Bowman is the name of the new tactical communications system being deployed by the British Armed Forces. Bowman C4I system consists of a range of HF radio, VHF radio and UHF radio sets designed to provide secure integrated voice, data services to dismounted soldiers, individual vehicles and command HQs up to Brigade level. Bowman has a number of specific applications installed on the infrastructure known as BISAs. Bowman has been released as a number of capability releases known as BCIP's with BCIP 5 currently being deployed. It replaces the Clansman series of radios in service. Tactical communications: Communications in which information of any kind, especially orders and decisions, are conveyed from one command, person, or place to another within the tactical forces, usually by means of electronic equipment, including communications security equipment, organic to the tactical forces. ... The armed forces of the United Kingdom, commonly known as the British Armed Forces or Her Majestys Armed Forces, and sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown[1], encompasses a navy, army, and air force. ... C4I is a military term meant to summarize factors military theorists consider when planning how headquarters can control their subordinate units. ... High frequency (HF) radio frequencies are between 3 and 30 MHz. ... VHF radio is radio transmission in the 30-300 MHz frequency range, as a means of short-range, line-of-sight verbal communication. ... This article is about the radio frequency. ... Clansman is the name of a radio system used by the British Army. ...

Procurement history

The concept of Bowman dates from a 1989 UK MoD General Staff Requirement (GSR) for a system to replace the ageing Clansman radio system. The GSR was subsequently modified to accommodate post Cold War scenarios. The procurement programme has had a long and chequered history, with a number of consortia involved in the development and bidding process. This process culminated in the failure in 2000 of the preferred bidder, Archer, to deliver the requirement within budget and on time, and the resultant cessation of the contract by the UK MoD. The subsequent rebidding process for the contract was won by CDC Systems UK Ltd, now General Dynamics United Kingdom Ltd, elements of design and manufacturing have also been sub-contracted to SELEX Communications, ITT Corporation, Harris Corporation, L-3 Communications, DRS Tactical Systems and Thales Group. The procurement cost of the supply and (initial) support phase for Bowman is approximately £1.9 billion and the current acquisition cost of the whole project is £2.4 billion. Bowman’s initial operating capability was delivered into service in March 2004 and will continue in service until approximately 2026. Clansman is the name of a radio system used by the British Army. ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) is a defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2005 it is the sixth largest defense contractor in the world[1]. The company has changed markedly in the post-Cold War era of defense consolidation. ... SELEX Sensors and Airborne Systems (Selex S&AS) is a major avionics joint venture created by the merger of Finmeccanicas Galileo Avionica and BAE Systems Avionics. ... ITT Corporation, NYSE: ITT is a large American manufacturing company. ... Harris Corporation NYSE: HRS is an international communications equipment company that produces wireless equipment, electronic systems, and both terrestrial and spaceborne antennas for use in the Government, Defense, and Commercial sectors. ... L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. ... The Thales Group (Euronext: HO) is a global electronics company serving aerospace, defence, and information technology markets worldwide. ...

System overview

Bowman provides a tactical voice and data communications system for joint operations across the British Armed Forces in support of land and amphibious operations. It will be integrated with over 20,000 military vehicles, from Land Rover Wolf to the Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank. The entire Royal Navy fleet will also be fitted with Bowman equipment and all the major helicopter types supporting land operations, such as Apache, Chinook, Merlin and Lynx will be fitted. Bowman will feature enhanced communications security (COMSEC) through integrated voice and data encryption devices and enhanced Electronic Protective Measures through features such as Frequency-hopping spread spectrum. It will also provide better tactical Situational awareness for commanders through GPS links, helping to reduce the probability of Friendly fire. The complete contract involves more than 48,000 radios (excluding the 45,000 Personal Role Radios) and more than 30,000 computer terminals being installed in more than 30,000 platforms, together with the necessary training of around 75,000 Service personnel. The Bowman system is a fundamental part of the British Military achieving a Network Enabled Capability, as it will provide the carriers for the passage of data between the various software applications involved. It is also an integral part of the Future Integrated Soldier Technology concept. Bowman is managed from within the MOD DPA by the BATCIS IPT. The armed forces of the United Kingdom, commonly known as the British Armed Forces or Her Majestys Armed Forces, and sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown[1], encompasses a navy, army, and air force. ... The Land Rover Wolf is a military utility vehicle in service with UK Armed Forces and the Dutch Marine Corps. ... The Challenger 2 is the most recent main battle tank in service with the United Kingdom and Oman. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ... The WAH-64 is a licence built version of the Boeing AH-64 Apache Longbow attack helicopter for the British Army. ... The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a versatile, twin-engine, tandem rotor heavy-lift helicopter. ... The AgustaWestland EH101 is a medium-lift helicopter for military applications but also marketed for civil use. ... The Westland Lynx is a helicopter designed by Westland and built at Westlands factory in Yeovil, first flying on 21 March 1971 as the Westland WG.13. ... Communications security (COMSEC): Measures and controls taken to deny unauthorized persons information derived from telecommunications and ensure the authenticity of such telecommunications. ... Electronic counter-countermeasures (ECCM) describes a variety of practices which attempt to reduce or eliminate the effect of Electronic countermeasures (ECM) on sensors aboard vehicles, ships and aircraft and especially seekers on weapons such as missiles. ... Frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) is a spread-spectrum method of transmitting radio signals by rapidly switching a carrier among many frequency channels, using a pseudorandom sequence known to both transmitter and receiver. ... Situation awareness (SA) is a human factors term which of late has become something of a buzzword. ... Over fifty GPS satellites such as this NAVSTAR have been launched since 1978. ... Friendly fire (fratricide or non-hostile fire) is a term originally adopted by the United States military in reference to an attack on friendly forces by other friendly forces,[1] which may be deliberate (e. ... Network Enabled Capability, or NEC, is the name given to the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence intent to achieve enhanced military effect through the better use of information systems towards the goal of right information, right place, right time - and not too much. NEC is envisaged as the coherent integration... The Future Integrated Soldier Technology (or FIST) is a project by the British Army, which aims to enhance the infantrymens combat effectiveness in the 21st century as part of the Future Soldier project. ...

Equipment

Nominally the lowest deployed part of the Bowman series of radios is that provided by Marconi-Selenia Communications (then Selenia Communications, now SELEX Communications, Davies Communications Division), in the form of the UHF H4855 Personal Role Radio (PRR), which is primarily used by infantry fire teams (at section level and below). PRR is only partially connected with the Bowman programme, in so far as it was hived off from the acquisition process in October 1999 for more rapid implementation, and the first of 45,000 units formally entered service in early 2002. Operating in the 2.4 GHz band, PRR is has no integrated encryption devices and does not intercommunicate with the rest of the Bowman network, but is widely acclaimed as having revolutionised intra-squad communications and small-unit tactics. SELEX Sensors and Airborne Systems (Selex S&AS) is a major avionics joint venture created by the merger of Finmeccanicas Galileo Avionica and BAE Systems Avionics. ... This article is about the radio frequency. ... A fireteam is a small military unit of infantry. ...

Models are designated "UK/PRC", which stands for "United Kingdom / Personal Radio Communicator".

VHF radios

• VPT - a UK Type 1 (Pritchel) encrypted section to platoon-level UK/PRC354 5W VHF Portable Transceiver (VPT)

• ADR+ - an enhanced and improved 'Bowmanised' version of ITT Corporation's company/squadron-level SINCGARS (Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System) frequency-hopping radio with a 30-88 MHz frequency range. Depending on its configuration, the ADR+ is variously designated UK/PRC355 (5 W manpack), UK/PRC356 (16 W ground-role manpack), UK/PRC357 (16 W vehicle clip-in radio), UK/PRC358 (16 W low-power vehicle radio), or UK/VRC359 (50 W vehicle-mounted high-power radio).

Under the terms of the baseline contract ITT Defence is delivering a total of some 26,000 ADR+ radios and 8,000 VPTs, complemented by 580 examples of the UK/ARC341 VHF aircraft role radio (a derivative of the company's SINCGARS AN/ARC-201D airborne transceiver) for helicopter platforms. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... ITT Corporation, NYSE: ITT is a large American manufacturing company. ... SINCGARS stands for Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System. ... Frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) is a spread-spectrum method of transmitting radio signals by rapidly switching a carrier among many frequency channels, using a pseudorandom sequence known to both transmitter and receiver. ...

HF radios

The Bowman HF frequency-hopping radios, 10,800 examples of which are being produced by Harris Corporation, are based on that company's RF5800H-MP Falcon II radio, otherwise known as the PRC-150(C) in its US Type 1-encrypted form. Frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) is a spread-spectrum method of transmitting radio signals by rapidly switching a carrier among many frequency channels, using a pseudorandom sequence known to both transmitter and receiver. ... Harris Corporation NYSE: HRS is an international communications equipment company that produces wireless equipment, electronic systems, and both terrestrial and spaceborne antennas for use in the Government, Defense, and Commercial sectors. ...

The Bowman version is designated UK/PRC325 in its basic 20 W manpack form and UK/PRC326/7 in its 100 W high-power and co-sited vehicular configurations. The UK version of the PRC-150 has had the proprietary Harris Citadel encryption removed, having instead the UK Type 1 (Pritchel) encryption and frequency hopping waveform, also the Falcon II's original dual-band HF/VHF frequency range (1.6-60 MHz) has been narrowed to the 1.6-30 MHz (HF) band.

HCDR

The top tier in the Bowman series of radios is provided by the UHF, Mobile ad-hoc network ITT UK/VRC340 HCDR (High Capacity Data Radio), a 'Bowmanised' version of Harris Corporation's Mercury NTDR (Near-Term Data Radio) wide-band networking transceiver. HCDR has a 225-450 MHz operating frequency range. It has wideband (4 MHz) and narrowband (500 kHz) modem configurations, with a user rate of 288 kbit/s on a 375 kbit/s channel and 576 kbit/s on a 750 kbit/s channel. Some 3,600 HCDRs are being supplied. HCDR provides a self managing mobile Internet Backbone using standard RFC interfaces and routing protocols. This article is about the radio frequency. ... A mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) is a kind of wireless ad-hoc network, and is a self-configuring network of mobile routers (and associated hosts) connected by wireless links—the union of which form an arbitrary topology. ... Equipment Summary High Capacity Data Radio (HCDR) is a development of the NTDR for the UK Government as a part of the BOWMAN Communication System. ... Harris Corporation NYSE: HRS is an international communications equipment company that produces wireless equipment, electronic systems, and both terrestrial and spaceborne antennas for use in the Government, Defense, and Commercial sectors. ... The Near-Term Digital Radio (NTDR) program provided a prototype mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) radio system to the United States Army. ...

Ancillary Equipment

Provision of the associated User Data Terminal (UDT) for vehicular and static use has been contracted to DRS Tactical Systems Ltd, which also produces the Bowman Management Data Terminal (BMDT) for network management, the Vehicle User Data Terminal (VUDT) with keyboard and touchscreen for use on the move, the Staff User Data Terminal (SUDT) for command centres, and the PBISA Processing Unit (PBPU) for Challenger 2 tanks. The Challenger 2 is the most recent main battle tank in service with the United Kingdom and Oman. ...

Since the start of the programme the capabilities of the UDTs (based on 700 MHz Pentium processors) have evolved, their original 256 MByte RAMs and 20 GByte drives having been superseded by 512 MByte RAMs and 40 GByte drives. The contractor for supply of Portable User Data Terminal (PUDTs), based on a 266 MHz Intel StrongARM processor, is L-3 Communications. Pentium III logo The Pentium III is an x86 (more precisely, an i686) architecture microprocessor by Intel, introduced on February 26, 1999. ... DEC StrongARM SA-110 Microprocessor The StrongARM microprocessor is a faster version of the Advanced RISC Machines ARM design. ... L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. ...

Responsibility for supply of Bowman audio ancillaries, including the stereo staff-user headset, noise-cancelling general-purpose handset, and loudspeaker unit, has been vested in SELEX Communications, which also provides the lightweight headset, respirator adaptor, and remote pressel switch associated with the PRR. SELEX Sensors and Airborne Systems (Selex S&AS) is a major avionics joint venture created by the merger of Finmeccanicas Galileo Avionica and BAE Systems Avionics. ...

Racal (now Thales Group) has been selected to provide antennas for the Bowman contract. These include HF Wire/Vehicle, VHF Vehicle/Elevated, VHF Ground Spike, 5.4 Metre GRP Mast and UHF Vehicle/Elevated Antennas. Racal Electronics plc was a British defence electronics firm purchased by Thomson-CSF (now Thales Group) in 2000. ... The Thales Group (Euronext: HO) is a global electronics company serving aerospace, defence, and information technology markets worldwide. ...

BISAs

Bowman consists of a number of specifaclly designed application running over the Bowman infrastructure. The UDTs (User Data Terminals) are currently limited to supporting a maximum of two BISAs simulatanously, due to the performance limitations of the UDts. ComBAT, the main C2 tool for Bowman has been widely critisised in terms of performance, ease of use and interface design and is looking to be replaced by a new J3/J5 BISA in future releases. BISAs include - ComBAT (C2 & SA), Makefast (Engineering), FC (Fire Control) and NBC BISA.

Controversy

When first rolled out, the Bowman system was said to contain many faults, to the extent which The Sun claimed that troops thought that Bowman stood for "Better Off With Map And Nokia" [1] Look up sun in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Nokia Corporation (OMX: NOK1V, NYSE: NOK, FWB: NOA3) is currently the worlds largest manufacturer of mobile telephones, with a global market share of approximately 36% in Q1 of 2007. ...

The programme came under scrutiny following an National Audit Office accountability hearing for the governments procurement policy [2] and was generally considered to be a success considering the complexity and changing needs of the UK Armed Forces. Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ...

However a more recent report by the Commons Public Accounts Committee [3] was overwhelmingly critical of the entire system and its procurement. The report itself is split into four sections entitled: "programme governance arrangements were not fit for purpose", "initial decisions were not well informed" "through life costs were not rigorously assessed", and "operational benefits are limited". The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) (strictly, the Committee of Public Accounts) is a select committee of the British House of Commons. ...

Recently, as Bowman was being phased into service, senior officers in the British Army had serious reservations about the system, especially as many of their initial design specifications and feedback had not been adequetely incorporated by the Defence Procurement Agency in the re-tendering process that was won by General Dynamics United Kingdom Ltd. Such were the misgivings, the Director of Infantry initially refused to accept the portable "manpack" radio into service, saying: DPA headquarters, Bristol The Defence Procurement Agency (DPA), is an Executive Agency of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence responsible for the acquisition of materiel and equipment, as well as associated services, for the British armed forces. ... General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) is a defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2005 it is the sixth largest defense contractor in the world[1]. The company has changed markedly in the post-Cold War era of defense consolidation. ... The British Armys Infantry is comprised of 55 battalions of Infantry, from 32 Regiments. ...

"All the rumours you've heard. It is as bad as you've heard. But we have been told that, politically, we have got to make it work. Now you guys will have to go out and find a way of making it work."

Other complaints were brought up by the 1st Bn Royal Anglians who tested the radio system in July 2005. Problems included (but were not limited to) radiation burns received while transmitting data on some settings, excessive weight compared to Clansman radio sets, overcomplicated and unergonomic wiring and user interfaces on the manpack UK/PRC354 radio, poor quality batteries, inadequete "ruggedisation" and inflexibility with assigning unique call sign indicators to individuals which are now instead permanently programmed into the radios themselves instead of the Clansman BATCO assigned system, which would change every 12 hours and could be used on any number of different radio sets by the operator as required.[4] There have been further more recent reports of the radios continuing to suffer from the already mentioned endemic design flaws as well as acute operational failures and faults, including whilst in the midst of combat engagements, consequently hampering the combat effectiveness and in cases, endangering the lives of soldiers deployed on both Operation Herrick in Afghanistan and Operation TELIC in Iraq, leading to accusations that the system is not yet ready for operational use and in cases is completely unfit for purpose, especially as part of the Future Integrated Soldier Technology concept. [5] The Royal Anglian Regiment (R ANGLIAN) is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Queens Division. ... Clansman is the name of a radio system used by the British Army. ... Ergonomics (or human factors) is the application of scientific information concerning humans to the design of objects, systems and environment for human use (definition adopted by the International Ergonomics Association in 2007). ... A rugged (or ruggedized) computer is a computer specifically designed to reliably operate in harsh usage environments and conditions, such as strong vibrations, extreme temperatures and wet or dusty conditions. ... Call sign can refer to different types of call signs: Airline call sign Aviator call sign Cosmonaut call sign Radio and television call signs Tactical call sign, also known as a tactical designator See also: International Callsign Allocations, Maritime Mobile Service Identity This is a disambiguation page — a navigational... Clansman is the name of a radio system used by the British Army. ... Operation Herrick is the codename under which all British operations in the war in Afghanistan have been conducted since 2002. ... Operation Telic is the codename under which all British operations of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq and after are being conducted. ... The Future Integrated Soldier Technology (or FIST) is a project by the British Army, which aims to enhance the infantrymens combat effectiveness in the 21st century as part of the Future Soldier project. ...

External links

• The Bowman system is described on this UK MOD site
• The Register: MPs: UK defence project was crap
• Daily Telegraph: £1.9 bn portable radio system gets a poor reception from Army