SOFWERX – PEO-TIS Handheld High Frequency Radio Industry Day

February 5, 2026
11:25 am

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SOFWERX and USSOCOM's Program Executive Office Tactical Information Systems (PEO-TIS) are gearing up for a pivotal Industry Day on March 3, 2026, zeroing in on Handheld High Frequency (HF) Radio systems. This isn't your grandpa's walkie-talkie gathering—it's a deep dive into the bleeding edge of portable comms tech designed for the most austere environments where satellites falter and VHF/UHF signals bounce off mountains like rubber balls. HF radios, leveraging skywave propagation on frequencies from 3-30 MHz, punch through obstacles with near-global range without relying on infrastructure, making them a SOCOM favorite for special operators who operate in denied or degraded battlespaces. Expect demos of rugged, man-portable units packing digital signal processing, ALE (Automatic Link Establishment), and maybe even integrated crypto to keep adversaries in the dark. For the 2A community, this event signals more than military R&D—it's a treasure trove of trickle-down innovation that could supercharge civilian preparedness and off-grid resilience. Think about it: as Uncle Sam pushes industry for lighter, more efficient HF handhelds (weighing under 5 lbs with 20W+ output?), the resulting tech will inevitably hit the amateur radio market, where hams and preppers already thrive on HF for emergency nets like those during Hurricane Katrina or the 2024 grid-down scenarios. Companies like Codan, Barrett, or even newcomers might showcase prototypes that blur the line between mil-spec and commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS), dropping prices from $10K+ to accessible levels under $2K within a few years. We've seen this playbook before with GPS, NVGs, and plate carriers—SOCOM adopts, industry scales, and suddenly your go-bag has Tier 1 comms. The implications? In an era of escalating domestic threats, supply chain fragility, and FCC meddling with spectrum access, these advancements empower the armed citizen with reliable, long-haul voice/data links immune to cell tower blackouts or jamming. 2A patriots should watch this space closely—attend if you can (details via SOFWERX), or ping your favorite vendors for intel. When SHTF, the guy with a whisper-quiet HF rig linking 500 miles to allies wins; the one yelling into a dead Baofeng loses. This Industry Day isn't just procurement theater—it's the forge for tomorrow's sovereign comms revolution. Stay vigilant, stack radios, and keep the Second Amendment frequencies clear.

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SOFWERX and USSOCOM’s Program Executive Office Tactical Information Systems (PEO-TIS) are gearing up for a pivotal Industry Day on March 3, 2026, zeroing in on Handheld High Frequency (HF) Radio systems. This isn’t your grandpa’s walkie-talkie gathering—it’s a deep dive into the bleeding edge of portable comms tech designed for the most austere environments where satellites falter and VHF/UHF signals bounce off mountains like rubber balls. HF radios, leveraging skywave propagation on frequencies from 3-30 MHz, punch through obstacles with near-global range without relying on infrastructure, making them a SOCOM favorite for special operators who operate in denied or degraded battlespaces. Expect demos of rugged, man-portable units packing digital signal processing, ALE (Automatic Link Establishment), and maybe even integrated crypto to keep adversaries in the dark.

For the 2A community, this event signals more than military R&D—it’s a treasure trove of trickle-down innovation that could supercharge civilian preparedness and off-grid resilience. Think about it: as Uncle Sam pushes industry for lighter, more efficient HF handhelds (weighing under 5 lbs with 20W+ output?), the resulting tech will inevitably hit the amateur radio market, where hams and preppers already thrive on HF for emergency nets like those during Hurricane Katrina or the 2024 grid-down scenarios. Companies like Codan, Barrett, or even newcomers might showcase prototypes that blur the line between mil-spec and commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS), dropping prices from $10K+ to accessible levels under $2K within a few years. We’ve seen this playbook before with GPS, NVGs, and plate carriers—SOCOM adopts, industry scales, and suddenly your go-bag has Tier 1 comms.

The implications? In an era of escalating domestic threats, supply chain fragility, and FCC meddling with spectrum access, these advancements empower the armed citizen with reliable, long-haul voice/data links immune to cell tower blackouts or jamming. 2A patriots should watch this space closely—attend if you can (details via SOFWERX), or ping your favorite vendors for intel. When SHTF, the guy with a whisper-quiet HF rig linking 500 miles to allies wins; the one yelling into a dead Baofeng loses. This Industry Day isn’t just procurement theater—it’s the forge for tomorrow’s sovereign comms revolution. Stay vigilant, stack radios, and keep the Second Amendment frequencies clear.

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