echelon

n. level, rank; ranking

ECHELON is a name used in western media and in popular culture to describe a signals intelligence collection and analysis network operated on behalf of the five signatory states to the  UKUSA agreement; Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, known as AUSCANZUKUS. The system has been reported in a number of public sources, first in a New Statesman article entitled Someone's Listening in 1988. Its capabilities and political implications were later investigated by a committee of the European Parliament published in 2001.In its report, the European Parliament states that the term ECHELON is used in a number of contexts, but that the evidence presented indicates that it was the name for a signals intelligence collection system. The report concludes that, on the basis of evidence presented, ECHELON was capable of interception and content inspection of telephone calls, fax, e-mail and other data traffic globally through the interception of communication bearers including satellite transmission, public switched telephone networks and microwave links. The committee further concluded that "the technical capabilities of the system are probably not nearly as extensive as some sections of the media had assumed".
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Echelon may refer to:Echelon form, in mathematics, a kind of matrixEchelon formation, a formation in aerial combat, tank warfare, naval warfare and medieval warfare; also used to describe a migratory bird formationECHELON is an intelligence gathering network run by an international alliance of signals intelligence organisations known as UKUSAEchelon IV, in the video game Deus Ex is replaced by Daedalus, a fictional computer surveillance systemThird Echelon is the name of a fictional sub-agency within the National Security Agency featured in the Splinter Cell series of games and novels created by Tom ClancyEchelon (warez), a game console warez organizationEchelon (flight simulator), a flight simulator series developed by MADIAEchelon (video game), a 1988 video game which could employ acoustic steering commandsEchelon (card game), a card game by Echelon GamesEchelon (geology), in geology, a set of short linear features which overlap or are staggered in a line that runs obliquely to the strike of the individual featuresEchelon (band)Echelon (Chess)Echelon (board game), made by the The Great Game Company in 1989. Where people must memorize passages of literature and answer questions about the passages correctly to collect letters spelling Echelon. First one to collect all the letters of the word Echelon wins.Echelon is the street team of the band 30 Seconds to Mars, and also the name of a song on their debut albumEchelon Corporation, a US Corporation, self identified as a pioneer in control networks, creators of the LonWorks distributed control platformRiding in an echelon, a road bicycle racing technique to make maximum use of another rider's slipstream in a crosswindEchelon (novel), a novel by Josh Conviser.Echelon Place, the Boyd Gaming casino built on the site of the former Stardust Resort & Casino
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Noun
1. a body of troops arranged in a line
(hypernym) military unit, military force, military group, force
(classification) military, armed forces, armed services, military machine, war machine
2. a diffraction grating consisting of a pile of plates of equal thickness arranged stepwise with a constant offset
(hypernym) diffraction grating, grating

n. rung; grade, degree, echelon

n. echelon, level, rank