The parliamentary
Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has slammed the roll-out of the
military’s new £2.4bn battlefield radios, over delays and
unsuitable kit.
The PAC has criticised the lack of management control of the
project, the fact that the radios are too heavy for the infantry to
carry easily, and the lack of interoperability with systems used by
allies - meaning the continued possibility of a high number of
“friendly fire” incidents.
The PAC also said the radio systems were difficult to fit into
vehicles, as many of them differed from standard
configurations.
Edward Leigh MP, chairman of the PAC, said, “Our armed forces
have had to put up with an insecure, analogue military radio system
for far too long. But Bowman, the planned new digital replacement
system has been a very long time in arriving and it won’t do all we
were led to believe.”
Leigh said, “The decision to incorporate Bowman with CIP, a
computer-based battlefield management system, has made the
challenge all the greater.”
The military first ordered the radios in two stages, in 2001 and
2002, but the first radios have only recently been introduced into
combat.
Leigh said that in the future, the MOD must take a much more
“hard-headed and realistic approach” to its relationship with
contractors, timescales, the costs over the whole life of a
project, and the capabilities of a system when it is finally in
service.
Such an approach was clearly lacking in the Bowman case, said
Leigh, where there was no single person in firm control of the
project. Although the radios are now coming into service “the
troops at the sharp end are suffering the consequences”, said
Leigh.
Army to get new battlefield comms system
Comment on this article:
computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk