How much do modern armies rely on HF communication? Any militaryfags

They still use it quite a lot, it basically just works when satellites and phone infrastructure gets fucked on for various reasons (usually broken or overloaded) and you can get a really long throw out of it.
Modern stuff is has advanced enough modulation to take encryption, data and voice over it as well, so its far from being an anachronism
VHF and UHF are still very useful as well, but to get the most out of them you do need repeaters and that's something which can be compromised in a battlefield

>>33470228
So how does encryption work anyway? I dont understand it beyond encoding what you say into it.

File: E-11A BACN.jpg (33KB, 736x416px) Image search: [Google]

33KB, 736x416px

>>33470228
>VHF and UHF are still very useful as well, but to get the most out of them you do need repeaters and that's something which can be compromised in a battlefield
Oh hi

>>33472066
Very wide topic.The main component of most modern secure communication schemes are block ciphers though.Block ciphers,in their most basic mode of operation,substitute a block of plaintext data with a block of ciphertext data and vice versa.
Which plaintext block is substituted with which ciphertext block is determined by the key.

>>33472282
So audio is converted to ciphertext, transmitted through HF waves, decoded by a computer and then played back as audio?

>>33472299
Yea,but vocoders and encryptors nowadays are tiny and already built into the radios,so there's no need for a separate computer.

Btw HF modems suitable for voice are usually very expensive,but 10$ microcontrollers are powerful enough to both digitize voice and encrypt it.

File: gloriousVU.jpg (48KB, 300x200px) Image search: [Google]

48KB, 300x200px

>>33472375
>microcontroller
Don't make me laugh

>>33469743
The US Navy uses HF and UHF for most of their ship to ship coms, I'm an Electronics Technician so I repair that equipment along with radar systems.

>>33469743
Properly used HF systems have great range, and modern tech has been increasing their data usefulness (HF has limited bandwith compared to higher frequencies, but there has even been successful attempts to create internet over HF)

When satellites are expensive or problematic, HF is a cheap and flexible solution.

Former Canadian Forces Signaller

>>33473020
>>33469743

EPLRS uses UHF radio to form a mesh data network, forming the backbone of the FBCB2 backup network (primary network is the SAT BFT network).

Secure, nearly impossible to jam, it's top tier.

>>33472119
Yeah, but look at the costs, complaints about weather, fuel, precious pilots, servicing...
When you can just detail half a dozen people (you don't like) to babysit a repeater 10,000ft up on top of a mountain, throw them some care packages with water, porn and MRE's once a month = cheap!
They love that shit!

>Just kidding, they don't love that shit, but its cheap

>>33474831
Why not just use a baloon?