General Dynamics to exhibit airborne-compatible Bowman BMS

General Dynamics UK will showcase its Bowman Battlefield Management System (BMS), configured for tactical communication between air and land domains, at Aero India 2011 in Bangalore next week. It will also demonstrate its solutions for airfield security and avionics systems for the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) and the Eurofighter Typhoon.

General Dynamics UK will show how commanders can ensure the seamless transfer of tactical information between land and air platforms using a BMS solution. It says it has demonstrated the significance of BMS to the sea and air domains with the British Armed Forces, beyond the land-based tactical communications solution, as it is usually perceived. “General Dynamics UK has helped the British Armed Forces to see the bigger Common Operating Picture (COP) by developing technology that allows Bowman data to be accessed from air platforms such as Tornado GR4 jets and the Apache and Future Lynx Wildcat helicopters,” says the company.

General Dynamics UK currently provides protection for key European military airfields, and major civil airports such as London Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom and Vancouver International Airport in Canada, and on the basis of its ’50 year heritage in providing Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) security solutions globally’, it hopes to explain its ‘integrated system approach’ to protecting assets and infrastructure on the ground, demonstrate technologies to protect aircraft from unexpected attack and observe airfield runways for foreign objects such as IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices).

The company will also highlight its avionics capabilities, including a Stores Management System (SMS) currently used in the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Hawk 132. The Eurofighter Typhoon, which is bidding for the IAF’s 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) tender, also features the company’s avionics equipment.

“The Hawk’s SMS includes two Weapons Control Panels (WCP) and one Weapons Programming Unit (WPU) manufactured and supplied by General Dynamics UK, while the majority of avionics systems on board the Eurofighter Typhoon – including its Advanced Voice Control System – also use General Dynamics UK technology,” it says.