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Voice and data encryption unit
The TSEC/KY-99A is an Advanced Narrowband Digital Voice Terminal (ANDVT) that
was used for many years by the US Department of Defence (DoD) for secure voice
transmission over narrow band radio channels.
It is interoperable with the other members of the ANDVT-family and is
backwards compatible with the wideband KY-57 (VINSON)
that if effectively replaces.
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The image on the right shows a typical KY-99 unit that was built by ITT Industries.
The unit measures 140 x 77 x 200 mm and weights approx. 2 kg.
It is a stand-alone unit that needs its own battery (connected at the back).
At the front are three sockets. At the top are two standard 6-pin U-229 connectors
for AUDIO and DATA respectively. The DATA connector is also used to connect the key
FILL device.
The 13-pin connector high-density for the radio is at the bottom left.
The volume control/power switch is at the center.
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The MODE selector is at the bottom right. There are 5 modes of operation:
Plantext, Ciphertext, Re-key, Off-line and ZEROIZE. The rest of the operation is via
the three push-buttons and the green 8-position alpha-numerical display.
The ANDVT-family of voice encryption devices was launched in the late-1970s
with the introduction of the AN/USC-43 Tactical Terminal (TACTERM).
It was based on the NRLs first succesful implementation of LPC-10 in 1973
[1] and uses
SAVILLE as one of its algoritms.
The KY-99 (MINTERM) is in fact a miniaturized version of the TACTERM. Its designed is
based on a modular architecure and its size is much reduced. The KY-99 features full
key distribution plus remote key capability (OTAR) and was certified for
secure traffic up to TOP SECRET (NSA Type 1).
The KY-99 is also known by its COMSEC designator TSEC/KY-99.
It is not exactly known when the KY-99 was introduced, but it is certain that it was
available in 1992
[4]
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By 2006, over 40,000 ANDVT units were in operation at the US Navy, Air Force,
Army, Allied Forces and government agencies. This includes 9363 KY-99 units that
represented a value of US$ 6207 each
[2]
.
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- Low-power
- Lightweight
- Single channel
- Half-duplex
- Narrowband, wideband or wireline
- Secure voice and data (simultaneously)
- Full key distribution
- Over-the-air rekeying (OTAR)
- VINSON (KY-57/58) legacy mode
- Improved SATCOM performance, improved synchronisation
- Improved LPC-10 voice coding algorithm (V58), 2400 baud
- CVSD voice coding, at 12 and 16 kbps (wideband)
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The KY-99A is compatible with the other members of the ANDVT-family, such as the
KY-100 (AIRTERM). It is also backwards compatible with some legacy products,
such as the KY-57 (VINSON), in which case it uses wideband
CVSD modulation. As far as we currently know, the KY-99 is compatible with:
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© Copyright 2009-2011, Paul Reuvers & Marc Simons. Last changed: Tue,27 Dec 2011.17:47:18
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