Recommendation 14

HM Government Acknowledged

Age is not always an indicator of capability and it should be recognised that the FV430 series (now called Bulldog (BD)) has had a series of upgrades to enhance its mobility, lethality and protection. It has been used successfully on operations in Iraq where it proved to have significant utility. It remains fit for its specific operational purpose, providing the armoured backbone of the 3rd UK Division. The planned replacement for BD is the Armoured Support Vehicle (ASV). The analysis to identify the future requirement will now be completed by the Army to deliver a timely replacement. This may deliver an earlier Out of Service Date (OSD) than the originally planned date of 2030. It should be noted that numerous nations including Australia and USA are still using their BD equivalent, the M113 which has a similar length of service. The US are replacing them through the Next Generation Combat Vehicle programme and the Australians through LAND400. Digital Spine The Land Environment Tactical Communication Information Systems (LETacCIS) programme will provide the digital backbone for the deployed force from individual soldier, through the vehicle platforms, right the way to Divisional and Corps HQs. This digital backbone consists of the radio/bearers, user devices, associated infrastructure and applications required by soldiers, armoured vehicles or headquarters to plug into, in order to gain information advantage over our adversaries. The LETacCIS programme consists of multiple sub-programmes and projects. In the last six months the Bowman Combat, Infrastructure and Platform Battlefield Information System Application (BCIP 5.6) has reached full operational capability and a logistics support contract was awarded to Babcock to provide support to the entire LETacCIS portfolio, breaking away from the previous prime contractor and opening up the supply chain. In the next six months the programme will launch competitions for the design and integration partners for the Army’s Dismounted Situational Awareness (DSA) project and TRINITY the Army’s next generation wide area network capability. Other projects within the programme are at differing states of maturity, as expected in an enduring programme of this nature and scale. What is critical is its coherent integration onto platforms. In this context, platforms are nodes on the network, so the network enhances the effectiveness of each platform by making information available to it. To ensure we accomplish this, the Army has instigated the Mission Systems Integration (MSI) project and defined an open vehicle digital architecture (Land System Open Architecture (LOSA)). The MSI will try to best align existing platform architectures to the LOSA and will enforce the LOSA standard for new platforms. In essence the platform will be certified to operate on the network and this will become a key requirement. With regards to ensuring delivered capability is technically relevant and effective, one of the four LETacCIS principles is Evolutionary Capability Delivery. This aims to field capability that exploits new technology, is responsive to changing threats and not just pushed by obsolescence. It also focuses on delivering quicker modular upgrades rather than monolithic system capability drops. Work is ongoing with Defence’s Acquisition and Approvals Transformation Programme examining options to expedite digital capability delivery. Examples include judging approvals based on technical risk and complexity rather than simply monetary value.