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Following the trend demonstrated in the
past few years, exhibitors' emphasis is shifted from weapon
systems to command, control, communications and sensors (C4I),
focusing on current European systems, such as the General Dynamics
UK BOWMAN, EADS's
Blue Force Tracking, and
SIT from GIAT. Elbit
Systems, with assistance from the Israel defense Forces Ground
forces Command, provided a first glance into the operational
TORC2H C4I system. Advanced solutions displayed here highlighted
sensor processing, image processing and digital mapping solutions.
These included two Israeli systems - RAFAEL's Golden Bay, IAI's
RICNET. DSEi provided a stage for Pyramid, a
subsidiary of the Sarnoff group to launch its new product range,
designed for advanced image, video processing etc.
BOWMAN systems and derivatives dominated the exhibition not only
at General Dynamics UK's displays but on other areas, where it was
installed in several combat vehicles, demonstrated in training
systems, embedded in avionics and ships to support joint
operations, and demonstrate various identification, maneuver
control, planning and support applications. BOWMAN has been
accepted as the centerpiece of the British Army's land forces and
Royal Marines' tactical communications. The system provides secure
voice and data communications infrastructure capable of supporting
a range of network enabled C4I systems. Procured under a £1.7
billion communications modernization program, BOWMAN is replacing
the obsolete Clansman radio communications system. Initial systems
have already been deployed with the British contingent in Iraq.
The program was expanded to include an information infrastructure
operating on top of the communications systems, as part of the ComBAT, Infrastructure and
Platform Battlefield Information System
Application (BISA). Other countries have
expressed interest in the system. One of the m was the Royal
Netherlands Navy which recently awarded a contract worth EUR94
million to General Dynamics UK for a New Integrated Marines
Communications and Information System (NIMCIS), based on BOWMAN.)
This is the first export contract for the BOWMAN C4I system. The
systems are expected to be installed on tactical vehicles such as
the BAE Systems Land Systems Hägglunds BvS 10 armored all-terrain
tracked vehicles recently ordered for the forces.
Much interest was focused on the first Sentinel R.1 Airborne
Stand-off Radar (ASTOR) aircraft, which made its first flight with
the radar payload in the same week. Four additional aircraft are
undergoing modifications for future installations. Sentinel will
provide the RAF and British Army with deep ground surveillance and
targeting capabilities all-weather synthetic aperture radar (SAR)
and ground moving target detection (GMTI) capabilities. This
flight marked the end the radar and platform integration phase,
which suffered from considerable delays. System's testing is
moving ahead at Raytheon's with both the air and ground segments,
proceeding into flight tests by the first quarter of next year. |
