KOBRA 400 HS OM OPTICAL MEDIA

The KOBRA 400 HS OM is not a paper shredder, and the most useful thing to say about it is that it does not shred paper at all. It is a dedicated optical media destroyer that reduces CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, floppy disks and cards to 1.5 × 2 mm particles at DIN 66399 O-6, and units manufactured on or after November 2019 appear on the NSA/CSS Evaluated Products List for optical destruction devices. If your site retires discs in quantity, this is the machine that does it properly; if you also need to destroy classified paper, you need a second machine or the COMBI version.

Key Features

• 1.5 x 2 mm optical destruction. A 3 mm² particle, classified O-6 T-6 E-5 under DIN 66399 / ISO 21964, and referenced by Kobra against NSA Level 04-02 for optical destruction.
• Listed on the NSA/CSS EPL for optical destruction devices. The entry reads "Kobra 400 HS-OM – Manufactured after Nov, 2019", covering CD, DVD, BD, EMV credit cards, magnetic stripe cards, CAC IDs and SIM cards.
• Two published throughput figures. Kobra's US datasheet distinguishes a practical rate of up to 2,550 discs per hour from an NSA-rated 1,770 discs per hour. Plan destruction sessions on the NSA figure.
• Integrated automatic oiling system. Lubricates the high-security cutting knives during operation, which matters because disc plastic loads a cutting head differently from paper.
• 2.9 HP, 24-hour continuous-duty motor. No published duty cycle; a bulk disc destruction session can run to completion.
• Reusable fabric waste bag. A 22-gallon fabric bag rather than a plastic liner — disc fragments are sharp enough to cut through standard bags.
• Heavy chain drive with steel gears and automatic reverse. Mechanical torque delivery, with automatic jam reversal and electronic-eye start/stop.
• TAA compliant, NPSA approved, ASIO T-4. Trade Agreements Act compliant, NPSA approved for UK government use, and compliant with the Australian ASIO T-4 standard.

Specifications

What's in the Box

Supplied assembled on casters with the automatic oiler fitted and a reusable fabric waste bag. Replacement fabric bags are art. 51.071 and Kobra oil for the automatic oiler is art. 51.086. Kobra publishes no warranty term for this model on the US datasheet. As the NSA/CSS EPL entry is qualified by date of manufacture, ask us to confirm the current EPL revision and the unit's build date in writing if you are buying against a government requirement.

Who Should Buy This — and Who Should Not

Buy the 400 HS OM if your site retires optical media in volume — a media library, a data centre decommissioning programme, a records department clearing archived backups, or a cleared facility with a standing optical destruction requirement. Nothing else in this range destroys discs at O-6 with an NSA listing behind it, and the dedicated cabinet gives you the full 22-gallon fabric bin for plastic debris.

Do not buy it as your only destruction machine. It does not shred paper, and no amount of care will make it do so — the head and the 5-inch throat are built for rigid discs. A site that needs both should look at the KOBRA 400 HS-6 COMBI, which puts a P-7 paper head and an O-6 optical head in one cabinet, or pair this machine with the KOBRA 400 HS-6 AUTO-OILER for classified paper. If you only occasionally destroy a handful of discs alongside ordinary office paper, a general-purpose machine with a separate low-grade disc cutter, such as the KOBRA 310 TS CC4 AO, is a far more sensible purchase.