Mobile tactical networks (MTNs) in military communications extend the capabilities of mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs). The MTNs are dynamic, infrastructureless, self-forming and self-healing systems designed for non-line-of-sight (NLOS) operations using multi-hop relaying. Unlike their commercial counterparts, MTNs have to offer much higher levels of security, jamming resistance, and service robustness in the adverse propagation environments without sacrificing or limiting data rate, latency, and node mobility while also controlling the network capital and operational costs. Comprehensive comparison of the performance and design characteristics of the commercial MANETs and their military counterparts is carried out using NS2 simulations. It is found that, for scenarios requiring long-range connectivity, a reference point group mobility (RPGM) model and a two-way ground radio propagation model give the most accurate performance predictions for MTNs. Finally, it is argued that many commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies can be adopted for their use in MTNs, even though it requires a lot of additional efforts to overcome challenges not considered by the commercial solutions.