Why do military aircraft use UHF and civil aircraft use VHF?

Rosstafari Daaaang. /X

See title. Apologies if the answer is painfully obvious, but my skull's thick. I figured with so many ex- and current military guys on here, I'd get a good answer.

Roddy_Piper Resident Knucklehead Vegas baby

total guess, but maybe UHF waves travel farther, thus higher, and faster to accommodate faster higher flying aircraft. total guess.

MikeATC Retired FAA, NATCA Member Nashville TN

Both are line of sight so one doesn't really travel further, but I've noticed that more and more military are using VHF.

Roddy_Piper Resident Knucklehead Vegas baby

maybe it's along the same lines as VOR and TACAN. military uses one and civilians the other. i've heard that TACANs are easier to keep from the enemy, by constantly changing the broadcasting channel...as opposed to a dedicated frequency on the VOR. maybe UHF has some sort of feature that will allow the military to communicate discreetly while civilians won't be able to hear them.

another total guess

otterstrom Trusted Member of NATCA

yeah, mainly in their civilian type aircraft (citations, kingairs)

i put everyone on the next guy with vhf unless its a fighter. i still give them uhf

DASAUTO Banned

DING! We have an answer...kinda. It's not a feature...it's just a radio that civilians (legally) can not obtain with transmit capabilities. Just another security measure..not so much to keep you from listening (anyone that has a scanner can listen), but it prevent erroneous transmissions that may hinder mission requirements.

MikeATC Retired FAA, NATCA Member Nashville TN

Otter,
I've worked F16's, T38's and other fighters that have VHF, in the old days we had scramblers on our UHF radios so someone couldn't listen in.

Rosstafari Daaaang. /X

That was my best guess. Imagine the headache if you had a couple of fighters banking around an MOA and some guy putters along in a clunky old Cessna with a stuck mic*.

Thanks for the replies.

*Hey, that's the name of the site!

MikeATC Retired FAA, NATCA Member Nashville TN

Interesting to note: NAVY and MARINE fighters can't do RNAV, GPS, or ILS approaches at most airports so if you don't have a TACAN approach and the weather is down your only option is a PAR approach.

otterstrom Trusted Member of NATCA

every time i forget and give VHF, the fighters i'm used to working always come back at me asking for UHF. never fails.