Clansman is the name of a combat net radio system (CNR) used by the British Army from 1976 to 2010. Clansman was developed by the Signals Research and Development Establishment (SRDE) in the 1960s, to satisfy a General Staff Requirement (GSR) laid down in 1965. Clansman represented a considerable advance over existing Larkspur radio system, and proved to be more flexible, reliable and far lighter. The technological advances in the design of Clansman allowed the introduction of Single SideBand (SSB) operation and NarrowBand Frequency Modulation (NBFM) to forward area combat net radio for the first time. Most Clansman radio equipment was built by Racal, Mullard Equipment Ltd (MEL) and Plessey, although headsets and ancillaries were also produced by Amplivox (who were later subsumed into Racal Acoustics), Marconi and others. Clansman was in use by British forces from the late 1970s and saw service in most UK military operations. It was replaced in the mid-2000s by the Bowman communication system. Family The Clansman family of military radio sets comprised nine main radio units, operating in the High Frequency (HF), Very High Frequency (VHF) and the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Radio Bands. Models were designated "UK/PRC" or "UK/VRC", which stand for "United Kingdom / Portable Radio Communications" and "Vehicle Radio Communications" respectively. The radios first came into service in the late 1970s; at that time the main advantage of the Clansman radios was that they were frequency synthesised (using switched channels, as opposed to using a variable tuning scale). This provided frequency stability, obviating the need to tune the radio again, once a frequency was set. Previous UK military radios were much less stable, and had to be frequently tuned, with receiver tuning needing to be tweaked to "pull in" a weak signal. Clansman HF radio sets UK/PRC 316 A late introduction to the Larkspur range, its original designation was A16 Lightweight HF Radio Station. Deployed in tropical or high temperature climates, it was powered by either a standard 12V battery that connected directly to the set or, if issued, a Leclanché battery that connected directly to the set. It was compatible with most D10 or R4 copper stranded antenna systems that were fielded at that time, examples being the Shirley, Jamaica, Half Jamaica and Yagi. Despite not being of the Clansman family, its late introduction to service coupled with its Clansman equivalent, the PRC/RT320 not being ready, meant the PRC 316