Clansman Generation Equipment
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Clansman Radio Series
Clansman is the name of a radio system used by the British Army.
Clansman was developed by SRDE in the 1970s, to satisfy a General Staff Requirement (GSR) laid down in 1965. Built by Racal, MEL and Plessey, Clansman represented a considerable advance over existing radios being offered to the Armed Forces at the time. It replaced the aging Larkspur radio system, and proved to be more flexible, reliable and far lighter. The technological advances achieved in the design of Clansman allowed the introduction of Single SideBand (SSB) operation and NarrowBand Frequency Modulation (NBFM) to field-level communications for the first time.
Clansman has been in use by British forces since the early 1980s in most recent UK military operations, the first active use being by 2nd Bn the Parachute Regiment in the Falkland Islands operation in 1982. It is in the process of being replaced by the new digital Bowman communication system.
The Clansman family consists of nine main radio units, three of which are carried on vehicles, the other six on the back, across the chest, or other such places on a foot soldier.
Models are designated "UK/PRC" or "UK/VRC", which stand for "United Kingdom / Personal Radio Communications" and "United Kingdom / Vehicle Radio Communications" respectively. Although many people wrongly believe it stands for "Personal Radio Clansman"
UK/VRC 321 A vehicle-borne High Frequency transmitter/receiver used for inter company communications outside of the normal working range of the VHF forward area nets, and for rear link communications to Brigade level. The VRC321 can be linked, using standard Coaxial cables, to SURF (Selector Unit Radio Frequency), to avoid interference with other HF Radios nearby; and TURF (Tuning Unit Radio Frequency), to tune the radio to the attached antenna.
VRC 321 - Low Power (40W) HF Station and its ATU (Now called TURF)
The TURF (Right) is shown on the Carrier/Mounting plate to bring it up to the same height as the radio (Left) it can however, with this plate, be mounted directly onto the top of the radio. The radio has an output of 40 Watts, which the smaller TURF can handle.
VRC 322 - High Power (250W) HF Station with Power RF Amp and High Power TURF (for 250 Watts)
UK/VRC 322 = A VRC321 station with an additional 300 Watt pep (Peak Envelope Power) or effective 250 Watt, Radio Frequency linear amplifier (ARF250 the ARF standing for Amplifier Radio Frequency and of course the 250 for 250 Watt maximum output) shown in the middle and appropriate high power antenna tuning unit (TURF 250) shown on the right.
Here the parts that are needed to make a Low Power RT 321 into a High Power RT 322 one...
ARF250 The ARF (for Amplifier Radio Frequency) 250, is a Linear RF Power amplifier and can be used to boost the output to 250 Watts. When used a different TURF (the one below) is needed. Two recesses have been “chomped” out of the front face on either side, to allow carrying handles to be fitted that are virtually flush with the protective rim. The two round things on the front are not loudspeakers, as I have seen mentioned somewhere else on the Internet, but filters, then the unit has a lot of power/heat to dissipate when working at maximum output.
The strange thing on the top (above the carrying handle and left of the meter) is a Hexagonal plastic tube on which the scales are printed, these can be “switched” by using the two thumb wheels on the left and right of the tube to bring the desired scale to the front
VRC 353 was designed for VHF vehicle use, and is shown here (below) with the DMU,
The VRC353 is has an output of up to 50 Watts and covers the same frequency range as the PRC 351/352 Manpack (Backpack) radios, i.e. 30-75.975 MHz range, which I rounded off to 76.0 MHz, and offers a total possible 1840 frequency channels.
The DMU (Digital Master Unit) is a digital interface for Data traffic, and offering some low level voice encryption abilities for secure speech, it is also able to offer higher security when used in conjunction with the necessary ancillary encryption devices. These have smooth cases and take over the same fixing method (Case Alan screws in the corners) as the Larkspur system for mechanical interoperability.
While working at Marconi Space and Defence Systems in the late 1970s to mid 1980s, I helped with the design of this radio and various interfaces.
The PRC 351 is a Backpack carried VHF radio with the same 30-75.975 MHz frequency range as the above, VRC 353 Vehicle mounted radio.
The PRC 352 (Below) is effectively a PRC 351 with a 20 Watt power Amplifier placed between the radio and the battery pack.
A further option is to fit to either the PRC 351, but more so (due to the higher power output) to the PRC 352, a SURF (Selector Unit Radio Frequency) onto the top of the radio (The top is on the left of these drawings) which then allows two or more radios to be used in close proximity and without causing interference to each other. This is especially important when two or more sets are mounted into a soft skinned vehicle, or used in a command post tent, etc.
With the Vehicle based units, the following extension equipment is available to enhance and further the use of Clansman equipment.
These units popularly include:
- IBRU - Used in conjunction with the "Harness" point on VRC 353 and VRC 321 units, to operate 2 or more sets as a Rebro. (ReBroadcast). Re-Broadcasting allows 2+ networks, on different frequencies, to be combined, effectively increasing the ground size of the net. For instance, a vehicle using whip antennas may only be able to communicate 30km; though placing a Rebro vehicle 30km away could extend this to 60km by re-broadcasting the signal on a second net.
- DMU - A DMU, Digital Master Unit, used in conjunction with the necessary encryption devices, can provide secure communications on a VHF network, to other sets connected to a DMU.
- SURF - A SURF (Selector Unit Radio Frequency) is used to prevent interference with other nearby HF sets. It filters out the unused frequency bands by use of a manual control on the front of the unit, so that only the frequency in use, and those close to it, are processed by the TURF and the antenna.
- TURF - A TURF (Tuning Unit Radio Frequency) is used to artificially lengthen the antenna, as often HF wavelengths are too long to be used with vehicle whips, or even vertical radiators suspended from 8 or 12 metre masts. Using a larger antenna, such as the various dipole antennas, is not practical when communicating in a warzone, as they take much longer to set up and are visible from a long distance away. Furthermore, getting the antenna to exactly the right length is still very difficult. A TURF unit can be used both to artificially lengthen shorter antennas, and fine tune all HF antennas to exactly match the frequency in use. TURF units are considered mandatory when using 321 sets, and thus are built into PRC 320 sets as standard. They are not built into VRC 321 sets, as when a coax cable cannot be connected directly to the antenna (example - whilst using a sloping wire or vertical radiator), the TURF needs to be attached directly to the antenna, and thus removed from the vehicle. The TURF requires users to manually tune the antenna, unlike the VHF "TUAAM" which is self tuning.
- TUAAM - a TUAAM (Tuning Unit Automatic Antenna Matching) unit is essentially a TURF but for VHF. It automatically tunes to the antenna, and artificially shortens the antenna rather than lengthening it, but essentially performs the same function. An EVHF unit can be used on top of masts to provide the same function.help this is true but whay is the operating range.
An encryption unit that can be inserted between the Audio in/output of not only Clansman, but in fact any radio or telephone system and the user handset is provided by the RACAL MA 4224. it was primarily made for use with RACAL sets used around the Falklands War era, but continues to be used in some roles with Clansman equipment today.
For the curious, here is how they are drawn...
1). Simple bare box and then the Ribbed boddy case drawn.
2). The protective rim fixing screw extrusions and carrying handle drawn
3). The casting protrusions on the front face, such as for the meter are drawn.
4). A drawing with black markings and text on white is drawn then inverted to become a negative that is then placed onto the front panel, knobs, sockets, fuse holders, etc., from pre collected or drawn collection are copied in and placed into the respective locations. Maybe depending upon the planned second unit, change the direction of the casing ribs? Naaw, decided to stick to the case look as used on the RT 231 and on the TURF, but the TURF is not as tall as the radio, so maybe the top needs sinking, or the floor raised? Added a carrier plate under the TURF as used in a real one to afix it onto the top of the radio.
5). The same procedure for the creation of the TURF, then it remains to finish the title, add the background flag, etc., and the picture is ready for use.
Clansman from http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/ProjectFactsheets/Clansman.htm
Service - Navy, Army, RAF.
Description
Clansman is a family of radios and ancillaries designed for operations in combat zones anywhere in the world. The Clansman range consists of seven radios: two HF, four VHF and one UHF – designed to replace about twenty-four separate equipments of the Larkspur range. It is used by the Army, Navy and Air Force, predominantly in the Land environment. Clansman equipments provide all – informed communication facilities over long and short distances for infantrymen, Armoured vehicles, gun and missile batteries, beach landings, parachute drops and some ground to air links. It is also used for secure formation command nets. It provides access to area communications systems such as Ptarmigan and provides a communications bearer for other systems such as BATES and ADCIS.
Shortfalls of Current Systems
The Clansman combat radio, which entered service in the 1970s, is based on analogue technology, is insecure except at formation level and is becoming increasingly obsolete. It has a limited data capacity and will not support the requirements of future information systems.
Project History
Clansman was procured in the 1970’s for a fifteen-year life, thereby dispensing with the requirement for a mid-life overhaul and refurbishment. As the system has gone beyond the end of its planned life spares have become more costly and difficult to procure due to component obsolescence and also the unwillingness of manufacturers to set up facilities for relatively small production quantities.
In service modifications have been embodied to preserve the equipments operational capability, reliability, safety and maintainability. The extended life of Clansman has also impacted on the supporting test equipment, particularly the Automatic Test Equipment. This has either been refurbished of replaced with more modern, reliable test equipment.
Current Status
Clansman has entered the disposal stage of the CADMID life cycle. The drawdown plan and redeployment/disposal of deployed assets commenced in 2004 at the In Service Date of Bowman.
Costs: Total Operating Costs in FY04/05 - £76.85M. FY05/06 - £74.469M. FY06/07 – £71.928m.
ISD: The ISD for Clansman was declared in 1978 with full deployment achieved by 1983.
Major Milestones
Predicted OSD for Clansman 2008.
Quantities
Approx 65,000 radios including DMU and DMU(D) procured.
Commercial Aspects
Clansman continues to be supported by a wide range of spares and PDS contracts with Base level repair predominately undertaken by ABRO. There is a limited range of Clansman items that are to be retained for use with Bowman. In particular the ANR headsets, CPU,CBS and 8M and 12M masts all of which are currently supported via enabling contracts.
Bowman from http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/MicroSite/DES/OurTeams/Joint/BowmanAndTacticalCommunicationsInformationSystemsIntegratedProjectTeam.htm
Bowman and Tactical Communications & Information Systems Integrated Project Team
The IPT, led by Commodore Hart, is responsible for the through life management of a range of tactical CIS equipments and systems used in the Land environment, including the associated amphibious and air manoeuvre components.
Some of the equipment BATCIS IPT supports (Picture: BATCIS IPT)
BATCIS IPT Equipment in use (Picture: BATCIS IPT)
The main systems managed include Bowman, the Common Battlefield Applications Toolset (ComBAT), Infrastructure and Platform Battlefield Information Systems Application (P-BISA), collectively known as CIP, the Personal Role Radio, ARRC C2IS, MAKEFAST and Clansman.
Projects IPT Supports
The Personal Role Radio is a short-range radio designed to facilitate communications between the members of a dismounted close combat infantry section. PRR is used extensively for non-core infantry tasks i.e. base defence, static observation points and intra-vehicle (for convoy control) communications. It works with Clansman and Bowman man-portable radios, enabling section commanders to pass information from the platoon radio ‘net’ to the section and vice-versa.
Bowman will meet the tactical communications needs of those elements of the three Armed Services that take part in, or provide direct support to, UK land, amphibious and air manoeuvre operations until at least 2026. From 2008, it replaces the Clansman combat radio system with a secure digital voice and data communications service, including situational awareness capability.
CIP capability will be introduced with Bowman to provide a core battle management system. It will enable the battlefield information systems being developed for Fire Control and Ground Based Air Defence to exploit Bowman’s data messaging capability concurrently, as well as addressing wider interoperability issues with our allies.
Full CBM(L) will be further developed to incorporate future battlefield information systems (BISAs).
MAKEFAST, a specialist software application, will support the combat engineer role throughout the battlefield, from bridge building through minefield planning to demolition work.
ARRC C2IS is being developed to improve the operational effectiveness of HQ ARRCs current Command Information System (CIS) and will interface with a wide range of information systems within the NATO environments.
