Bowman - Command Battlespace Management (Land) (CBM(L))
Bowman
General Dynamics UK is the Prime Contractor and Systems Integrator for Bowman, the tactical C4I system for the British armed forces. Bowman delivers a step change in capability over the Clansman family of radios through its security, data capability, reliability and resilience against Electronic Warfare (EW) attack.
Bowman is a tactical communications system integrating digital voice and data technology to provide secure radio, telephone, intercom and tactical internet services in a modular and fully integrated system.
The programme includes the conversion of over 18,000 platforms, including vehicles, helicopters, naval vessels, landing craft and fixed HQ buildings.
Bowman in Service
12 Mechanised Brigade was the first brigade to be converted to Bowman and successfully completed a six month operational tour in Iraq – OP TELIC 6 – in November 2005. 7 Armoured Brigade followed on OP TELIC 7, taking its Bowman-equipped Warriors and Challenger 2 tanks. Bowman has received favourable reports from the User on operations. Conversion of the 3 Commando Brigade and its supporting Amphibious Task Group is complete and Littoral ISD has been declared.
Back to topCommand & Control and Battle Management
Bowman provides an Automatic Position Location, Navigation and Reporting system which gives Situational Awareness to units throughout the digitised structure. The friendly forces picture can be configured to update unit and vehicle positions automatically. The tactical picture is shown on map displays on a variety of purpose-built data terminals – handheld, portable, vehicle or desk mounted. Key armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) are fitted with specialised equipments tailored to each vehicle type to facilitate use of the APLNR capability in the specific environment of an AFV.
The Common Battlefield Applications Toolset (ComBAT) provides the main C2 interfaces for users of the Bowman system. This provides mechanisms for messaging, reports and returns. Battle Management capabilities include support for planning functions.
Back to topSecure Voice & Data
High levels of security are provided, based on the UK Pritchel crypto system together with its appliqué crypto and NATO Standard Operating Modes to allow interoperability with NATO allies. The Bowman Key Variable Management System (BKVMS) provides generation and distribution of cryptographic key material.
Back to topTactical Internet
The IP-based tactical Internet provides connectivity through the local area system (LAS), the High Capacity Data Radio (HCDR) and Combat Net Radio (CNR) nets. Resilience is provided by the self-healing ability of IP.
Back to topWide Area System Communications
A new design of Gateway equipment provides voice and data interfaces to existing wide area networking assets such as ptarmigan, SATCOM systems and the public and military telephone networks. Work is in hand to ensure that Bowman will interface with future wide area systems such as Falcon.
Back to topApache - Bowman Connectivity (ABC)
ABC is an addition to the Bowman programme which provides secure voice and data communications between the British Army’s attack helicopter and its related land-based operational units.
General Dynamics UK’s solution delivers this additional capability through an innovative mechanism, saving the MOD hundreds of millions of pounds, by adapting some of the Bowman Network Access Units to provide an integrated communications network with previously under-utilised facilities within the airborne weapons platform.
Back to topSystem Integration Laboratory (SIL)
The SIL is a test and reference laboratory based at General Dynamics UK’s facility in South Wales.
It brings together standard test equipment and Bowman hardware and software in a flexible configuration to enable a range of System Integration Tests to be undertaken on BISAs prior to their delivery into he field.
Back to topBowman in Iraq
Bowman has now been on operations in Iraq since April 2005. The 12th Mechanised Brigade were the first to use Bowman operationally, after being converted to Bowman during 2004. General Dynamics UK sent a team to Iraq to support the Brigade on operations. Reports about Bowman from officers and soldiers on operations in the Gulf have been very positive.
“Operational tempo is improved by secure, guaranteed communications, and we had that at Brigade level down to section level”, said Brigadier John Lorimer, the Commander 12 Brigade. Bowman’s situational awareness capability came in for praise, too. The Brigade’s Chief of Staff, Major Rupert Jones, believes that “the ability to see the location of units in contact immediately speeds things up and saves lives.”
Signallers in the Brigade Signals squadron were pleased with the reliability of Bowman, which worked well in the heat. Lt Col Ben Edwards, CO The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, speaking in BATUS during pre-deployment training, said that the clarity and distance of communication with Bowman had been “a revelation – much much better than anything we’ve had before”.
During OP TELIC 7 last year, Brigadier Marriott, Commander 7th Armoured Brigade gave his opinion that “The potential of Bowman is immense, the reality very good. We’ve only used a very small part of the system, particularly in Iraq, but you can feel, see and really sense where it’s going to take us and it’s great.”
Back to topDutch Marines Go Digital
General Dynamics UK is supply the Royal Netherlands Navy with the New Integrated Marines Communications and Information System – NIMCIS. NIMCIS is a two-year programme to equip the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps (RNLMC) with the BOWMAN C4I system, which is being rolled out to the UK Armed Forces by General Dynamics UK.
NIMCIS will provide the RNLMC with a secure voice and data communications infrastructure capable of supporting a range of network-enabled command, control, communications, computing and intelligence systems. In addition to a standalone system capability for the Marines, a key feature of NIMCIS will be the interoperability it provides between the Netherlands and UK forces, as allies and as part of the UK/NL Amphibious Force, as well as interoperability with other allied forces. NIMCIS replaces a variety of legacy communications systems within RNLMC.
The NIMCIS system will enhance the capabilities of the Marine Corps, and provide them with the ability to continue to operate effectively in the digital age,” said a spokesman for the RNLMC.
The BOWMAN system provides a state of the art, transformational voice and data capability that will put the Dutch Marines at the leading edge of proven network-enabled battlefield command and control. It is right and fitting that the Dutch Marines would want the advanced capability British forces are already receiving, to achieve interoperability in the UK/NL Amphibious Force,” said Sandy Wilson president and managing director of General Dynamics UK Limited. “We are delighted to have won our first BOWMAN export contract. This is a major success for General Dynamics UK, and confirmation BOWMAN is a battlefield discriminator.”
General Dynamics UK is the prime systems integrator for NIMCIS, which brings together products from world-class communications and command and control suppliers, including ITT Defence Limited and Harris Systems Limited.
Back to topBowman Informational Video
Testimonials from Servicemen and other details on how Bowman has fared operationally be found here.
Back to topJoint Integration Body (JIB)
Integration of BCIP and BISA taking place in the JSIB laboratory.
General Dynamics UK and the UK Ministry of Defence are working in partnership to ensure the integration of core Digitisation systems, sensors and BISAs into BOWMAN.
Despite advances in technology many of the current systems that form the Global Information Infrastructure, which include Bowman, SkyNet 5, Cormorant, Ptarmigan, DFTS and in due course Falcon (which replaces Ptarmigan), have been procured as single entities with bespoke architectures. This means that the services do not yet have sufficient interconnectivity across system boundaries to be able to exchange information effectively and achieve interoperability between Command and Battlespace Management (Land) (CBM(L) systems and other component systems and achieve significant improvements in its operational capability.
Consequently the MoD must have in place a trusted and expert systems integration partner who can manage and undertake the technical integration risk assessment and testing activity required to join together these complex, disparate systems, and then support the Authorities future capability development and integration of the CBM(L) environment.
Uniquely, two such initiatives have been established between the MoD and General Dynamics UK for the provision of just such an ‘integration service’;
Joint System Integration Body (JSIB)
Bowman and ComBAT and Information and Platform BISA (CIP) - collectively BCIP- was procured by the MoD to meet the tactical communications needs of the three armed services that will take part in, or provide support to, UK land, amphibious and air manoeuvre operations for the next two decades. It provides a secure digital voice and data communications service and a situational awareness capability that is deployable, scalable and meets the needs of the individual, platform, and collective headquarters.
There are a large number of other battlefield systems also that contribute significantly to tactical operations. The information these systems provide needs managing and moving around effectively so that commanders have the right information at the right time. These other systems need integrating with Bowman, so that by 2008, when the roll-out of BCIP across Defence will have been completed there will be an integrated CBM(L) infrastructure that can be built upon. These other systems are collectively termed Battlefield Information Systems Applications (BISAs).
This is the essence of the JSIB, a partnering arrangement between General Dynamics UK and the UK MoD Bowman and Tactical Communications and Information Systems (BATCIS) IPT, established in 2003 and recently extended to 2008, for the integration of BISAs to BCIP.
In the longer term, as BOWMAN/CIP and core Digitisation BISAs are integrated, fielded and delivered and incrementally upgraded as required, the JSIB will continue to support the integration process for BISAs and related systems to join the growing NEC baseline.
The JSIB, is located at General Dynamics UK’s Oakdale/Newbridge site, and consists of some 40 skilled systems engineers and integration engineers, a supporting laboratory and staff, programming support staff, a modelling team and BISA relationship managers who facilitate information flows between General Dynamics UK and the BISA IPTs. Although the core of the JSIB consists of General Dynamics UK employees, a significant number of the JSIB team are Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) personnel and contracted staff from other industry players contributing specific BISA and modelling expertise to the integration process.
When developing highly complex, bespoke digital systems, a significant amount of specialist architectural analysis and integration testing of the elements that constitute the system is essential to determine the issues that must be resolved before the system can be considered ready for use. JSIB provides this specialist service. The core engineering effort is first directed at analysing the BISA architecture against an agreed Bowman baseline to determine form and fit, and then at conducting integration testing of the BISA with Bowman to identify anomalies that need to be addressed before system acceptance and fielding. The emphasis is on interactions between the systems. In practice this means producing test-scripts that are executed within the JSIB laboratory and, as issues are identified, both analysing their root cause and assessing the options for the preferred technical solution balanced against cost.
A comprehensive gating process, presided over by the DPA, tracks the integration work through the JSIB before the BISA is considered ready for field testing. The four initial core BISAs are at varying stages of integration testing, although a significant milestone was reached last month when the Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) BISA completed a gate cycle, resulting in a successfully integrated system-of-systems (SoS) which has now been delivered to the customer.
Additionally, the JSIB is looking ahead to the future BISAs, and other significant integration tasks such as Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) and Future Integrated Soldier Technology (FIST), to determine what their information requirements might be in relation to the emerging BCIP programme and to assist in the early integration risk reduction activity. We will also determine how the MoD should manage the regression testing that will be necessary as CBM(L) evolves. The modelling team supports the early analysis of BISA/Bowman interactions to determine where there might be messaging difficulties. MoD Architectural Framework (MoDAF) views have been generated for the four initial core BISAs and ComBAT. These define the information exchanges within the business space in which the BISAs and Bowman operate, thereby creating a common understanding of the problem space. Scenarios that stress the network under different operational conditions are also defined as MoDAF views. The master event list for each scenario indicates which BISA and ComBAT MoDAF views are required to bring the scenario to life. The dynamic model then analyses the resulting information exchange flows across the scenario’s communications network laydown to predict the stress on the different nets that comprise the Bowman network.
Back to topJoint Networks Integration Body (JNIB)
The Joint Networks Integration Body is a unique co-contracting agreement between the MoD, General Dynamics UK, EADS (Cogent and Paradigm) (Design Authorities for Bowman, SkyNet 5 and Cormorant Respectively), that has been put in place to identify and deliver fully programmed and de-risked solutions to integration capability shortfalls across the network-of-networks that form the Global Communication Network (GCN) and the Global Information Infrastructure (GII) architecture and help deliver end-to-end communications capability. The current make up of the main contributing parties is shown below.
The JNIIB is expected to expand to include other significant DA’s contributing to the GCN and GII Architectures, such as BAE Insyte for Falcon, BT for the fixed line infrastructure and the Atlas Consortia for the Defence Information Infrastructure (DII).
Following a successful demonstration pilot in 2004 of proof of concept that email exchange between Bowman (ComBAT) and mail servers on Cormorant and Skynet5 could be achieved on real kit, a 5 year Programme of Work, broken out into work packages, was agreed. This programme will identify, prioritise and deliver solutions (interventions) to integration capability shortfalls across the network for both voice and IP data services. Work is organized on a programme basis, with work packages executed as projects with the programme. The work packages are technically focused and phased, with all work directed towards the delivery of specific communications capability to benefit speed of delivery to the MoD. Issues of connectivity, service and network management will all be considered. The intent is for these work packages to define for the MoD fully costed implementation plan to address current shortfalls in delivering the end-to-end capability.
The JNIB Core team is located at Minerva House, Swindon, and works closely with the MOD’s Integration Authority who provide direction and scrutiny into the MoD Capability Working Group chaired by DEC CCII.
An Industry Executive Review Board to govern the industry partner’s input to the JNIB has been established. This will be expanded to include additional representation as new partners are introduced.
Back to top