BOWMAN/CIP MOD speak for "Crock of Shit"

MODERN HI-SPEED COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY AT WORK (?) IN AFGHANISTAN

According to a report in the Sunday Mirror and unofficial army blogs the new £2Mn. Bowman radio system (BMN) suffers from exploding lithium batteries when water / rain seeps into the handset (.... as it does).

Apart from a refit of 12,000 batteries the Mirror quotes an MoD spokeswoman who said: "A full investigation is being carried out. All Bowmans destined for Iraq or Afghanistan are getting a new battery cover to ensure no water can get to the battery. (Rumour in Kandahar is that means they will come in a polythene bag)

Apparently a Safety Notice had been issued some time ago advising users of this problem.

The PBI translate BOWMAN as Better off with a Map and a Nokia

BOWMAN - a "Difficult History"

The BAE Systems-led Archer Consortium, was developing the Bowman "armoured internet" digital communications system, which was to replace the heavy and antique analogue "Clansman" system. They were sacked after a reported expenditure of £330 million. (BAE have just sold their share of Airbus to concentrate on their "core skills" of electronics and communications) The National Audit Office - see later - have searing report on this balls up - which was really only an entree for the managerial shambles to follow.

In March 2004 Lord Bach at the MOD in a noticeably upbeat statement (the leitmotif of all MOD statements on the subject) announced that the new BOWMAN developed by the US defence Contractor General Dynamics at a cost of £1.2 Bn was being introduced.The programme is now called BOWMAN/CIP (Combat Infrastructure Platform) and costs £2.4 Bn.

Immediate problems arose over the weight of the "tactical units" which at 15 lbs were heavier than the units they replaced, the base units were even worse.

Initial difficulties were finding space in the Challenger 2 tank and the Warrior armoured personnel carrier. For the light infantry the company level radio unit was too heavy for the 3/4 ton Land Rover ,it was so heavy it broke the vehicle's chassis and it is now to be fitted on a reinforced two-ton Pinzgauer vehicle.

There was however a post design project with Land Rover to investigate the feasibility of an upgrade of front and rear axle weights to allow Bowman to be fitted to the Land Rover.

However the principal problem is that the system was designed in the 80's prior to radical changes in communications technology. The growth in bandwidth requirements due to UAVs etc., transmitting video, graphoc images, 3 d maps and interactive screen displays without providing more money, the lack of robustness and modifiability in its closed architecture software systems spelt trouble from the start.

Add to this a pronounced lack of definition on training and doctrine, and the effects of the program on the now tiny British tactical radio industry and you have the recipe for disaster soup.

NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE is called in

It is a sure sign that when Sir John Bourne, a man of outstanding ability, penetrating intellect, talent and honesty combined with silky charm and a large dose of affable wit, is brought in ,the Government (of which he is independent - he is a servant of the Houses of Parliament) are in such deep shit they haven't a clue what to do. e.g MRSA, the Millenium Dome etc., etc.,

For those interested further the National Audit Office produced a report on July 26th this year (i.e at the start of the holidays when no-one is looking) , "Delivering digital tactical communications through the Bowman CIP programme" ,you can download the report here (1.6 MN PDF alert)Executive Summary HTML here

"Bowman was declared in service in April 2004 but, not unusually, with some shortfalls in capability (27 provisos, 20 of which still apply, against the achievement of 18 of the Department’s 19 key user requirements)."

It is vital to understand how essential this system is to the core to the capability of the whole UK armed forces...

"Under Bowman CIP some 48,000 radios and 28,000 computer terminals are to be installed in up to 15,700 vehicles, as well as ships, boats and helicopters. An estimated 75,000 ( i.e 75% of the armed forces) users are to be trained on the system."

Chapter headings briefly and starkly determine the utter fucking complete, and costly fucking shambles the managment of this project, core to the capability of the whole UK armed forces has been. Every tax payer should read it.

Management arrangements must be flexible and responsive and embrace all aspects of capability

How the Department can further develop its managerial arrangements for the delivery and sustainment of military capability

Agile decision making must be underpinned by high quality information

What more the Department can do to take well informed, agile decisions

and finally

The future of Bowman CIP

With a sad, almost despairing note ....

10. By December 2004, it was clear that the Bowman CIP programme was over-ambitious and needed thorough revision. A recast programme was approved in July 2006. The recast of the Bowman CIP programme has given the Department and General Dynamics UK greater confidence about the way ahead. Funding for the programme has been raised by £121 million (5%) and the timescale for delivering capability has been extended by two years to mid 2007 for full delivery of the minimum military capability required. Technical challenges remain to be overcome to secure and build on the operational benefits already being obtained through faster, secure voice transmission.

The average tax payer and TV viewer might have noticed that the UK forces have been committed whilst all this has been going on to fighting two wars / battles / insurgencies / asymmetric guerilla wars against, lightweight, poorly armed, but determined and agile foes wholly familiar with their territory, who are defending their homeland against what they see as aggressors and empirical occupiers.

The average tax payer and TV viewer might reasonably take the view that this sad shambles of a spatchcock comms system - replaced by many active soldiers with their cheap, familiar 24/7 service mobile phone has contributed to the unfolding catastrophe in Iraq and Afghanistan.

With this wonderful technology the front line soldier gets 10 free minutes each week to phone home....If he was in prison in the UK he would get 20 minutes

THE PICTURE

This comes from a wonderful document you can find here from a recruitment firm "Jam Jobs" looking for staff for ...Joint Systems Integration Body (JSIB)

"Digitization comprises a number of components, including BOWMAN, ComBAT Information and Platform BISA (CIP) and other BISAs, together with a new generation of sensors, platforms and weapon systems, such as ASTOR, FRES and SOOTHSAYER, to achieve Network Enabled Capability (NEC). Consequently, there is a need to ensure that digitization is delivered in a co-ordinated and coherent way. The Joint System Integration Body (JSIB), a partnering arrangement between General Dynamics UK and the UK MoD Bowman & Land Digitization (BLD) IPT, is the means by which this will be achieved." Copyright Jam Jobs

That looks a truly battle hardened system they are cooking on there but to be fair there are some pictures of soldiers in tanks and an Apache helicopter ...

"

APACHE - BOWMAN Connectivity...

...is an addition to the ongoing BOWMAN programme that will provide secure data and voice communications between the British Army's attack helicopter and the related land-based operational units. General Dynamics UK's solution delivers this additional capability through an innovative mechanism by adapting some of the BOWMAN Network Access Units (NAU) which then provide an integrated communications network with previously under utilised facilities within the airborne weapons platform." ... which is not what one of the very rare qualified Apache helicopter pilots still in the Army will tell you.