Communications
Handheld and wearable comms gear. The short-range and long-range tags govern whether a radio works squad-to-squad or
regional/sat. See Gear Tags for tag definitions.
Radios
Item
Weight
Tags
Notes
Walkie-talkie (FRS)
0.2 kg
short-range
Civilian UHF; unencrypted.
Motorola DTR600
0.3 kg
short-range, encrypted
Digital trunked handheld.
Motorola APX 8000
0.5 kg
short-range, encrypted
Multi-band squad radio.
Harris AN/PRC-148 JEM
0.9 kg
short-range, encrypted
Standard SOF handheld; crypto-capable.
Harris AN/PRC-152A
1.0 kg
short-range, encrypted
MBITR; JTRS compliant.
AN/PRC-117G
4.5 kg
long-range, encrypted
Manpack sat + HF/UHF/VHF radio.
Iridium 9575 sat phone
0.3 kg
long-range
Global sat voice/data; unencrypted unless paired.
Thuraya XT-PRO
0.3 kg
long-range
Sat phone; regional coverage.
Field phone (TA-312)
4.5 kg
short-range
Wired field phone; loop or PBX.
Yaesu FT-818 (HF portable)
0.9 kg
long-range
6-band HF/VHF/UHF QRP transceiver; skywave propagation.
Baofeng UV-5R (ham handheld)
0.2 kg
short-range
Dual-band amateur VHF/UHF; cheap and ubiquitous.
goTenna Pro X (mesh node)
0.1 kg
short-range, encrypted
Bluetooth-paired mesh radio; off-grid text + GPS.
Meshtastic LoRa node
0.05 kg
short-range, encrypted
LoRa-band mesh node; DIY-friendly.
Kenwood TH-D74 (APRS packet)
0.4 kg
short-range
Amateur packet radio; position reports over RF.
PRC-112 survival radio
0.7 kg
long-range
Aviator survival beacon + voice; SAR standard.
Headsets and Accessories
Item
Weight
Tags
Notes
Peltor ComTac III
0.4 kg
-
Electronic ear pro with radio PTT integration.
Invisio X5 earpiece
0.1 kg
covert
In-ear covert comm piece.
Throat mic
0.1 kg
-
Throat-contact microphone; works with most PTTs.
Bone-conduction headset
0.1 kg
-
Leaves ears uncovered.
Earpiece (curly coil)
0.05 kg
covert
Protective-detail earpiece.
Crypto key (KYK-13)
0.3 kg
encrypted
Loads encryption keys into compatible radios.
Long-whip antenna (10 ft)
0.3 kg
long-range
Extends radio range when deployed.
VS-17 signal panel
0.3 kg
-
Orange/pink marker panel; ground-to-air ID.