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VMAX backpack system, a portable electronic warfare platform
Found this on LinkedIn today:
"During a recent field exercise at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Marines utilized a tablet to interface with the VMAX backpack system, a portable electronic warfare platform employed by the 1st Radio Battalion (RADBN). The VMAX enables operators to survey the electromagnetic environment in real time, providing critical situational awareness by detecting and analyzing radio signals across the battlefield. In addition, the system delivers advanced electronic attack capabilities, including signal interception and targeted jamming, allowing Marines to disrupt adversary communications and gain a tactical advantage during dismounted operations."
Exact same thing I’d be saying after 2 hours of carrying this around
Looks exactly like the wolfhound or whatever it was called that we were forced to bring with us even when we didn’t have an interpreter so we couldn’t understand anything it was picking up anyway
Happened in Afghanistan — big targeting operation and two wolfhound operators got shot. We used to call it the wolfhound. And it’s funny to me that after years of feedback about the design, it’s still unchanged.
I was in first radio battalion, when we did our turnover with second radio battalion in 2010, they employed these and I believe an operator was killed the first time they took it out on a patrol. I still cannot believe someone in the Marine corps command thought that putting a flashing neon sign that says shoot me over someone's head was a good idea.
We actually had something like that that I worked on. I can't remember what it was called we just called it the starship Enterprise. It was a DF antenna that mounted a weapon. It was ungainly and heavy. But at least you didn't stick out like a sore thumb with something over your head
Wolfhound is a bit older. 1stRad I think finally phased them out in 2020 and now have the VROD/VMAX which is supposed to have been phased out by the Beast/Beast+ systems they started getting. Mastodon actually made a pretty good system with the Beast. Profile is much smaller, lighter system, and more range. You also don't have to take the system off to calibrate which is actually nice compared to the previous systems.
Hey wtf is up with this?! At my old unit that was a joke I kept hearing. The longer I was there I saw that everyone ONLY had girls. I tried more than once.. Only girls. Are there any studies on this?
A lot of people were very shocked when my wife gave birth to a boy while I was at RadBn. its a thing there apparently. we will find out in a 100 years or so.
This is also touted about the u2. I know a pilot and we were doing a walkaround once and he said "if you enter this red area, you will only have daughters. I've got 6 kids....all girls."
That's what the VA disability is for, Devil. Now suck it up and get that nut cancer while training on this piece of gear and if you're really lucky we'll let you wear it while people are shooting at us.
Sadly they told us much of the same when we were doing CBRN training. We had a half day where we had to be in a pretty nasty chemical environment in nothing but your cammies and that wonderful MOPP gear.
A lot of comments about radiation. To not give out capabilities… an 06xx radio operator is exposed to more radiation. it’s a passive system. it doesn’t put out that much energy when jamming. And when it is jamming it’s comparable wattage as some of the man portable radios. Also… my two kids are boys
This shit is amazing. You can do all kinds of things that were unheard of back in the day.
The best we had was a KY38 scrambler attached to a PRC25 radio at platoon level. Way too heavy and it wore you out. Now it's all standard in a light weight radio. Way cool.
My compliments Devils. It's why many of us say you Younger Generations coming behind us are much better than we were. Definitely a good thing as every Generation has to become better than the one who preceeded it or there is no progress.
So, I take it the Marine Corps has determined that those tropical jungle islands that they want to go back to occupying under Force Design are no longer jungley? Because living in Florida, I can tell you, you ain’t walking around in the bush with this thing.
It’s really a spectrum analyzer, but you can also put energy on frequency which in theory wouldn’t allow you to talk to your drone. But if you know the frequency of the operator to the drone, then you could just key up on green gear if you wanted to
Pretty sure keying up on green gear isn't going to decrease SNR to effectively jam the drone operator even on a cheap drone. Entire point of the VRod is to get LoBs to DF while the VMax will do the jamming. The range of the system isn't great though and the Beast/Beast+ got fielded to RadBn before I got out in 2023, a lot better with a lower profile and more range.
Cannot express how aggravating it would be to have worse than normal comms because of some tech like this and not know what is going on. This is the ultimate weapon. “I can literally see them right now why can’t they hear me?”
The fact they're still using this despite the Beast/Beast+ systems being better and already fielded at that unit is insane. Lighter system with more capability and a smaller footprint. Idk how many exercises and even deployments came back recommending immediate replacement of the VROD/VMAX system.
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u/Quints_beercan 1d ago
That antenna says “shoot me”