Mykotronx Upgrades US Army Satellite Comms

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01-21-97. Newsbytes:

Mykotronx Upgrades US Army Satellite Comms

Irvine, Calif. -- By Bill Pietrucha. The US Army has tapped Rainbow Technologies Inc.'s Mykotronx subsidiary to produce a key upgrade for US Army satellite communication equipment.

Under terms of the sub-contract, initially valued in excess of $2.5 million, and with more than $2 million in options, Mykotronx will develop and manufacture the refurbished Batson encryption subsystem, called the RBatson. Also known as KIG-34, the system will provide critical command and control protection for the US Defense Satellite Communication System (DSCS), including encryption, authentication, and anti-jamming capabilities.

The Rbatson will replace the original Batson equipment developed in the 1970s that has recently become increasingly costly to maintain, John Droge, Mykotronx vice president of program development, told Newsbytes. Droge said that Droge said that Mykotronx has provided a number of secure communication and cryptographic products to the US government, including its Capstone encryption processor known as MYK-82. The devices have been used to build part of the Government's order of Fortezza Cryptographic Cards for the Defense Message System (DMS), Droge said.

The significance of the MYK-82 is that it allows us to provide a high grade, low-cost encryption technology to customers," Droge said. "The MYK-82 is an advanced encryption processor specifically aimed at Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) cryptographic applications and has a built-in PCMCIA interface. The newer design is smaller, faster and has a lower cost than its predecessor."

According to Droge, the MYK-82, developed by Mykotronx and fabricated by VLSI Technology Inc., is the first of a series of security products to be developed as part of an alliance with VLSI, targeting both government and commercial markets.

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