An overview of the Tactical Secure Voice Cryptographic Interoperability Specification

The Tactical Secure Voice Working Group was formed by the National Security Agency in 2008 to ensure that modernized tactical secure voice devices will be interoperable across the Department of Defense. The Naval Research Laboratory was tasked by the working group to develop the Tactical Secure Voice Cryptographic Interoperability Specification (TSVCIS), which became an official National Security Agency (NSA) document in July of 2009. The TSVCIS consists of two documents, one classified and the other unclassified. These documents define the voice encoding, encryption, framing, synchronization, key management, and other functions for tactical secure voice and data radio communications. This paper describes the unclassified portion of the TSVCIS and explains some of the improvements over the legacy tactical secure voice systems. It also describes how the modernized secure voice modes can provide even wider benefits in the future.