repeated at 9 p.m. In Persian (Farsi), the word “Attention” is spoken three times first, followed by a selection of "Headers". In number stations, these are usually headings or category identifiers for the messages. “V32” then transmits number sequences for about 20 minutes, which could be the actual content.
You can listen to how it sounds at Priyom itself [1]. Since “V32” started broadcasting, there have been several anomalies, such as a Windows system sound in a transmission, or individual words in English repeatedly within the broadcast. Whether these were errors by presumably US operators or diversionary tactics is, as with intelligence agencies, unclear for the time being.
Because apart from the fact that “V32” broadcasts regularly, uses the Persian language, and the transmitter can be located in Baden-Württemberg by triangulation and multilateration, nothing concrete is known. The fact that the US Army's telecommunications unit “52nd Strategic Signal Battalion” is located in the Patch Barracks can at best serve as an indication.
What “V32” is used for is completely unclear
Consequently, the renowned Lithuanian historian Maris Goldmanis also does not want to commit to the purpose of “V32”. He has been researching number stations for years. As Goldmanis told Wired [2], “V32” could be used to reach agents in Iran or the opposition movement there. This is plausible because the Iranian regime strictly restricts other communication, including internet blackouts lasting weeks [3].
According to Wired, Goldmanis also considers it possible that the transmitter is intended only to confuse and occupy the Iranian forces. This is supported by the fact that on its initial frequency of 7910 kHz, it was jammed a few days after broadcasting began – by whom, of course, is unclear. According to Priyom, it has been broadcasting on 7842 kHz since then, and if this frequency is also jammed, the other one is used again. A cat-and-mouse game. The interference is said to come from a “bubble jammer”, a method previously attributed to Iran, also for targeted domestic jamming. But even this is ultimately only an indication.
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This article was originally published in German [9]. It was translated with technical assistance and editorially reviewed before publication.
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[1] https://priyom.org/number-stations/other/v32
[2] https://www.wired.com/story/a-mysterious-numbers-station-is-broadcasting-through-the-iran-war/
[3] https://www.heise.de/news/Iran-Totale-Internetblockade-jetzt-seit-einer-Woche-Berichte-ueber-viele-Tote-11143239.html?from-en=1
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[9] https://www.heise.de/news/Neuer-Zahlensender-fuer-Spione-soll-in-Deutschland-stehen-11240597.html
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