Army Communications (Hansard, 9 January 2002)

§ Mr. Swayne
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason the budget for modernising army communications has been reduced. [23341]

§ Dr. Moonie
No decision has been taken to reduce the budget for modernising army communication systems. On the contrary, significant plans are in place to deliver a programme of continuous improvement to army communication systems through projects Bowman, Skynet V and Falcon.

§ Mr. Swayne
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many telephone lines are being rented to make good deficiencies in the Army Ptarmigan system. [23342]

§ Dr. Moonie
Subject to operational considerations, geographically separate Ptarmigan systems may be connected by local telephone networks to provide interconnectivity and communications infrastructure resilience over substantial distances. In addition, elements of the UK civil telephone network can be used to facilitate low level Ptarmigan training. The number of telephones used at any given time is not recorded centrally.

§ Mr. Swayne
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what additional equipment is being provided by signal requirements to make good deficiencies in the Army Ptarmigan system. [23339]

§ Dr. Moonie
The Ptarmigan system continues to meet the operational requirement for which it was originally procured. In response to the changing and wide ranging demands now placed upon the armed forces, a number of Ptarmigan enhancements are being procured to ensure the system remains fully effective in the modern environment. Improvements include an enhancement to the mobile communications capability and an update of the Electronic Repair Vehicle. Post design services tasks, such as generator replacement, also continue to ensure Ptarmigan remains fully effective. In the longer term, the Army's trunk communication's requirement will be met by project Falcon, due to replace Ptarmigan from 2006–07.