§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will make a statement on the Bowman Radio Project with special reference to the(a) project overrun and (b) cost; [133586]
(2) if he will make a statement on future use of the Clausman Radio System with relevance to its life expectancy. [133587]
§ Dr. MoonieI have taken these as referring to Bowman and Clansman. Bowman will provide the armed forces with a tactical combat radio communications system to replace the Clansman system which has been in service since the mid 70s. Clansman will continue to be fully supported until the introduction of Bowman. MOD is seeking to maintain the current planned in service date of late 2003/early 2004 for Bowman, but until the outcome of the competition is known it is not possible to give a firm date.
The original Bowman in service date of December 1995 has slipped for a number of reasons including technical difficulties, the collapse of the original competition and industrial and budgetary constraints. The announcement in July this year of our intention to remove preferred supplier status from Archer Communications Systems Ltd. and to run a new competition has placed the project on a firm Smart Procurement footing and we are confident that competition offers the best prospect of delivering the currently planned In Service Date.
For the purposes of new competition, the available budget for the procurement of Bowman is £1.7 billion (VAT inc). This figure excludes sunk costs, long term support and Government Funded Material.
§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will make a decision on the new prime contractor for Bowman; and if he will state the(a) in-service date and (b) available budget. [133839]
§ Mr. HoonThis is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Robert to Walmsley to Mr. Robert Key, dated 23 October 2000:
I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the BOWMAN communication system. This matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief of Defence Procurement and Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency.Depending on the outcome of the competition, we expect to award the BOWMAN production contract during late summer 2001.We are seeking to maintain the current planned in-service date of late 03/early 04, but until the outcome of the competition is know, it is not possible to give a firm date. We remain confident that 26W competition offers the best route to meeting the requirement within an acceptable time-scale. To date, this has been validated by the vigorous competition currently being conducted between potential Prime Contractors.For the purposes of the new competition, and based on work to date, we have set industry a budget for the procurement of BOWMAN at £1.7 billion. (Vat inc) This figure excludes sunk costs, long term support and Government Funded Material.
§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the in-service date is for the Bowman combat radio system; and if he will make a statement. [131786]
§ Dr. MoonieThis is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Robert Walmsley to Mr. Robert Key, dated 23 October 2000:
I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the BOWMAN communication system. This matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief of Defence Procurement and Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency.I can confirm that MOD is seeking to maintain the current planned in-service date of late 03/early 04, but that until the outcome of the competition, it is not possible to give a firm date. We remain confident that competition offers the best route to meeting the requirement within an acceptable time-scale. To date, this has been validated by the vigorous competition currently being conducted between potential Prime Contractors.