A squad is a small group of up to 6 players that can form into a unit inside the game. This unit can then work together to reach certain goals faster. A squad will receive points more rapidly, and also has access to special unlocks reserved for squads.
There is also a new feature for squads, Network Battlefield, another attempt by DICE to improve squad play.
Network Battlefield is similar to the "Spotting" system of BF2, but the difference is that it only takes a glance by one of your squad members to look at an enemy, and the rest of the squad will see him on their 3D-map and also as a red diamond shape in the game itself. These diamond indicators even show through walls, if another squad member has line of sight.
Thanks to unlocks and depending on the class a soldier in your squad is playing, you can see even more data:
The regular spotting system from BF2 is still in the game and you can use it to expose enemies for the whole team. NetBat info is only available to your squad.
The squad leader is the person that first created the squad.
As a squad leader, you have different obligations. For starters, you must lead 5 men to battle, and fight for victory until death. The other squad members can use their leader as an additional spawning point so be sure not to die too soon.
You are also the only soldier who can communicate with the commander and receive his orders which you can choose to accept or refuse. As the leader, you can ask the commander for anything he can offer, such as supplies, UAV, orbital artillery strikes and so on, but only if there is a Commander on your team.
You also have access to the SD-8 Accipiter armed drone, the RD-4 Otus recon drone and the SLSB spawn beacon (which replaces the default spawn-to-squad-leader when deployed).
