KL-43 - Misplaced Pages

Electronic cipher device

A KL-43 on display at the National Cryptologic Museum.

The KL-43 is a portable, electronic cipher device used by the United States and the NATO from the early 1980s. The machine, manufactured by TRW, is an adaptation of language translator technology, and includes a keyboard for input and an LCD for output. It also contains a built-in modem, a telephone coupler, and the facility for connecting to a printer. A version of the KL-43 was famously used by Oliver North to communicate with his assistant, Fawn Hall, and others while managing clandestine operations in Nicaragua in support of the "Contra" rebels. The device was paraded in front of cameras during the Iran-Contra congressional hearings.

There are a number of variations of the KL-43, including the following:

KL-43A - early model.
KL-43C - a tactical rugged version from the 1980s.
KL-43D - mid-production and most common version with small keyboard (original cost ca. US$300).
KL-43E - full-size keyboard model for high volume office operations (original cost below US$1000).
KL-43F - most recent tactical version for wired and wireless networks made by EPI.

External links

LTC David Fiedler, The KL-43: burst communications on a budget, Army Communicator, Winter/Spring 1990, Vol. 15 No. 1.
Jerry Proc's page on the KL-43
NATO's KL-43C/F description

v t e Cipher machines
Rotor machines	CCM Enigma M-125 Fialka Hebern HX-63 KL-7 Lacida M-325 Mercury NEMA OMI RED SG-39 SG-41 SIGABA SIGCUM Singlet Typex
Mechanical	Bazeries cylinder C-36 C-52 CD-57 Cipher disk HC-9 Kryha Jefferson disk M-94 M-209 Reihenschieber Scytale
Teleprinter	5-UCO BID 770 DUDEK KW-26 KW-37 Lorenz SZ 40/42 Siemens and Halske T52 SIGTOT
Secure voice	BID 150 FASCINATOR KY-3 KY-58 KY-68 NESTOR OMNI SCIP Sectéra Secure Module SIGSALY STE STU-II STU-III VINSON
Other	JADE KG-84 KL-43 KL-51 Noreen Red Purple Pinwheel Rockex
Computer hardware	AES instruction set Intel SHA extensions IBM 4758 IBM 4764

v t e Cryptography
General	History of cryptography Outline of cryptography Classical cipher Cryptographic protocol Authentication protocol Cryptographic primitive Cryptanalysis Cryptocurrency Cryptosystem Cryptographic nonce Cryptovirology Hash function Cryptographic hash function Key derivation function Secure Hash Algorithms Digital signature Kleptography Key (cryptography) Key exchange Key generator Key schedule Key stretching Keygen Machines Cryptojacking malware Ransomware Random number generation Cryptographically secure pseudorandom number generator (CSPRNG) Pseudorandom noise (PRN) Secure channel Insecure channel Subliminal channel Encryption Decryption End-to-end encryption Harvest now, decrypt later Information-theoretic security Plaintext Codetext Ciphertext Shared secret Trapdoor function Trusted timestamping Key-based routing Onion routing Garlic routing Kademlia Mix network
Mathematics	Cryptographic hash function Block cipher Stream cipher Symmetric-key algorithm Authenticated encryption Public-key cryptography Quantum key distribution Quantum cryptography Post-quantum cryptography Message authentication code Random numbers Steganography
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