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Bowmen spirals towards smaller upgrades
September 8th, 2009 | DSEI 2009 | Posted by Andrew Chuter
Plans by the British military to undertake large scale spiral upgrades of the Bowman communications system are dead according to a senior General Dynamics UK executive talking at DSEi 2009.
Instead, said Dave Jarratt, company C4I business development director, the Ministry of Defence is implementing a series of smaller, more digestible, upgrades on its key tactical voice and data communications system.
“People have realised the big bang type of upgrade is too difficult. I think we will go to much smaller increments in the future’, he said briefing reporters at DSEi on the progress the company has made introducing improvements to the system.
General Dynamics is the prime contractor and systems integrator responsible for delivering the Bowman system to the British armed services.
Jarratt said “as a concept[the next major upgrade], BCIP6, is dead. We are studying BCIP 5.5 now”
Elements of that improvement program have aleady been included in BCIP5 and the more recently contracted BCIP5.4 .
Fielding of BCIP5 is underway now and the smaller BCIP5.4 upgrade is now in development.Trials are due to kick off at the end of this year.
The General Dynamics executive said the company and the MoD are in the midst of defining what should be included in the next round of spiral developments.
“Recommendations on candidate capabilities are due in the fourth quarter of this year and we hope to be under contract in the second quarter of 2010″, said Jarrett.
The executive described BCIP5 as a “step change” up from earlier standards of Bowman covering increased network stability and robustness, improved situational awareness, new hardware, better command and control ,simplified communications planning and other improvements.
A three year roll out of the new standard started in January and the new capabilities should be field in Afghanistan in 2011.
Jarrett said that essentially BCIP5 was the capability originally contracted for in 2001. “It’s very different from what is currently in the field’, he said.
BCIP5.4 is a much smaller improvement covering refreshed and additional data terminals, new radio battery designs, migration to a Windows XP operating system and other upgrades.
The Bowman program, including upgrades, is currently worth 2.6 billion Pounds.