TSEC-
Most U.S. government-approved communications security equipment has designations in the form TSEC/KG-99, in which TSEC/ (note slash) is purely an identification for a designation system, not an abbreviation. It complements the AN- system used for general military electronics, which does reserve certain of the letters in the AN/ system are reserved for NSA use.
While the designation system codes are quite complex and still contain special cases, the basic structure is:
- First letter: What is its function?
- Second letter: What information or physical materials does it process?
- Optional third letter: What kind of component is it?
The next numbers indicate a main model number within the series, followed by a bewildering and inconsistent set of version levels, alternate configurations, etc. Sometimes, what may seem an incremental improvement gets an entirely new model number, while a radical change may get a version change only. In other words, grasp the general principles of the system, but know that you will have to examine a specific system to understand its designation nuances.
- TSEC/KG-13 is a cryptographic key generator (code name PONTUS)
- TSEC/KY-57 was a cryptographic speech encryptor (code name VINSON)
- TSEC/KW-7 was a cryptographic key encryptor for asynchronous character data (i.e., "Teletype") (code name ORESTES)
Designation system codes
Letter | Function | Type | Assembly |
---|---|---|---|
A | - | - | - |
B | - | - | - |
C | COMSEC equipment | - | - |
D | - | - | - |
E | - | - | - |
F | - | - | - |
G | General purpose | Key generation | - |
H | Cryptographic ancillary | - | - |
I | - | Data transmission | - |
J | - | - | - |
K | Cryptographic | - | - |
L | - | Literal conversion | - |
M | Manufacturing | - | - |
N | Non-cryptographic | Signal conversion | - |
O | - | Multipurpose | - |
P | - | Materials Production | - |
Q | - | - | - |
R | - | - | - |
S | Special purpose | Special purpose | - |
T | - | Testing, checking, maintenance | - |
U | - | Television | - |
V | - | - | - |
W | - | Teletypewriter | - |
X | - | Facsimile | - |
Y | - | Speech (ciphony) | - |
Z | - | - |