Controversy
When Bowman was first introduced into service, the system was said to contain many faults to the extent that troops dubbed Bowman "Better Off With Map And Nokia".
The programme came under scrutiny following a National Audit Office accountability hearing for the government's procurement policy and was generally considered to be a success considering the complexity and changing needs of the UK Armed Forces.
However, a more recent report by the Commons Public Accounts Committee was overwhelmingly critical of the entire system and its procurement. The report itself is split into four sections entitled: "programme governance arrangements were not fit for purpose", "initial decisions were not well informed", "through life costs were not rigorously assessed", and "operational benefits are limited".
As Bowman was being phased into service, senior officers in the British Army had serious reservations about the system, especially as many of their initial design specifications and feedback had not been adequately incorporated by the Defence Procurement Agency in the re-tendering process that was won by General Dynamics United Kingdom Ltd. Such were the misgivings, the Director of Infantry initially refused to accept the portable "manpack" radio into service, saying:
"All the rumours you've heard. It is as bad as you've heard. But we have been told that, politically, we have got to make it work. Now you guys will have to go out and find a way of making it work."
Other complaints were brought up by the 1st Bn Royal Anglians who tested the UK/PRC354 radio system in July 2005. A number of problems have been reported, including RF burns received while transmitting data on some settings, comparatively heavy compared to equivalent Clansman radio sets, unergonomic wiring and user interfaces on the manpack radio, short-lived batteries, inadequate "ruggedisation" and inflexibility with assigning unique call sign indicators to individuals which are now instead permanently programmed into the radios themselves instead of the Clansman BATCO assigned system, which would change every 12 hours and could be used on any number of different radio sets by the operator as required. This has led to seven modifications to the radio since the operational field trial in December 2004. However there have been further more recent reports of the radios continuing to suffer from the already mentioned design flaws as well as operational failures and faults, including whilst in the midst of combat engagements, consequently hampering the combat effectiveness with soldiers deployed on both Operation Herrick in Afghanistan and Operation TELIC in Iraq, leading to accusations that the system is not yet ready for operational use and in some cases the current revision may be unsuitable for its intended purpose, including its role as part of the Future Integrated Soldier Technology concept.
In December 2008 and January 2009 Bowman was withdrawn from the Territorial Army (apart from the Honourable Artillery Company, 43 (Wessex) Signal Squadron (V) - a TA squadron forming part of 21 Signal Regiment, 2 (NC) Signal Brigade and the Yeomanry) as the manufacturers struggled to meet the demand created by operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Read more about this topic: Bowman (communications System)
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