Polo Marconi VHF Manpack High-Power Portable VHF/UHF Radio for Infantry Tactical Communications

The Polo Marconi VHF Manpack is the high-power multiband VHF/UHF portable radio designed for fire support coordination teams, FACs (Forward Air Controllers), and infantry section leaders who need to simultaneously communicate on the tactical terrestrial VHF network with their unit and on the UHF fire coordination network with the attack aircraft — the fundamental requirement of JTAC teams coordinating CAS (Close Air Support) in the most demanding operations without having two separate radios.

The radio operates in continuous coverage from 30 to 108 MHz VHF for SINCGARS tactical terrestrial network frequencies and from 225 to 512 MHz UHF for the military aviation coordination band, with 20 W output power on VHF and 10 W on UHF providing a VHF communications range of 30-40 kilometers in open terrain and UHF air-ground range of 60-80 kilometers — covering the typical operational distances of an infantry battalion on the ground. The HAVE QUICK II frequency hopping function compatible with NATO standards protects air fire coordination communications — the most tactically sensitive network — against enemy interception and jamming during the target designation and attack authorization phase.

Full SINCGARS compatibility — including SINCGARS frequency hopping mode with cesium time synchronization — allows integrating the radio as part of the battalion tactical terrestrial network without additional interoperability equipment, while the simultaneously enabled HAVE QUICK II mode allows coordination with CAS aircraft without interrupting the active terrestrial network.