Missing ARC4 / ADP support in APCO P25

Dear Kenwood Corporation: Your Viking (formerly EFJohnson) radios support ARC4. TAIT radios support ARC4. Harris radios support ARC4. And, of course, Motorola radios support ARC4, better known as ADP. But, as you know, NX5000 radios do NOT support ARC4 in P25 mode.

ADP is the most popular encryption option at some agencies where military-grade encryption isn't required, as well as in some business and civilian applications. It is free or reasonably priced and does not require optional boards, installation work, government approvals, or expensive KVL hardware.

Whether the reason is poor marketing, licensing issues, or something else, Kenwood's NX5000 radios cannot be used on networks that require ADP simply because they lack ARC4 / ADP support. While Kenwood radios still lack this feature, Motorola changed its default encryption algorithm from ADP to AES-256. Nevertheless, ADP remains very popular and will be in demand for many more years.

One question: Why? Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy? Why can't you add ARC4? This is one of the NX5000 platform's biggest shortcomings, and there is real demand for it. You're working on elaborate hospitality features (did you get a huge order?), but you've completely forgotten about many of your users. You're limiting your own sales because your radios cannot provide a smooth migration path for users of Motorola networks.

Once again: why?