§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the additional communications equipment supplied to army units in the Balkans is compatible with the BOWMAN specification. [110841]
§ Mr. HoonThere are fundamental differences in the capabilities of the communications equipment being supplied off-the-shelf to army units in the Balkans and that being procured by the BOWMAN project.
The equipment being supplied to units in the Balkans will mostly be installed in fixed locations and will provide a wide area network in support of peacekeeping operations. BOWMAN has a much wider scope. It seeks to provide mobile, tactical, war-fighting communications, to a military specification, for use by all three Services. In order to be suitable for a hostile environment, the BOWMAN military communications system must be capable of operating without being dependent on a fixed, static infrastructure.