Latest Bowman ready for land deployment

David Donald

Wednesday, 18 June, 2008

The latest iteration of the General Dynamics UK Bowman C4I system for the British forces, BCIP 5, is ready for uplift to the first British Army units.
It has already been installed in the Royal Navy frigates HMS Chatham and HMS Monmouth, following operational field trials in the UK and Germany late last year, and formal UK MoD acceptance this January. Fielding with Army units is being driven by the operational cycle, but the first unit to get BCIP5 is expected to be 4 Brigade, which is scheduled to begin the process in September. BCIP5 upgrade is due to take 36 months to complete, and the first full operational deployment is expected in 2010.
When BCIP5 upgrade is complete, the current Bowman contracts will have been fulfilled, but GD UK has already completed validation of the next phase of a continuous improvement programme. BCIP6, encompassing Capability Releases 1.5 and 2, refines the system by drawing on the considerable operational experience already gathered with the BCIP4 system in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A key driver is the ‘taming of complexity’. Bowman offers a huge range of capabilities, not all of which are required at various links in the command chain. Capability Release 1.5 addresses this by removing some capability subsets to tailor the functions to the needs of the various users, in turn making it simpler to operate. Following a demonstration of BCIP6 this April, GD UK is currently in a bidding process of the improved system to the UK MoD.
Success with the Bowman system has led to great export interest. The Dutch Marines have the NIMCIS, a BCIP4 equivalent system, while Romania has also acquired a ‘Bowmanlike’ C4I system. Libya has equipped its elite brigade with a GD UK tactical data communications system – a sale with high follow-on potential.

GD UK’s Bowman BCIP4 programme is essentially complete, with about 12,200 vehicles outfitted with the C4I system. Among other improvements, BCIP5 adds an Own Station Position Report capability to each Bowman GPS radio