For the last sixty years, the United States armed forces have had the best military communications of any country on the planet. But army and marine radios still encounter problems in built up areas. These radios were designed for combat out in more open rural or suburban regions. In Iraq, troops often find themselves fighting in densely built areas, where the radio reception is frequently spotty. The typical solution for many infantry units it to buy a bunch of civilian walkie-talkies. These have a range of up to five kilometers, and many were built with city use in mind. The army is developing a new short range radio for the infantry that will take this into account. Meanwhile, the troops go to Radio Shack or Circuit City for their urban warfare communications needs.
