A Mysterious Tektron Secure Telephone

(Updated: March 17, 2017)

Recently, a mysterious telephone was offered for sale at eBay. The device was made past times the little-known fellowship Tektron Micro Electronics, Inc. from Hanover, Maryland, in addition to seems to live a secure telephone for military machine use.

Apart from the pictures shown below, goose egg to a greater extent than is known virtually it, just maybe around readers of this weblog recognize the device in addition to convey around to a greater extent than data virtually its purpose in addition to where it was used (see the update!)

Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 Tektron secure military machine telephone
(Photo via eBay - Click to enlarge)

The telephone comes without a handset, just it has a display in addition to a mutual 12-button key pad, amongst around additional exceptional purpose buttons. According to the seller, all of them are made of around variety of rubbery cloth instead of difficult plastic. The large circular buttons disclose that this is a secure phone, capable encrypting the calls: a dark-green push amongst a dark-green calorie-free for Secure in addition to a reddish push amongst a (probably) reddish calorie-free for Non-Secure:

Keypad of the Tektron telephone
(Photo via eBay - Click to enlarge)

It seems the small-scale push amongst "2nd" tin dismiss live used to pick out the functions which are marked inwards blueish higher upwards the criterion buttons. Most interesting are the FO (Flash Override) designation higher upwards the "3", the F (Flash) higher upwards the "6", the I (Immediate) higher upwards the "9" in addition to the P (Priority) higher upwards the "#" button.

FO, F, I, in addition to P designate the 4 levels of a arrangement called Multilevel Precedence in addition to Preemption (MLPP), which allows to brand telephone calls that larn precedence over ones amongst a lower priority. Flash Override (FO) was designed to permit the U.S. of A. President in addition to the National Command Authority to preempt whatsoever other traffic inwards the network inwards illustration of a national military machine emergency.

This precedence arrangement solely plant on telephone networks that permit this exceptional capability, similar the AUTOVON network that was used past times the U.S. of A. military machine (since 1982 replaced past times the Defence Switched Network). One of the characteristics of the AUTOVON network was that most of its phones were equipped amongst a standardized keypad amongst 4 extra reddish buttons for the precedence levels:

The criterion AUTOVON keypad
(Click to enlarge)

So apparently, the Tektron telephone was intended for utilization on the military machine telephone network, just why it doesn't convey the criterion AUTOVON keypad is a mystery.

We besides don't know when the telephone was manufactured. The solely indication is provided past times the label on the dorsum of the device. It says the model publish is EXT-4Rx in addition to has the series publish 271/4.0. The seller had a minute device amongst series publish 111.

There is besides a National or NATO Stock Number (NSN): 5810-01-357-8193. Looking upwards this publish on a stock publish website returns a "Date Established" of 1992. This indicates the telephone must live somewhere from the 1990s, although the agency this publish is placed, without its ain line, besides looks similar it could convey been added afterwards on:

Label of the Tektron telephone
(Photo via eBay - Click to enlarge)

It's non known where just this telephone was used, which is an fifty-fifty bigger query because inwards the 1990s secure telephony for the U.S. of A. authorities in addition to military machine had largely been standardized after the introduction of the STU-III identify unit of measurement of secure vocalisation products.

The STU-III criterion was introduced past times the NSA inwards 1987, in addition to iii manufacturers were allowed to arrive at secure telephones based on this standard:

- Motorola
- AT&T (later: Lucent Technologies > General Dynamics)
- RCA (later: General Electric > Lockheed Martin > L3-Communications)

Motorola in addition to AT&T each made a few hundred one one thousand of these devices. Tektron is non known for having participated inwards the STU-III program.

Side sentiment of the Tektron secure military machine telephone
(Photo via eBay - Click to enlarge)

The Tektron secure telephone measures 7.75 inches (19,6 cm) wide, a lilliputian over nine inches tall (22,8 cm) in addition to 2 inches (5 cm) thick. The encryption role made it real heavy: it weighs virtually 5,5 pounds (2,5 kg), equally the illustration is fully made from form non-metallic metal, maybe aluminum.

Such a metallic element encasing prevents electromagnetic radiations from beingness intercepted from the exterior (TEMPEST). The STU-III, in addition to the newer STE phones solely convey their bottom component out of metal, amongst the upper component out of plastic.
 

Update:

Meanwhile, a photograph was flora showing that the mysterious Tektron telephone was truly used aboard the E-4B aircraft, which is a highly modified Boeing 747-200, officially known equally the National Airborne Operations Center (NAOC). As such, the bird has robust in addition to sophisticated communications equipment equally good equally the capability to live refueled inwards flight.

In the photograph below, nosotros run into 2 Tektron phones aboard the E-4B on July 24, 2005, during a trip of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to Central Asia in addition to Iraq:

Two Tektron telephones aboard the E-4B aircraft
(photo: Gerry J. Gilmore - click to enlarge)

As tin dismiss live seen inwards the next video tour within an E-4B aircraft, the Tektron phones were replaced past times a modified smaller version of the Integrated Services Telephone (IST), made past times Raytheon. These phones were seen on the aircraft already inwards 2008. Unlike the Tektron phone, the IST itself has no capability to encrypt the calls - that's done centralized at the local switch, inwards this illustration probable past times a fundamental network encryptor.

Currently, at that topographic point are dark telephone units amongst a large touching on shroud installed aboard the E-4B, equally tin dismiss live seen inwards pictures from within the aircraft during defense forcefulness secretarial assistant Ash Carter's trip to Nihon on Apr 6, 2015. These phones could live custom-made past times Telecore, Inc., a small-scale fellowship that besides manufactures the IST-2 telephone for the secure defense forcefulness network.