Hmmm, I'm divided for this last one.
One part of my brain just want to say that this "Type1" XTS5k is "just" a basic AES-256 one (as you all already know, AES can be considered Type1 or Type3 depending on a lot of things...);
and not a radio with that special "UCM" with the battery under that blue rubber piece (Harris Sierra chip IIRC, which BTW can be flashed for differents algos, "real" type 1 and 3 included IIRC...)
On the other hand Q374 is written on the tag, and an old doc I have indicates this :
"ADD Q629 for AES Encryption. Q159 REQUIRED. OTAR is NOT COMPATIBLE with TYPE 1 (Q374 or Q400)" So it may seems to be a "real" type 1 radio... (Why I write "real" ? Just read my following statement...)
IMHO using Type1 designation is misleading nowadays, Suite A and Suite B are more accurate. You just can't compare SAVILLE and AES; while both can be considered Type1 (under some circumstances for AES), Saville is Suite A and AES (Rijndael) is Suite B...
Any thoughts on the matter ? Do you think it's a real Type 1 (Sierra chip) XTS ? [In this case some black suits driving a sedan are probably looking around for a CCI (but the radio will basically self-destructs when the sierra chip's battery will be empty)]. Perhaps the Sierra chip is blank or zeroized and no one cares ?
Or do you think it's just a basic AES-256 XTS, but marked/considered Type1 SuiteB for a government contract (similar to the ISR2000/PRC-153 also equipped with AES) ? In this case, nobody (in Gov) really care, and the seller just want to, (I don't know how to say it in English but) boast/brag and"impress" whackers into buying his Super Secret Squirrel Radio ?
As a side note, I have some difficulties to understand why Military Crypto is considered "cool" and a bragging thing for whacker. Anyone who had to do that shi..stuff for a living knows how painful keyloading and auto-zeroising can be. Anyone who plays with a Crazy Ten just "for fun" is not in their right mind/is a masochist... (I never used a Crazy Ten, but its European Nato equivalent is not something what you could consider "fun", enough said)...
[Hoorah for OTAR and automated Centralised Crypto Management ! A prayer for the old guys who had to rekey electromechanical cipher stuff using this sh**t (
http://www.jproc.ca/crypto/kyk28.html)]
To refocus a little bit on the topic (Sorry RFI-EMI-GUY, I didn't wanted to hijack your thread, but your topic always attract interesting discussions and "flow of thoughts")
There are currently some Saber Fascinator modules on ebay for crazy $1500 prices. Not sure how one would even load a key in those. Apparently they are now "declassified".
You would need keying material (punched tape, from your COMSEC custodian or controlling authority) that would be loaded into a SIB (Security Interface Box) via a KOI-18 (or via a KYK-13 already keyed with that KOI-18). The SIB (T5164BX ?) would be connected to your, let say Saber, with a TKN8517A cable... The procedure would be similar to what is described here :
https://www.cryptomuseum.com/crypto/racal/ma4778/index.htm (except this one is still at 16kbps, luckily for our ears...)
Rince and repeat every week as the cryptoperiod is 7 days [As I said, Manual keyloading is NOT fun when you have several devices to do, every piece of gear is inhabitated by a poltergeist, and Hotel Juliet is every f*cking day !]
Actual infos on FASCINATOR are still very scarce, but at it was probably very similar, you could always search for FED-STD-1023 if you feel so inclined...
(modified VINSON at 12kbps instead of 16kbps...)
Just so you know, All informations provided here are in the PUBLIC domain and certainly declassified since the end of the Vietnam War, so no worries guys ! [Just a little disclaimer for those 3- (and 4 to 6 for us europeans) letters agencies who read without doubt this amazing forum] !
