§ Lord Astor of Heverasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, following operational experience of the Bowman system at battalion level, it is intended to seek further operational experience at brigade and divisional level before the system is adopted as fully proven; and [HL4634]
What adjustments or alterations need to be made to the Bowman system and equipment as a result of initial operational experience. [HL4635]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)We declared Bowman to be in service on 26 March 2004. At the in-service date, as planned, Bowman was capable of supporting two mechanised battalions in non-warfighting operations. It delivered high quality, secure voice communications down to half-section level including the vehicles that would be deployed in such operations.
We have always planned for Bowman, like other complex programmes, to be developed and delivered incrementally from in-service date. Therefore, work is continuing on conversion of, for example, armoured fighting vehicles, ships and helicopters, and on a comprehensive and progressive test and trials programme, ranging from laboratory integration and analysis to operational field trials. A further brigade-level field trial is due to be held before the end of the year. The aim of all this work is to achieve the full functionality of Bowman including data messaging, situational awareness capability and assurance of the system's robustness and usability. Together with parallel work to develop the non-equipment elements of military capability, we plan to achieve full warfighting capability in stages across different operational environments—land based, amphibious and air assault—over the next two years or so.
We intend that the first deployment of Bowman for non-warfighting operations will take place at brigade level next year. We will continue to use experience from this deployment to inform the continuing programme to deliver the full Bowman capability.
§ Lord Astor of Heverasked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps they are taking to gain further practical experience of the Marconi Selina H4855 personal role radio in operational conditions. [HL4756]
§ Lord BachThe smart acquisition of the Bowman personal role radio is a successful story. It was formally accepted into service in January 2002, two months earlier than forecast and within planned cost.
108WAIt has been and continues to be used extensively in a variety of worldwide operational theatres including Afghanistan and Iraq, and feedback indicates that its performance has exceeded expectations.