AN / PRC - 77 Portable Transceiver AN / PRC 77 Radio Set is a manpack , portable VHF FM combat - net radio transceiver manufactured by Associated Industries and used to provide short - range , two - way radiotelephone voice communication . In the Joint Electronics Type Designation System ( JETDS ) , AN / PRC translates to " Army / Navy , Portable , Radio , Communication . " History . The AN / PRC 77 entered service in 1968 during the Vietnam War as an upgrade to the earlier AN / PRC 25 . It differs from its predecessor mainly in that its final power amplifier stage is made up of solid state components and does not use vacuum tubes . The AN / PRC - 77 can use voice encryption devices which the AN / PRC - 25 cannot . Today the AN / PRC - 77 has largely been replaced by SINCGARS radios , but it is still capable of inter - operating with most VHF FM radios used by U . S . and allied ground forces . It is commonly nicknamed the " prick - 77 " by the U . S . Army and U . S . Marine Corps Technical characteristics . The AN / PRC 77 consists of the RT - 841 transceiver and minor components . It can provide secure voice ( X - mode ) transmission with the TSEC / KY - 57 voice encryption device , but is not compatible with the SINCGARS frequency hopping mode . Users . The AN / PRC - 77 set is used by the Australian Army Cadets and the Australian Air Force Cadets . The Australian Army is phasing out the AN / PRC - 77 , which is being superseded by the RAVEN series . Because of a shortage of the Raven sets due to the extensive overseas commitments , the Australian Army still has AN / PRC - 77 sets in service . Eventually , both the AN / PRC - 77 and RAVEN will be completely replaced by the Thales MBITR in active service . The AN / PRC - 77 has been replaced , as a main source of radio communication for regular forces of the Norwegian Army by indigenously developed radio sets called MRR ( Multi Role Radio ) and LFR ( Lett Flerbruks Radio ) ( Norwegian for Light Multi Role Radio ) , and a number of other modern radios . However the Norwegian Army did not throw these radio sets away . Instead many of them were handed over to the Home Guard which now uses it as their main radio in most of their troops . The Austrian Army still uses the AN / PRC - 77 , though it seems as if it is only used for training cadets in radio communications . For border patrol the Austrian Army now uses a new device called " TFF - 41 " , which is capable of frequency - hopping and digital encryption . The Austrian Army also uses the AN / PRC - 1177 for example the Austrian AN / PRC - 77 have a special switch for a 25 kHz mode , which reduces the bandwidth of the selected channel by 25 kHz and therefore doubles the number of available channels . In the Swedish Army the radio system goes under the name Radio 145 and Radio 146 ( Ra145 / 146 ) , predominantly the Homeguard ( National Guard ) is issued the Ra145 / 146 . The Swiss Army used the radio as SE - 227 . Canada too The Pakistani Army has also used the set for the past 25 + years . Purchased from different sources including the US , Brazil and Spain , it is scheduled to be replaced in the next 5 years . The Finnish army uses this radio as a " battalion radio " , using it as a common training device . The radio is designated LV 217 ' Ventti - seiska ' ( " ventti " being the Finnish for 21 ) . The Bangladesh Army use this radio as a section level communication equipment . In Chittagong Hill Tracts area the operations are still conducted with this radio . Some modified / improvised local antenna concepts often increase the communication range up to 15 – 20 km .