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gps powered rifleman radio

Nov 21, 2008 gps navigation

The Army is planning to issue to front-line infantry units a so-called Rifleman Radio, a 7.5 pound unit that fits in the pocket of a field uniform, does more than provide voice communications for the Army’s smallest maneuver units. He said the radio also uses the Global Positioning System (GPS) to transmit the position of each soldier in a squad or platoon to a display attached to a team leader’s radio.

The Rifleman Radio, which is still under testing, is apparently using a commercial GPS receiver rather than a more expensive, and more precise, military GPS system to keep the costs down. However the commercial GPS is still good enough for a squad leader to pinpoint soldiers on the battlefield on a wrist-mounted display connected to the radio.

The cost of the new radio was not revealed but we’re guessing it will cost a lot just like anything related to the military.

The Rifleman Radio uses software that relies on a waveform or algorithm developed by Joint Tactical Radio System Program Executive Office at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, which is headquartered here, to communicate in the UHF and L-band frequencies. The radio uses Voice over IP for voice communications.

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