WMIK comms fit

[phildagreek]

Working on my little group of HobbyBoss WMIK's, one of them will be a patrol commander's vehicle, in this modern age, what would the comms fit be? Is it all satellite chat with a little UHF whip aerial or two for talking to aircraft? Do they still use HF (Bowman?) with the aerial boxes on the wings? Anything else? Or is it all satellite phones?

The internet suggests lots but no definitive answer, anybody know?

Thanks.

[Dads203]

I'd run with Bowman TBH, they will still have a requirement for CNR ( Combat Net Radio ) and Havequick for secure Ground to Air coms

The 344 Clansman UHF radios I used did have a funky Bob Marley

antenna which I'm sure we used with the Havequick sets. I'm sure someone will come along who is more current than myself and give you a better run down.

All the kit I used was Clansman and a bit of Panther, Bowman was a bit of Kit that I should of used but it was a bit late coming into service... like 10 odd years !

HTH

Dan

[Parabat]

Some old photos. Depending on the time-frame, it could be either Bowman or Clansman.

Typical fit would be a VHF set and an HF set, with a Satcomm carried in the back to be deployed when stopped or sending a sched. Some would have a UHF set if needing to speak to air/aviation assets.

Some of the large, almost rotund antennae you may see, especially on RWMIK+ are the ECM fit antennae.

2008 WMIK with 2 x HF antennae on the bonnet, Satcomm antenna (cruciform, above the commanders' head) deployed for a sched.

Particular points to note on this for anyone wishing the 'details' for a model or dio.

From the front; The towstrop is passed through the towing eye and coiled on the bonnet, ready for action.

The pick haft and shovel on the bonnet are covered in sandbags to prevent shine and rattle when driving.

The indicators were covered with green NBC tape ('Sniper tape') to prevent ND's with lights (even though the light array was always switched to 'off')

The clear plastic bottle (see below for better pic) contained an IR cyalume for night driving identification.

The wheels are the newer alloys, available in black, green or sand, frequently WMIKS could beseen with all three colourways!

.50 cal is mounted with the Manroy Engineering 'soft mount' and fitted with a SUSA (Sight Unit Small Arms).

The bungee on the side of the sand tracks is to secure karabiner'd on bergens from swaying excessively.

To the rear you can see another clear bottle for an IR cyalume.

Mud has been slapped on the fuel Jerry can to knock down the 'Army Green' shine.

WMIK front on, with detail of the plasti-tied on bottle. Note the mudded over headlights. Note the tow strop is through the towing eye, NOT the pin in the front bumper (if it got stuck, a rescuer would easily rip off the front bumper!)

WMIK on the right has 'Sniper taped' lights, Vector on the left has cut down sandbags for light covers.

Old school WMIK with Clansman.

RWMIK showing the radio fit panels to the right of the crew seat.

[Julien]

We also have a wimik walkaround if its of any use.

Thanks to the man above for that

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234928621-land-rover-wolf-weapons-mount-installation-kit-wmik/

Julien

[phildagreek]

Brilliant stuff, thank you all.

[Julien]

I'd run with Bowman TBH, they will still have a requirement for CNR ( Combat Net Radio ) and Havequick for secure Ground to Air coms

The 344 Clansman UHF radios I used did have a funky Bob Marley

antenna which I'm sure we used with the Havequick sets. I'm sure someone will come along who is more current than myself and give you a better run down.

All the kit I used was Clansman and a bit of Panther, Bowman was a bit of Kit that I should of used but it was a bit late coming into service... like 10 odd years !

HTH

Dan

BOWMAN .... better off with a map and Nokia! system was useless when bought in, my brother said everyone just used their mobiles to communicate when on exercise!

[Kingsman]

Don't forget VHF for local comms. HF is for longer ranges as VHF runs out of puff at about 30km even on the flat. VHF and HF would be normal., satcom for some. UHF would only be for air controllers for comms with fast air. Helos carry VHF as all ground troops have VHF. Bowman was only fully deployed some way into op HERRICK. The "aerial box" on the wing is only for Clansman VHF: it housed the Tuning Unit Automatic Antenna Matching (TUAAM). It fitted onto the little low mounting plate on the wing top now used for the Bowman antenna. The cable runs from the rear come up inside. Bowman HF antennas were on uprights each side of the rear bed. A Bowman fit would probably have been a VRC353 VHF plus VRC320 HF with TURF. Don't know my way round Bowman sets. Bowman problems were mostly, but not entirely, users not adapting rather than kit not working.

[Tim Moff]

You will find that not many WMIKs were actually fitted for Bowman....daysacks were attached, to the Antenna system that was fitted. In 3 PARA I made the SOP that all vehicles carried all Antennas (so not to distinguish commanders vehicles etc) as I was the RSWO - it is correct that on H4 (1st tour in Helmand) we still used Clansman sets as well as Bowman.

[Kingsman]

When I said Bowman for 353 + 320 I of course meant Clansman. Thinking about it a bit more, patrol vehicles in Clansman days probably only had a 351 or more likely a 352 for local net comms. I would imagine that patrol commander might have had 351/2 for local net and 353 for higher formation net + 320 HF. Patrol 2i/c probably likewise for redundancy. I used to work in the project team that looked after WMIK, although I didn't have a lot to do with WMIK. I'll see if I can get some comms installation info and pics.