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USSR rotor-based cipher machine
The M-125, codename Fialka
(Russian: ФИАЛКА),
was an electromechanical wheel-based
cipher machine,
developed in the USSR shortly after WWII.
It was first introduced in 1956 and soon became one of the
favorite machines of the Warsaw Pact and some allied nations, such as Cuba.
The machine is similar to the
American Sigaba,
the KL-7 and —
to a lesser extent — the Enigma.
For this reason the machine is sometimes called: the Russian Enigma.
The original M-125
was succeeded by the M-125-3
in the mid-1960s and remained in use until the early 1990s.
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The fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, marked the decline and finally the
collapse of the Soviet Union. With the retreat of the Russians from the
countries behind the Iron Curtain, the remaining Fialka machines were
taken back and have subsequently been dismantled or destroyed.
Each country of the Warsaw Pact had its own customized Fialka version,
adapted for the local language. This means that each country had its own
keyboard and print head. Furthermore, the wiring of the coding wheels
is different for each country. The rest of the machine is identical.
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Most machines were capable of communicating
either in Latin or Cyrillic (Russian) writing. Although the Latin
alphabet was specific for each country, the Cyrillic alphabet had no
punctuation marks and was identical on all machines, making them
interoperable when a mutual set of wheels was used.
A standard — Russian-only — version
also existed.
Fortunately, some machines have miraculously escaped demolition,
which enables us to present some details here.
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'Fialka' is a Russian word that means Violet; a rather nice small flower.
Around 1956, the Russian Army introduced a brand new
cipher machine, which was given the codename FIALKA. Two versions of this
machine are known to exist: the M-125
and the M-125-3,
with country-specific variants of each model.
In principle, the machine is called M-125, whereas Fialka
is the name of the cipher procedure. However, as most people call the
machine Fialka, we will use that name throughout these pages as well.
Here are two examples.
The one on the left is a basic M-125.
The design of the Fialka is clearly based on the
well-known Enigma machine,
that was used by the German Forces during WWII.
Like the Enigma, it uses a number of electromechanical
cipher wheels to scramble the letters
typed on the keyboard.
With each key-press, the wheels move into a new position,
thereby effectively changing the wiring and, hence,
the alphabet substitution for each
letter typed on the keyboard.
And that's where the similarity with the Enigma ends.
Rather than presenting the output on a lamp panel,
the Fialka prints the coded letter directly onto a paper tape.
At the same time it can punch the letter into the same paper
tape in a 5-bit digital code, much like the
baudot code
of a teletype machine.
In addition, the Fialka contains a paper tape transmitter which can be
used to transmit or duplicate a message. During WWII,
the Russians have clearly
learned from the flaws in the Enigma's design and its operating
procedures, as they have implemented the following improvements:
- 10 wheels, rather than 3 or 4 on the Enigma,
- More frequent wheel turn-overs,
- Adjacent wheels move in opposite directions,
- Wheel wiring can be changed in the field (from 1978 onwards),
- A punched card is used to replace the Steckerbrett,
- A letter can be encoded into itself (impossible on Enigma).
In addition to this, the following extra features are available:
- The use of letters, numbers and punctuation marks (M-125-3 only),
- Can be used to duplicate a punched-paper tape,
- Can be used as a standard teletype machine (i.e. generate plain-text),
- Supports both Russian (Cyrillic) and Latin.
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This is the basic Fialka machine that was introduced in 1956.
Most machines were capable of sending letters-only messages
in the Russian and Latin alphabets. The machine had 10 cipher
wheels with fixed wiring.
Apart from a Russian-only variant, the machines were adapted for
each individual country. Furthermore, the wiring of the cipher
wheels was country-specific.
 More information
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In 1965, the M-125 was succeeded by the improved M-125-3
that was capable of sending letters-only, numbers-only and
mixed-mode text. Like with the M-125, there are country-specific
variants.
Furthermore, in the mid-1970s, more advanced cipher wheels
were introduced, which greatly enhanced the maximum number of
settings and, hence, improved the key space.
More information
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This is the most common PSU that was issued with a Fialka machine.
The majority of Fialka machines that were found after the fall of the
Soviet Union, was supplied with this PSU. It has been confirmed that
this PSU was used in East-Germany (DDR) and in Czechoslovakia.
Collectors of Cold War Russian equipment may recognise this PSU,
as it was also used with the
M-105 AGAT cipher machine.
More information
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This variant is larger than the standard PSU and contains a number of
protective measures against eavesdropping through tapping of the power lines
(TEMPEST). Is is connected to the Fialka by means of two cables and produces
a constant voltage as well as a constant current.
As far as we know, this PSU was only supplied with Fialka machines that were
used in Poland, although occasionally this variant has popped up in
other Eastern-Block countries as well.
More information
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The Fialka has 10 unique coding wheels, each identified with a letter of the
Russian alphabet. The wiring can be swapped between wheels and each wheel
contains an arbitrary number of turn-over notches. Furthermore, each country
of the Warsaw Pact had its own set of 10 wheels.
More information
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Apart from changing the settings of the wheels, the daily key also involved
the insertion of a unique key card in a drawer on the left of the machine.
The key card was used instead of the Steckerbrett of the original
Enigma design.
Compared to a patch panel, the card reader is less prone to mistakes,
whilst it also increases the number of permutations.
More information
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For repair and maintenance a special Fialka Test Device was available.
The device was connected to the special test connector at the left side
of the machine (M-125-3 only).
As the test device has never been found so far, we can
only speculate about its functionality.
It is likely that the device contained a paper tape reader to allow
several test programs to be run.
More information
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According to the checklist that came with a Fialka machine, each machine
was supplied with a small toolkit that was used for daily maintenance and
small repairs. It contained tools to adjust the machine and to remove paper
from a blocked machine.
More information
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Although the internal wiring of all Fialka machines was identical,
the wiring of the cipher wheels was different for each country.
So far, the wiring details for the Polish (3K), Hungarian (5K)
and Czech (6K) wheels have been recovered.
The wiring information and the positions of the Advance Blocking
Pins are also available to programmers and can be downloaded in XML format.
Click the image to learn more.
More information
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When we found our first Fialka in 2005, no information about
this machine was available. So, we decided to conduct our own research
and write the Fialka Reference Manual. It contains many backgrounds,
drawings, photographs, circuit diagrams and descriptions.
More information
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The history of the M-125 Fialka is still very clouded and very
little is known about its history, its use and its backgrounds,
as the machine was in use until recently.
Although the Russians have done their best to destroy the remaining
machines once they were decommissioned, a handful have miraculously escaped
demolition and are now in the hands of collectors and museums.
In the mid-2000s, a limited number of M-125 Fialka machines appeared
on the European surplus market and have since become highly wanted
collector's items. Although Fialkas were in use in all countries of
the former Warsaw Pact, the machines that have survived all come from
Poland and Czechoslovakia. In 2014, we found the Hungarian Fialka
wheels.
When we first found a Fialka machine in 2005, no information about
this machine was available on the internet or elsewhere. So, we
decided to reverse-engineer the machine and re-create the circuit
diagram from scratch. All we had to start with was a German
Operator's Manual and a working machine.
Luckily, we were given a broken surplus machine that we
could take apart.
The result is a 140+ page manual with hundereds of drawings,
photographs and circuit diagrams.
The manual is available only in printed form and can be ordered
directly from us.
Each copy of the manual is printed in full-colour and contains
the full circuit diagram as a fold-out.
More information
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Version 5.06
- 7 December 2012
Ukrainian programmer Vyacheslav Chernov (Чернов) has written a beautiful
graphical simulator for Windows TM, that emulates all known Fialka models
and countries.
It supports the old wheels as well as the later adjustable wheels,
and supports different wheel-wirings for the various countries.
Furthermore, the wiring cores can be installed, flipped and rotated
in any of the other wheels.
Download Fialka Simulator
How to set the keys (and card)
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- Java Applet (experimental) by Eugen Antal (off-site)
This is a fully functional non-graphical Fialka Simulator that is written
in Java and runs on virtually any platform, including Windows, Apple Mac,
Linux and Unix. Instructional videos are available as well.
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Country specific variants
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Although there are just two different Fialka models, the older
M-125
and the later M-125-3,
there are many country-specific variants of each model. Generally
speaking, they can be distinguised by looking at the keyboard. If it
has square keys, it is definitely a newer M-125-3.
The drawing above shows the two styles of keyboard side-by-side.
The rightmost one is the newer M-125-3.
If the has rounded keys, it is likely to be an older
M-125,
but this is not necessarily so. As an exception to the rule,
the Russian-only
variants always have rounded keys.
At present, the following country specific Fialka machines
are highlighted on this website:
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The Fialka is a very complex mechanical and electrical machine. If you want
to known exactly how it works, you will find detailed information in the links
below. If you want to know even more, check out the
Fialka Reference manual.
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Below are some files that are available for download. Please note that
these files are supplied 'as-is'. Crypto Museum can not guarantee the
suitability of these files for any purpose whatsoever.
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- XML files for software Simulator authors 0.02 (5 July 2014)
This is a ZIP archive, containing a set of XML files that describe
all features of the Fialka and its wheels. These files can be used
by software writers when creating, for example, a Fialka Simulator.
Includes 3K, 5K and 6K wheel wiring.
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© Copyright 2009-2013, Paul Reuvers & Marc Simons. Last changed: Monday, 07 July 2014 - 20:34 CET
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