GD Wins British Work

A unit of General Dynamics Corp. won a $2.4 billion contract to build the Bowman communications systems for the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence. CDC Systems UK Ltd. was formed by General Dynamics of Falls Church, Va., to pursue the contract.

Bowman will be an Internet protocol-based, secure digital voice and data communication system for the British armed forces. It will include a land-based command and control system and provide the infrastructure to support digitalization applications over the next 30 years.

Initial operational capability for the new system will be within 24 months, with all 18,000 army vehicles equipped and all 60,000 service personnel trained on Bowman by October 2007.

Bowman replaces a 25-year-old system and represents the largest defense communications program in the United Kingdom in more than 50 years, General Dynamics officials said.

General Dynamics also will fund a new Army communications research and development center in the United Kingdom. The research program will be directed by the army and will collaborate with local universities.