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Hagelin cipher machines
In 1921, Boris Hagelin developed his first cipher machine whilst working for crypto-company Damm in Sweden. In 1935 he produced his first fully mechanical machine that would lead the way to a long range of mechanical cipher machines. Shortly before WWII, he developed the M-209 for the American Army. After the war the company continued with numerous mechanical and electronic devices, and still exists today as Crypto AG.

The model numbers of the Hagelin machines are often related to the year in which they were developed (e.g. the C-35 was developed in 1935). Furthermore, a B is added before the model number if the unit has a keyboard.

Hagelin machines described on this website:
B-21 B-21 C-35 C-35 C-36 C-36 M-209 M-209 BC-39 BC-38 C-446-A C-446 C-52, CX-52 BC-543, BC-543
CD-57 CD-57 HC-520 HC-520 CRM-008 CRM-008

 
B-21 and B-211
The B-21 was the first cipher machine developed by Boris Hagelin. He designed the machine in 1921 when he was working for the Damm brothers in Sweden. Physically, it resembles the Enigma machine but internally it scrambles wires in a 5 x 5 matrix, controlled by 4 pin-wheels.

The machine was said to be more secure than the Enigma.

 More information
  

 
C-35
The C-35 is the first fully mechanical pin-and-lug machine developed by Hagelin. It is much smaller than later machines of the same class and was initially developed for the French Army, who wanted the machine to fit the pocket of the army trousers.

In November 2008 we had the opportunity to take some detailed photographs of this machine from the internal Hagelin collection.

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C-36
The C-36 is one of the first mechanical pin-and-lug machines developed by Hagelin. It is larger than the C-35 and resembles the M-209 in shape. Unlike the M-209, however, the tabs on the metal bars inside the machine are not movable.

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C-38 and M-209
Based on the C-38, Hagelin developed the M-209 for the American Army, shortly before WWII. It's a small compact mechanical machine that remained in service until after the Vietnam War. As the machine could be broken by the Germans in less than 4 hours, it was only used for tactical field messages. The M-209 was built under licence by Smith Corona in the USA.

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BC-38
The BC-38 is in fact a C-38 that has a keyboard and is motor-driven. It is compatible with the C-38 and the American M-209 and was used during WWII by the American Army, especially in command centers.

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C-446
The C-446 is a typical military Hagelin machine. The machine shown here was used by the Dutch Navy and was available in two versions: the standard C-446-A and an C-446-RT that used a Random Tape rather than coding wheels.

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The C-446/RT as it was used by the Dutch Navy

 
C-52 and CX-52
Designed in or around 1952, the CX-52 is probably one of the most successful models of the mechanical Hagelin cipher machines. Numerous variants have been developed, such as the standard CX-52, an RT-version (using Random Tape) and an Arabic version.

The CX-52 was introduced in the early 1950s and remained in use in some countries until the late 1990s.

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The standard CX-52. Click for more information.

 
BC-543
The BC-543 is a rather strange member of the Hagelin family. As the name suggests, it was developed around 1954. However, it is not based on the C-52 that was developed two years earlier, but rather on the BC-38 which in turn was based on the C-38 a.k.a. M-209. The BC-543 is in fact functionally identical to the BC-38 and differs only in minor details.

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CD-57
The CD-57 is a truely portable hand-held cipher machine that easily fits the pocket of, say, a coat. It was introduced in 1957 and was based on the design of the earlier CD-55. It has 6 coding wheels and is crypto compatible with the C-52 (see below).

The CD-57 was also built under licence by Hell as the STG-61.

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The portable CD-57. Click for more information.

 
HC-520
In 1977, Hagelin introduced the HC-520 CRYPTOMATIC as part of the HC-5xx family of machines. It was one of the first fully electronic cipher machines that were developed as the successors to the H-4605. The HC-520 looks like an electronic calculator and was considered very compact at the time.

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The portable electronic HC-520. Click for more information.

 
CRM-008
In the mid-1970s, Crypto AG (Hagelin) developed a series of voice crypto untits, aimed at both the civilian and military market. This was called the CRYPTOCOM CRM-008 product line.

The CRM-008 was introduced in 1975 and was sold well into the 1990s. This machine is sometimes identified as the Hagelin HC-230 (civilian version) or HC-235 (military version).

 More information
  
CRM-008 Voice Crypto. Click for more information.

 
Goodies
Swiss Army Knife
This is genuine Swiss Army Knife with the Hagelin logo on its side. It was probably a gift from Crypto AG to their customers.
  

 
Further information


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© Copyright 2009, Paul Reuvers & Marc Simons

Last changed: Thu,01 Mar 2012.17:29:12
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