Following the recent submission of their bid for the BOWMAN Supply and Support Contract, Archer Communications Systems Limited (ACSL) have offered the MoD the option of supplying man-portable radios two years earlier than planned.
This would enable front-line troops to have secure communications which form part of the BOWMAN system well ahead of full deployment" said John Gutteridge, Managing Director, BOWMAN, BAE SYSTEMS, today.
The MoD now has, for the first time in the history of the BOWMAN programme, a solution which has: an affordable maximum price; a fixed specification which meets the user requirement; a realistic programme and a negotiated contract close to completion. In addition, it is now also in a position to deploy secure voice functionality to the Armed Forces earlier.
MoD and industry together now have the opportunity to address the concerns identified in the recent NAO Report covering the period until March 1999, which again criticised the BOWMAN programme for continued slippage. The Report registered the impact of this slippage on the provision of secure tactical communications for the armed forces and also the delay caused to the Department's digitisation programme for which BOWMAN provides the cornerstone.
BAE SYSTEMS took management control of the BOWMAN programme through ACSL in 1999 and agreed with MoD to undertake a 'radical re-invigoration' of the company. This is well under way with the appointment of a new management team, the introduction of new processes and the initial formation of a SMART Procurement Integrated Project Team with the Defence Procurement Agency. Not only has the programme now been brought under control, the issues relating to a series of further reductions in the available budget have also been addressed over the period since March 1999. The revised offer for the programme is less than half of the cost in March 1999.
The culmination of this re-invigoration process has been the submission of a bid to the MoD for the BOWMAN Supply and Support Contract. This bid was submitted in June this year by ACSL, with the support of all three of its shareholders, BAE SYSTEMS, ITT Defense and Thomson Racal Defence.
John Gutteridge said: "This announcement today reinforces our commitment to respond to the customer's need for an affordable solution in support of this crucial programme, thereby delivering the necessary revolution in battlefield communication." (ends)
