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In 1921, Boris Hagelin developed his first cipher machine whilst
working for crypto-company Damm in Sweden. In 1935 he produced
a fully mechanical machine under his own brand name
A.B. Ingeniörsfirman Teknik in Sweden.
(later changed to A.B. Cryptoteknik).
It was the first of a long line of mechanical cipher machines.
Shortly before WWII, he developed the M-209 for the American Army.
After the war the company moved to Switzerland where they traded
as Hagelin Cryptos.
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Over the years, Hagelin produced numerous mechanical
and electronic cipher machines.
The company is still in business today and is known as Crypto AG.
The model numbers of the Hagelin machines are often related to the
year in which they were developed (e.g. the C-35 was developed in 1935).
Furthermore, a B is added before the model number if the unit has
a keyboard.
Hagelin machines featured on this website:
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The B-21 was the first cipher machine developed by Boris Hagelin.
He designed the machine in 1921 when he was working for the
Damm brothers in Sweden.
Physically, it resembles the Enigma machine
but internally it scrambles wires in a 5 x 5 matrix,
controlled by 4 pin-wheels.
The machine was thought to be more secure than the Enigma, but this
was not the case.
 More information
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The C-35 is the first fully mechanical pin-and-lug machine
developed by Hagelin. It is much smaller than later machines of
the same class and was initially developed for the French Army,
who wanted the machine to fit the pocket of the army trousers.
In November 2008 we had the opportunity to take some detailed
photographs of this machine from Crypto AG's private Hagelin collection.
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The C-36 is one of the first mechanical pin-and-lug machines
developed by Hagelin. It is larger than the C-35 and resembles
the M-209 in shape. Unlike the M-209, however, the tabs on
the metal bars inside the machine are not movable.
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The C-37 is one of the successors to the C-36.
It was manufactured for the French Navy by L.M. Ericsson in Colombes
(France) under licence of Hagelin. The machine was also used
for French-British liaisons.
In September 2009 we had the opportunity to see a C-37
for the first time when it was shown by
GCHQ on the
Enigma Reunion 2009
at Bletchley Park.
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Based on the C-38, Hagelin developed the M-209 for the American
Army, shortly before WWII. It's a small compact mechanical machine
that remained in service until after the Vietnam War.
As the machine could be broken by the Germans in less than 4 hours,
it was only used for tactical field messages. The M-209 was built
under licence by Smith Corona in the USA.
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The BC-38 is in fact a C-38 that has a keyboard and is motor-driven.
It is compatible with the C-38 and the American M-209 and was used
during WWII by the American Army, mainly in command centres.
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The C-446 is a typical military Hagelin machine.
The machine shown here was used by the Dutch Navy and
was available in two versions: the standard C-446-A
and an C-446-RT. The latter used a Random Tape rather than coding wheels.
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Designed around 1952, the CX-52 is probably one Hagelin's most successful
mechanical cipher machines.
Numerous variants were developed, such as the standard CX-52,
an RT-version (Random Tape) and even an Arabic version.
The CX-52 was introduced in the early 1950s and remained in use
as a backup in some countries until the late 1990s.
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The TC-52 was an on-line cipher machine for teletype-based communication
systems (Telex), developed between 1954 and 1955 by Crypto AG
in Zug (Switzerland).
It was an improved version of the earlier T-52
machine (1951-1952) and was a hybrid between a wheel-based mechanical cipher
machine (i.e. an M-209
or C-38)
and a mixer machine.
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The BC-543 is a rather strange member of the Hagelin family. As the name
suggests, it was developed around 1954. It is, however, not based on the
C-52 that was developed two years earlier, but rather
on the BC-38 which in turn was based on the
C-38 a.k.a. M-209. The BC-543 is in fact functionally
identical to the BC-38 and differs only in minor details.
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The CD-57 is a truely portable hand-held cipher machine that easily
fits the pocket of, say, a coat. It was introduced in 1957 and was
based on the design of the earlier CD-55.
It has 6 coding wheels and is crypto compatible with the C-52.
The CD-57 was also built under licence by Hell as the STG-61.
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In 1977, Hagelin introduced the HC-520 CRYPTOMATIC as part of the HC-5xx
family of machines. It was one of the first fully electronic cipher
machines that were developed as the successors to the H-4605.
The HC-520 looks like an electronic calculator and was considered
very compact at the time.
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The HC-530 was a portable electronic cipher machine, introduced
in the late 1970s as part of the CRYTOMATIC family of machines.
It was one of the successors to the H-4605
and was compatible with the HC-520 (see above).
It was usually housed in a Samsonite briefcase, or in a sturdy green
military carrying case.
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The HC-570 was the desktop version of the CRYPTOMATIC family and
is compatible with the HC-520
and the HC-530. It cointains a thermal printer
and a small single-row display.
The machine contains a built-in 5-level paper tape reader and puncher,
and is mechanically protected (locked) against tampering.
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In the mid-1970s, Crypto AG (Hagelin) developed a series of
voice crypto untits, aimed at both the civilian and military
market. This was called the CRYPTOCOM CRM-008 product line.
The CRM-008 was introduced in 1975 and was sold well into the
1990s.
This machine is sometimes identified as the Hagelin HC-230
(civilian version) or HC-235 (military version).
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The CRYPTOVOX HC-3300 is a secure telephone set with digital encryption,
developed by Crypto AG in Switzerland in the early 1990s. It can be connected
to a PSTN line and is suitable for
voice, data and facsimile traffic. A smart-card is used for key distribution.
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The CRYPTOFAX HC-4220 was a fax encryptor developed by Crypto AG
in Switzerland in the early 1990s. It allowed facsimile messages to be sent
securely by any Group 3 fax unit via standard PSTN (analogue) telephone lines,
at speeds between 2400 and 14,400 baud.
The HC-4220 was available from 1994 until 2002 when it was replaced by
its successor the HC-4221, that is still available today (2011).
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The HC-2203 is a PSTN telephone encryptor.
It was introduced in the early 2000s, and
can be connected between any ordinary telephone set and an
analogue telephone line (PSTN).
It is compatible with the HC-24x3 secure GSM phone
and is still available from Crypto AG in Switzerland today (2011).
More information
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Swiss Army Knife
This is a genuine Swiss Army Knife with the Hagelin logo
on its side. It was probably a gift from Crypto AG to their
customers.
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- Boris Hagelin, Die Geschichte der Hagelin-Cryptos
Original manuscript by Boris Hagelin in German language. Zug, Fall 1979.
- Boris Hagelin, The Story of Hagelin Cryptos
English translation of the above. BCW Hagelin, Zug, Spring 1981.
Later edited by David Kahn and published in Cryptologia, Volume 18, Issue 3, July 1994, pp 204-242.
- Hans Stadlin, 100 Jahre Boris Hagelin 1982-1992 (German)
Crypto AG. Crypto Hauszeitung Nr. 11. Jubilieumausgabe September 1992.
- Crypto AG, Crypto Magazine 2009, number 1
Retrieved August 2009.
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© Copyright 2009-2013, Paul Reuvers & Marc Simons. Last changed: Saturday, 08 February 2014 - 18:51 CET
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