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← Crypto Manufacturer Usfa →
In the second half of the 20th century, Dutch electronics giant
Philips had
a special branch that manufactured equipment for the Dutch Department of
Defence, called: Philips Usfa.
Among other things, Philips Usfa developed a wide
and highly successful range of cipher machines
that were used in The Netherlands and other NATO countries.
In the late 1980s Philips Usfa was merged with
Philips subsidary Holland Signaal
and went on as Signaal USFA.
The company was renamed to Philips Crypto in 1990, after
Signaal USFA was taken over by Thomson
(now: Thales)
and the Dutch Government wanted the crypto-activities to
remain Dutch.
Philips Crypto was dissolved in 2003 due to lack of revenue.
Some activities were taken over by
Fox-IT
and Compumatica.
➤ History of Philips Usfa/Crypto
➤ About the Philips Corporation
➤ Index of Philips crypto products
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Philips crypto equipment on this website
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Developed but never released products
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Over the years, Philips Crypto developed a wide range of cipher machines,
some of which are listed below.
Unfortunately, information about the machines is limited,
as the company no longer exists.
You can help us by providing additional information.
The following Philips cipher machines are featured on this website.
Click any of the images for further information:
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The Ecolex II was a One-Time Tape (OTT) cipher machine, or mixer,
developed by the Dutch PTT in 1958 and built by Philips, as the
transistorised successor to the valve-based Ecolex I.
➤ More information
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In 1959, Philips started development of the Ecolex-IV as the successor
of the Ecolex-I and II models.
Like the previous models, it is based on
the Vernam cipher, whereby the 5-bit data from the plain text tape
is mixed with a random cipher tape.
➤ More information
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Tarolex was the first step away from
One-Time Tape (OTT) cipher machines.
Instead of the (random) noise tape, this machine uses a key generator
that is seeded with a 110-bit key.
Tarolex was initially developed for the NATO evaluation TROL,
which was eventually cancelled. Awaiting the forthcoming Ecolex X,
It was re-released in 1967, and allowed existing Ecolex IV machines to be
converted for use with Tarolex.
➤ More information
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In 1972, the One-Time Tape machines and Tarolex were succeeded by
the Ecolex X. Instead of a key tape it uses 36 thumbwheels to set the
daily key. The machine can be used for offline as well as online traffic.
Ecolex X came with a compact tape reader that could be used for processing
offline traffic.
➤ More information
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Ecolex 20 was a data encryption unit, developed by Philips Usfa BV
in Eindhoven (Netherlands) in the mid-1980s.
It was aimed as the successor to the Ecolex-X, but
according to some reports it was never taken into production.
It is also known as Dacolex 15.
➤ More information
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Aroflex is probably the most successful cipher machine
ever built by Philips Usfa. It was developed
between 1976 and 1982, and is based on the chassis of a Siemens T-1000
teleprinter. More than 4500 units were manufactured.
Aroflex uses a proprietary Philips-developed NATO-approved
encryption algorithm.
It is compatible with KL-51 (RACE) and is
used by NATO, the Dutch government, the Dutch
Department of Defence and by the governments of some friendly
nations, like Norway and Canada.
➤ More information
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Aroflex II was intended as the successor to the original
Aroflex (see above). The fully electronic teletype
unit was built by Siemens, whilst Philips was responsible for the
crypto heart.
Unfortunately, development took too long and by the time the machine was
ready, microprocessor-based solutions were rapidly taking over from the
ageing teletype-based technology. As a result, Aroflex II was produced in
limited quantities.
➤ More information
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Picoflex was an electronic military-grade portable cipher machine, developed by
Philips between 1976 and 1982, in parallel with Aroflex. It is
microprocessor-controlled but uses proprietary NATO-approved
hardware-based encryption that is compatible with Aroflex
and KL-51 (RACE).
It was commonly supplied in a green aluminium transit case, along with
a thermal printer, acoustic telephone coupler and radio interface.
➤ More information
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Miniflex was developed by Philips Usfa between 1976 and 1982,
as a spin-off from the Picoflex development.
The device is intended for civil applications and uses a proprietary
software-based encryption algorithm.
The device was usually supplied in a Samsonite briefcase,
so that it could be carried around inconspiculously by business men
on the move.
➤ More information
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Spendex-10 was the first voice encryption unit
developed by Philips Usfa around 1970.
It used Delta Modulation combined with a 60-bit stream cipher
and was intended for use in combination with the RT-3600
radio that was used by the Dutch Armed Forces.
➤ More information
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Spendex-40 was a secure military crypto phone,
developed by Philips Usfa around 1980.
It was compatible with the American STU-II
and used the highly secret
SAVILLE encryption algorithm.
Spendex 40 was used by NATO, the Dutch Army, the Dutch Government
and the major Dutch telecom operator PTT.
It was phased out in 2009.
➤ More information
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Spendex 50 was a wide band digital voice and data terminal
used by the Dutch Armed Forces as part of the ZODIAC communications network.
It uses Delta Modulation for speech and was NATO-approved.
It is also known as DBT.
➤ More information
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PNVX was a series of secure crypto telephones,
developed by Philips for secure voice, fax and data
transfer over standard (analog) telephone lines. It was mainly intended
for use by the Dutch Government and large (approved) corporations.
The PNVX has now largely been phased out and
replaced by modern alternatives.
➤ More information
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Following the success of the PNVX crypto phone, Philips also developed
a fax encryptor that was based on the same encryption engine.
It was suitable for all Group 3 fax machines and was connected between
the fax and the analogue telephone line.
➤ More information
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The Philips PFX-PM was a portable half-duplex radio with digital
encryption. It was based on a PFX radio, built by Philips
Radio Communication Systems (PRCS, formerly: Pye) in Cambridge (UK).
In 1990, Philips Usfa
developed the UP 2093 half-duplex crypto module
that fitted the extended version of the PFX radio.
➤ More information
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The UA8296 was a small hand-held military-grade message terminal, intended
for sending secure text-based messages over a narrow band radio channel,
using Audio Frequency Shift Keying (AFSK).
It was in fact a rebadged Nokia PARSA, that was mainly sold to the Dutch
Department of Defence (DoD) as a hand-held patrol terminal.
➤ More information
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PX-1000 was a pocket-size hand-held message terminal (pocket telex)
that could be used for sending secure message over standard telephone
lines, using a built-in acoustic modem. The messages were encrypted
with DES.
The PX-1000 was manufactured by Text Lite, but was also marketed by
Philips. A year after the introduction, the NSA persuaded Philips
to buy the entire stock and replace DES by an alternative encryption
algorithm that was developed by the NSA and contained a
backdoor.
➤ More information
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In the mid-1990s, Philips was involved in a project to make the
Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs) of the Dutch Police more secure,
by developing a special PCMCIA card for them.
The system was implemented with the Eindhoven Police Force
and successfully stopped criminals from eavesdropping on their
radio traffic.
➤ More information
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V-Kaart (or: V-Card) was a data protection system for personal computers
and networks, developed for the Dutch Government. It was implemented as
a PCMCIA card and was suitable for information up to TOP SECRET (Stg. Geheim).
It was the last major project before Philips Crypto closed its doors in 2003.
V-Kaart later became
Fort Fox File Encryptor (FFFE).
➤ More information
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History of Philips cipher machines
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The cryptographic activities of Philips Usfa
started in 1956, when they
built the first electronic One-Time Tape (OTT)
cipher machine, that was
developed by the PTT (Dutch Post Office). The overview below, lists the
most important milestones in the history of Philips Crypto, from the
beginning in 1956 to their most successful period in 1982.
Unfortunately, we have no information about the period 1982-2003
at present.
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Philips' involvement with cryptographic equipment started in 1956
when they were contracted to build the first generation
valve-based OTT
cipher machines, developed by the PTT (Dutch Post Office).
It was the ECOLEX I, of which
only 25 units were ever built.
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At the same time (1956), the PTT had developed a Random Number
Generator (RNG) for the production of key tapes for the ECOLEX I.
The valve-based machine was called EROLET and
was also produced by Philips.
Only 10 EROLET machines were built.
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A few years later, in 1960, the PTT developed of the first transistor-based
version of the ECOLEX I, called the ECOLEX II.
The machine is also built by Philips and between 1960 and 1963
approx. 120 of these ECOLEX II units are built.
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In 1959, development is started of the first all-Philips cipher machine:
the ECOLEX IV.
It is the first OTT machine (mixer) with built-in
synchronization and is a great success.
Over 900 units are sold to the Dutch Army and to NATO.
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TROL was developed between 1960 and 1962.
The intention was to replace
the OTT key tape by a Pseudo-Random Number Generator (PRNG).
TROL stands for Tape Rotorless On-Line, and was a combination of
ECOLEX IV, TAROLEX and SIMILEX. The ECOLEX IV was modified and lost
both of its tape readers.
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ECOLEX X
(sometimes written as ECOLEX 10), was an improved
all-in-one version of TROL/TAROLEX,
developed under contract with the Royal Dutch Army.
It was developed from 1965 to 1972, after which 388 units were produced.
Some units were delivered to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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Whilst ECOLEX-X was under development,
the Dutch Army wanted a similar solution for the remaining
ECOLEX-IV units. Between 1966 and 1967,
Philips therefore developed TAROLEX,
which was based on the earlier TROL project.
It was used to replace the key-tape reader of the
ECOLEX IV by a key stream generator (PRNG).
In total, 151 TAROLEX units were manufactured.
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At the same time, a coupling filter (KOPPELFILTER) was developed to
use the TAROLEX with the older ECOLEX II
units and make the combination TEMPEST-proof.
30 of these filters were built.
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Between 1960 and 1976, Philips conducted a range of experiments with
voice cryptography for the Dutch Army, under the name:
SPENDEX 10.
It was a wide-band voice crypto system for tactical radio networks,
using Delta-Modulation (CVSD) and a, key-generation called:
Crypto Text Auto Key or Autoclave.
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SPENDEX 20 was a first attempt at narrow-band voice cryptography.
It was developed between 1969 and 1971 and used an
Ericsson vocoder with
an Usfa-developed crypto unit. When Philips lost NATO evaluation NABSVOS
to ELCROVOX (AEG and Siemens), SPENDEX 20 was withdrawn in return
for co-production of ELCROVOX.
It marked the start of further co-operation with AEG and Siemens.
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MUCOLEX was a 1Mb/s multi-channel cipher unit, developed between 1970
and 1977 under contract with the Dutch Army. By 1982, approx 550 units
were sold to the Dutch Army, the Dutch Air Force and to the Army of Greece.
It was an extremely reliable unit.
MUCOLEX would later also be part of ZODIAC.
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SATCOLEX was an 8Mb/s multi-channel cipher unit,
developed between 1975 and 1977,
for NATO evaluation HISPEED. Shortly before the actual evaluation,
SATCOLEX was withdrawn in return for co-production of the winning American
WALBURN
system (KG-81
with peripherals). It marked the start of a relationship
with the American NSA.
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SPENDEX 30 was a low-cost narrow-band voice cipher
system, based on a Formant Vocoder developed by Philips Research (Nat Lab).
A civil version (SPENDEX 35) was developed for the Belgian Police.
It was produced by Belgian Philips daughter MBLE (except for the crypto module).
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AROFLEX
was an off-line teletype-based cipher machine, developed between 1974 and
1982 for NATO evaluation CEROFF,
as a possible replacement
for the American KL-7 (Adonis, Pollux).
It turned out to be Philips' most successful cipher machine.
By the end of 1982, over 2500 units had already been produced.
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PICOFLEX
was a fully-electronic minature cipher machine, developed between
1976 and 1982. Using the CEROFF standard, it was interoperable with
AROFLEX
and RACE.
A civil variant was called MINIFLEX.
By the end of 1982, over 300 units had already been produced.
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Between 1979 and 1982, Philips Usfa worked on the so-called
HISPEED project,
under NATO contract. It was a co-production order of the
American WALBURN system (KG-81) that Philips had won when giving up the
SATCOLEX project in 1977.
By the end of 1982, 95 complete systems had already been delivered.
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ZODIAC
was the name of a new integrated communication network of the Dutch Army.
Philips daughter HSA and
Philips Usfa were contracted to develop and build parts of this new network.
Development was started in 1980 and the system became operational in 1987.
The last units were delivered in 1991.
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BVO-M
was a 2Mb/s rack-mount multi-channel cipher system, designed as part of
the ZODIAC project.
It was also known as Mucolex II or UA-8244 and was
backwards compatible with the earlier 1Mb/s MUCOLEX.
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BVO-T was a 2Mb/s rack-mount multi-channel cipher system, designed as part of
the ZODIAC project.
It was also known as Mucolex III or UA-8245 and was
compatible with the standard American Trunk Encryption Device (TED)
KG-81.
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SPENDEX 50 was a 16kb wide-band voice entryption device
and data terminal, housed inside a military-grade phone terminal.
In 1980, Philips Usfa started development of the crypto heart of this device.
The Dutch Army called it DBT (Digitaal Beveiligd Telefoontoestel,
Digital Secure Telephone). The official designator was UA-8246.
Outside of NATO it is called UA-8328 or DWBST 55.
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SPENDEX 40 was a narrow-band voice encryption device
for use on standard telephone networks. It used an LPC vocoder and looked
like a rather bulky telephone set. Development started in 1980 and was
supported by the Dutch Government. It was widely used by the government
and by NATO.
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The early 1980s were arguably the most successful years of Philips Usfa.
Many new machines were introduced and development of the highly-acclaimed
ZODIAC project had just started.
In the period after 1982, many more cyrotopgrahic products were developed
and introduced, but unfortunately, we have no detailed historical information
about that period. Below is a non-exhausive list of cipher systems from the
post-1982 era.
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| Model | Description | Army | NSN |
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| US 8500 | Ecolex I, mixer cipher machine | ? | - |
| US 8011 | Ecolex II, mixer machine | KL/GGC-3010 | - |
| US 8015 | Ecolex IV, mixer cipher machine | Vh 40.1612.11 | 5810-17-704-3910 |
| US 8503 | Erolet, random key tape generator | - | - |
| US 8900 | Siemens T send 77f double tape reader | - | - |
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| UA 6303 | 3.6V Lithium Battery (penlight size) | - | - |
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| UA 8021 | Ecolex 20 (Dacolex 15) | - | - |
| UA 8035 | Picoflex, portable cipher unit (Mil) | - | - |
| UA 8036 | Miniflex, portable cipher unit (civil) | - | - |
| UA 8040 | Ecolex X, cipher machine | KL/TGA-3572 | ? |
| UA 8041 | Remote control unit of Ecolex X | KL/TGA-3572 | 5810-17-036-7029 |
| UA 8042 | Cable set Ecolex X - tape unit | KL/TGA-3572 | ? |
| UA 8043 | Cable set Ecolex X - mains | ? | ? |
| UA 8044 | Cable set KL - Line | ? | ? |
| UA 8045 | Cable set PTT - Line | ? | ? |
| UA 8047 | Adapter (PTT) | ? | ? |
| UA 8048 | Storage case for Ecolex X parts | ? | 5810-17-036-7034 |
| UA 8084 | Tarolex, key generator | KL/TGA-3128 | 5810-17-027-8947 |
| UA 8116 | Aroflex, off-line cipher machine | BID 1100 | - |
| UA 8237 | Spendex 30, crypto phone | - | - |
| UA 8244 | MUCOLEX II, BVO-M, part of ZODIAC | KY 6127M | ? |
| UA-8245 | MUCOLEX III, BVO-T, part of ZODIAC | ? | ? |
| UA 8246 | Spendex 50, DBT crypto phone | ? | 5805-17-055-9132 |
| UA 8251 | Spendex 40, secure crypto phone (Mil) | ? | ? |
| UA-8257 | Dacolex (same as BVO-M, see below) | KY 4753 | ? |
| UA 8295 | Short Burst Terminal (Nokia SANLA) | ? | ? |
| UA 8296 | Hand-held Patrol Terminal (Nokia PARSA) | ? | ? |
| UA 8301 | Spendex 10, military voice crypto | - | - |
| UA 8328 | DWBST 55, Foreign version of spendex 50 | - | - |
| UA 8451 | Mucolex, multiplex encryptor | KY 4651 | 5810-17-044-3508 |
| UA 8494 | Aroflex Field Test Set | - | - |
| UA 8511 | Aroflex diagnostics kit | - | - |
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| UP 1303 | Personal key card for S-card | - | - |
| UP 1351 | S-Card (Belgium) | - | - |
| UP 2001 | DS-102 compatible key fill device | - | - |
| UP 2002 | Key Generation System | - | - |
| UP 2007 | Barcode reader for UP-2001/2101 | - | - |
| UP 2017 | PNVX 2017 secure crypto phone | - | - |
| UP 2035 | PFDX 2035 Fax Encryptor | - | - |
| UP 2061 | PPSX 2061 X.25 Encryptor | - | - |
| UP 2065 | PPSX 2065 X.25 Encryptor | - | - |
| UP 2081 | Mobile encryptor (handset) | - | - |
| UP 2093 | PFX-PM half-duplex crypto module | - | - |
| UP 2094 | Crypto module for SPIDER | - | - |
| UP 2101 | DS-102 compatible key fill device | - | - |
| UP 2104 | Key Generation Station (KGS) for MDT | - | - |
| UP 2194 | Host Encryptor (HE) for Motorola MDT | - | - |
| UP 2198 | Mobile Encryptor (ME) for Motorola MDT | - | - |
| UP 6142 | Link Encryptor 2Mb/s | - | - |
| UP 6317 | PNVX 6317 secure crypto phone (2400) | - | - |
| UP 6318 | PNVX 6318 secure crypto phone (9600) | - | - |
| UP 6335 | PFDX 6335 Fax Encryptor | - | - |
| UP 6361 | PPSX 6361 X.25 Encryptor | - | - |
| UP 6451 | V-Kaart | - | - |
| UP 6461 | C-Kaart | - | - |
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Smart card readers
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PE-118
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Internal smart card reader (ISA-bus)
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5111 199 46501
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PE-122-202
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External smart card reader (RS232)
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9594 511 00108
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PE-122-210
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External smart card reader (RS232)
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9594 511 00111
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PE-122
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External smart card reader (RS232)
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9594 511 00116
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Below is a non-exhaustive overview of Philips-developed crypto-related
ASICs.
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Document kindly provided by AIVD/NBV [1].
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- AIVD/NBV, Collection of documents about Philips Crypto products
Received February 2018. CM-202832-C.
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Tuesday 04 August 2009. Last changed: Friday, 11 April 2025 - 19:52 CET.
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