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STE
Secure Terminal Equipment

The STE is a secure telephone that provides voice and data security via ISDN and PSTN telephone lines. It was developed in the early 1990s by the NSA as the successor to the successful STU-III crypto phone. The units were built under contract from 1994 onwards, exclusively by L3 Communications in Camden (New Jersey). STE units were still available from L3 in 2011 [1].

The image on the right shows a typical STE Tactical unit as it was built by L3 in 2008. The unit is dark-grey and is slightly higher than the Motorola STU-III. In 2006, the price of an STE was between US$ 3000 and US$ 4000, excluding the Crypto Card, depending on the model [2].

At the front of the unit is a PCMCIA-slot that allows a Fortezza Crypto Card (KOV-14) or a KSV-21 Enhanced Crypto Card to be inserted. Only when such an NSA-configured crypto card is present, can secure calls be placed to other STE phones (and STU-III phones).
Secure Terminal Equipment (STE) - Tactical

Unlike the STU-III, the STE is neither classified nor a restricted item, as the cryptographic algorithms are held inside the Fortezza crypto card. Without this card, the STE can be used to place standard (unsecure) calls on a PSTN or ISDN network, just like an ordinary phone [3]. Although the STE is backwards compatible with the STU-III, it offers a number of advantages:

  • Can be used over ISDN lines (as well as over PSTN).
  • Better speech quality (in full digital mode).
  • Backwards compatibility with STU-III.
  • Higer data rates (38.4 Kb/s asynchronous, 128 kB/s synchronous).
  • No delay when going secure.
On 31 December 2009, STU-III was officially phased out. After that date the STU-III, and hence the STU-III compatible mode of the STE, was no longer to be used [4]. In the meantime, all STE unit had been upgraded to version 2, which made it compatible with Secure Communications Interoperability Protocol (SCIP). This was done by swapping two PCBs inside the terminal [5].