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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
KY-57 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] .
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] . 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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