73 lines
4.2 KiB
Plaintext
73 lines
4.2 KiB
Plaintext
|
|
WHICH WHITE HOUSE CIRCUITS HAVE BEEN SECURED?
|
|
|
|
As a follow on to the discussion of the White House use of DVP or
|
|
some related digital security technique on secret service voice channels,
|
|
does anybody happen to know whether they have also secured the telephone
|
|
("phone patch") circuits to Air Force 1 that have been traditionally left
|
|
in the clear ? A list of those circuits in use recently follows. (Note
|
|
that all of this information has been published in some form.)
|
|
|
|
1. "Nationwide" or "Echo-Foxtrot" half-duplex single channel nbfm voice
|
|
via about 100 sites located on AT&T microwave relay towers throughout
|
|
US tied by leased voice channels to manual switchboard at White House
|
|
("Crown Control"). Uses 415.700 mhz from AF-1, 407.85 mhz. to AF-1,
|
|
at rather low EIRP's (less than a few watts).
|
|
|
|
2. "Combat Ciders" or "Autovon" or "Wideband" full-duplex FDM multi
|
|
channel wbfm via nuclear hardened antenna's at many of the Autovon
|
|
switching centers, also via relay aircraft and the various emergency
|
|
command post aircraft (eg "Lookinglass"). Has provisions for secure
|
|
voice and teletype (also fax) as well as fully automatic autovon
|
|
voice trunks with standard autovon signalling and control. Trunks
|
|
are located on 12, 16, 20 and 24 khz ssb channels, 0-4 khz is used
|
|
for an order wire to ground station. Uses various frequencies in
|
|
the 225-400 mhz military UHF band, 390.55 and 392.55 have been used
|
|
as transmit from AF-1 in past. EIRP is (or was) very high, one
|
|
published description of system said it was 1 Kw to counter absorption
|
|
effects near nuclear fireballs.
|
|
|
|
3. "Yankee Zulu" full-duplex single channel nbfm voice via portable
|
|
equipment set up by secret service at site of Presidential visit.
|
|
This system has also been used for non-secure circuits to Presidential
|
|
automobiles, and is probably what Reagan used to talk to the gunman in
|
|
the golf coarse incident. Frequencies are around 163 and 172 Mhz
|
|
at EIRP's of perhaps 25-100 watts.
|
|
|
|
4. "Mystic Star" hf ssb via about 10-15 AF bases throughout the world
|
|
with remote transceivers controlled via telephone voice channels from
|
|
Andrews AFB. This system is used for telephone traffic mostly
|
|
when AF-1 is out of range of the UHF links, but at least two ssb voice
|
|
frequencies (and a full duplex 75 baud secure teletype channel called
|
|
"India Oscar" which use a special anti-multipath modem) are maintained
|
|
continuously and used for coordination of other communications links.
|
|
Frequencies are chosen from a list of about 150 scattered throughout
|
|
the available chunks of hf spectrum and are designated by "fox"
|
|
code numbers which change from time to time.
|
|
|
|
5. FLTSATCOM. A full-duplex nbfm voice channel to AF-1 is maintained
|
|
via whichever of the Navy FLTSATCOM spacecraft are in an optimal
|
|
position. This circuit (which isn't very private since 1/3 of the
|
|
globe can pick it up) is mostly used for secure voice and fax
|
|
transmission via conventional vf modems, but is occasionally used for
|
|
clear voice traffic. ( AF-1 also uses other secure forms of satellite
|
|
transmission as well). Frequencies for downlink are around 261 mhz
|
|
and 291 mhz for the uplink. Uplink EIRP is several hundred watts.
|
|
|
|
Are these circuits still in use ?
|
|
|
|
Does anyone know of any other non-secure AF-1 telephone circuits that
|
|
they feel at liberty to discuss. ?
|
|
|
|
Finally has anyone thought that perhaps the White House decision
|
|
to encrypt Presidential protection communications with DES (?) implies that
|
|
we consider DES breakable by world class cryptologic establishments ? One
|
|
suspects that we haven't left those communications in the clear by accident
|
|
as the status and health of the President of great concern to both our
|
|
allies and our principle adversary. Perhaps we are assuming that the various
|
|
world equivalents of the NSA can monitor Presidential protection if they
|
|
want to but terrorists and nosey journalists cannot ? Can anyone comment ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|