SINCGARS (pronounced "sink gars") is short for SINgle Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System. While not linguistically correct, is it common practice to call a single SINCGARS a SINCGAR.
Simply stated a SINCGARS is a multi purpose two-way radio used in the United States Army and United States Marine Corps. You can find one (or more) of these radios in nearly every ground vehicle and aircraft in these branches of the Armed Forces. They can also be equipped with a battery pack and used by ground troops as well (this configuration is typically called a Manpack). If you've ever seen a war movie with someone talking on a radio - that's probably what they were using.
The SINCGARS, manufactured by the Aerospace Communications Division of ITT Industries, is a VHF-FM radio that utilizes 2320 different frequencies and operates between the 30 and 87.975 MHz region in 25 kHz increments. Regardless of the "Single Channel" used in the name, these radios can be set to utilize frequency hopping to increase security and prevent jamming by the enemy. The ability of these radios to send and receive voice, analog, and digital signals at up to 16 kbps allows them to be set up to encrypt and decrypt transmissions on a Combat Radio Net for increased security. The SINCGARS is compliant with NATO interoperability requirements.
In addition to it slowly shrinking size, weight, and power consumption and increasing range; newer models of the radio have GPS capability, intranet capabilities, improved error-correction, and numerous other add-ons.
How to talk on a SINCGARS >>
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