Clansman

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Clansman is the name of a radio system used by the British Army.

Clansman was developed by SRDE in the 1960s. Built by Racal and Plessey, it represented a considerable advance over existing radios being offered to the Armed Forces at the time. It replaced the aging Larkspur radio system, proving to be more fexible, reliable and far lighter than the previous system.

Clansman has been in use by British forces since the early 1980s in most recent UK military operations. It is in the process of being replaced by the new digital Bowman communication system.

[edit] Family

The Clansman family consists of 9 main radio units, 3 of which are carried on vehicles, the other 6 on the back, across the chest, or other such places on a foot soldier.

Models are designated "UK/PRC", which stands for "United Kingdom / Personal Radio Communicator".

The most common are the:

• UK/PRC 349 - An intra-section level portable VHF FM transceiver. Built by Racal. RF power output is 0.25 watts Operates in 37 - 46.975 MHz range. on the FM transmission Mode.

• UK/PRC 351/352 - An intra-platoon level backpack VHF FM transceiver. Built by Racal. The PRC 351 has 4 watt RF power output, and operates in 30-75.975 MHz range with possible 1840 channels. The PRC 352 is identical, with the addition of a 20 watt RF amplifier and can be used as a ground station.

• UK/PRC 320 - An intra-company level HF/USB/AM/CW transceiver. Built by Plessey. Operates in 2-29.9999 MHz range with possible 280,000 channels. RF power output is a selectable 3 or 30 watts. The PRC 320 can be used as a backpack or vehicular radio with a number of different antennas available for different circumstances and needs.

• UK/PRC 344 - A forward air control UHF AM transceiver. Built by Plessey. Operates in 225-399.9 range with 50 kHz steps for possible 3500 channels. RF power output is rated at 2.5 watts.