Racal MA-4471 | |
Secure phone adapter The MA-4471 is secure telephone adapter developed around 1996 by Racal COMSEC Ltd in the UK. It is an external device that converts a standard telephone set into a secure voice terminal, allowing secure speech over an insecure telephone network. The MA-4471 is not well-known and the design is based on the military MA-4470 voice encryption unit. |
The MA-4471 communicates with the user via a small LCD display at the front. To the left of the display are two coloured buttons to select between CLEAR and SECURE speech. To the right of the display is a small numerical keypad with the digits 0-9. Additional keys are hidden behind a small panel at the right. These keys are used when entering the cryptographic key(s). Also behind the panel is a 5-pin Fisher socket for the connection of a key fill device, as an alternative to entering keys manually. At present, we have no further information about this device. If you know more, or if you happen to have a manual for this unit, please contact us. It is unclear whether the MA-4471 has been distributed widely and whether they are still in use today. As the MA-4471 was introduced just before Racal was taken over by Thomson (now Thales) it is quite possible that this has prevented a wide-spread roll-out. |