The contact report is the immediate transmission declaring contact with the enemy — visual, by fire, or close — and triggers the command decision cycle. It is deliberately brief: it tells the whole net that contact exists, before all details are known. Details follow in a follow-up report.
Difference between contact, SALUTE and SITREP
The contact report declares a live event ("I am fighting now"). The SALUTE reports an observation ("I saw something"), typically without active contact. The SITREP periodically summarises the situation ("this is where I am and what is happening"). Mixing the three triggers wrong reactions from command: a SALUTE read as contact wastes QRF, a contact read as SITREP leaves a unit unsupported under fire.
Format
Four essential fields, transmitted in order. One single transmission, under 10 seconds. Everything else follows. Rule: declare contact first, handle contact second, detail third.
| Field | Content |
|---|---|
| CONTACT — declaration | The word CONTACT at the start cuts the net and pauses non-priority traffic. On NATO-standard nets, CONTACT is the highest priority declaration after MEDEVAC and FLASH. |
| Direction | Cardinal (NORTH, SOUTH-EAST) or azimuth ("two-seven-zero degrees"). If in a firing position, can be relative to friendly front ("twelve o'clock"). |
| Distance | Estimate in metres. If uncertain, range ("two hundred to three hundred meters"). |
| Brief description | What: estimated number + type + what they are doing. e.g. "squad-size dismounts engaging from treeline". No analysis, no intent — observation only. |
Initial contact
The first transmission is the most important and the shortest. Saturating the net with detail on the first contact is an error: the priority is to inform command that contact exists, then return to the fight.
ZULU SIX, ALPHA TWO, CONTACT, NORTH-EAST, three-hundred meters, squad-size dismounts, BREAK, engaging, OUT.
Extended follow-up
ZULU SIX, this is ALPHA TWO, CONTACT FOLLOW-UP, OVER.
DIRECTION: north-east, two-seven-zero degrees.
DISTANCE: three-fife-zero meters.
ENEMY: estimated six to eight dismounts, AK-platform, one PKM.
ACTIVITY: engaging from treeline, attempting flank to our left.
FRIENDLY: two casualties, one LITTER, position holding, fires requested.
INTENT: hold position, request 60mm mortar on grid four-fife-uniform-uniform-three-six-niner-two-fife-fife.
How copy, over.
BREAK CONTACT — when contact ends
When contact breaks (loss of visual, disengagement, enemy withdrawal), the net must know. "BREAK CONTACT" is the declaration that formally closes the event. Without it, command keeps assets suspended and QRF stays in motion unnecessarily.
ZULU SIX, ALPHA TWO, BREAK CONTACT, north-east, dismounts withdrew into treeline, no visual, OUT.
Drone-spotted vs ground-spotted contact
On the Ukrainian front a growing share of initial contacts is reported by the drone pilot, not the ground patrol. Format stays the same but the "reporting unit" field becomes critical: the receiver must know if the source is optical-from-drone (high precision, possible delay), thermal-by-night (medium precision, identification hard) or ground-visual (high reliability but limited area). On the net: prefix the contact with "FROM DRONE" or "FROM GROUND" to disambiguate immediately.
Common mistakes
- Transmitting a paragraph of analysis on the first contact
- Forgetting the word CONTACT — command loses priority
- Mixing cardinal and azimuth in the same sentence
- Not declaring BREAK CONTACT when contact ends
- Reporting "under fire" without direction (impossible to answer with fires)
- Waiting to know everything before transmitting — the first contact must leave within 30 seconds of the event
Lessons learned Ukraine
Contact reporting under continuous FPV pressure is a special case. When the first "contact" is an FPV drone arriving on a moving patrol, there is no time for a standard report: procedure is dispersal/cover/personal jamming, and the report only goes out after contact breaks or first IMPACT. The format adapts: "FPV CONTACT, [direction], BREAK, dispersing, OUT" — six seconds total. On the 2024–2026 front, command expects this pattern and QRF is already shaped to this timing.