The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has provided further clarity on the delays plaguing the Morpheus tactical communications programme.
The project, designed to replace the ageing Bowman communications system, has been confirmed to face significant setbacks, with no clear timeline for its operational deployment.
Responding to parliamentary questions, Maria Eagle, Minister of State for Defence, explained:
“The MORPHEUS project is delayed following contract delays in 2021.”
Additionally, Eagle revealed that the MoD concluded its contract with General Dynamics Mission Systems UK (GDMS UK) in December 2023 due to the company’s failure to meet contractual obligations under the “Evolve to Open” (EvO) transition partner framework. The decision has been scrutinised, but Eagle assured Parliament:
“Commercial confidentiality precludes providing the specific details of the arrangements made; however, the Department can provide assurance that these arrangements have been verified by both HM Treasury and Cabinet Office as representing the best value for money approach for the taxpayer.”
To date, the Morpheus project has incurred a cost of approximately £828 million. Despite these expenditures, the programme remains in limbo, with Bowman’s service life extended to bridge the gap. Bowman, initially slated for retirement, will remain in use until at least 2031, with a potential out-of-service date as late as 2035.
This delay has forced the Ministry to upgrade Bowman under the Bowman 5.7 project, ensuring compatibility with new military vehicles like Challenger 3, Boxer, and Ajax, which will now enter service with the legacy system rather than the modernised Morpheus platform.
When asked about financial penalties or contractual adjustments imposed on GDMS UK, Eagle highlighted the MoD’s decision to conclude the EvO TP contract rather than pursue continued engagement.
She described the conclusion of the contract as the most effective option to safeguard taxpayer interests.
Tactical Communications Under Strain
The Morpheus programme was initially conceived to provide the British Armed Forces with cutting-edge tactical communication capabilities. Managed by the Battlefield and Tactical Communications and Information Systems (BATCIS) Delivery Team, the programme was expected to deliver an open, agile system capable of meeting modern operational demands.
The challenges have cast a shadow over the programme’s future, with the delays necessitating interim measures and raising questions about the UK’s ability to modernise critical military communications infrastructure. While the MoD has reiterated its commitment to delivering the programme, the timeline and pathway to achieving this remain fraught with uncertainty.
What an absolute shambles of a project this has become.
£828 million down the drain; how do they do it? Astounding
If you say “828 million” quickly? It sounds ok….
Pretty much a Type 26 Frigate in old Money !.
This really is bad. Whilst Bowman was eventually very capable (I remember in Mali the only secure radio system working properly was UK Bowman), it has nowhere near the bandwidth or capability needed to maintain modern battlefield data requirements, particularly for things like developing a common operating picture.
As the old adage goes, “no comms, no bombs!”
As someone who comes from the comms and network world What is the problem? Who wrote the specs a bean counter or an Engineer? I know when I wrote RFPs they were hundreds of pages long, with what I needed, what I wanted, what I would like, the time frame and what would happen if it was not delivered.
If you want something to cut…
Sadly Sam there are no other Sovereign tactical communications solutions. If we scrapped it we would either have to start from scratch or go to a foreign manufacturer for supplying the kit.
According to the UK Gov website, Morpheus will deliver to the front line soldier:
1. Improved end-to-end shared situational awareness from soldiers to HQ
2. Increased bandwidth and a more resilient network, allowing soldiers to get the information they need, when they need it
3. Open architecture enabling interoperability by design, giving the ability to develop and deliver applications in the way soldiers want – leading to better usability and at a faster pace by selecting from across Industry rather than one Prime Contractor.
To do this the project has been allocated £3.2B. In Dec 2023, General Dynamics UK who were given the development contract in 2017 had the contract cancelled. James Cartilidge MP the then Minister for Defence Procurement stated: “GDUK failed to fulfil its contractual obligations, including delivering a large-scale laboratory-tested baseline capability by December 2020. With the original timescale “not met” and progress having “fallen short of what we expected”. The Cabinet Office were brought in to do an independent assessment of Project Morpheus, whose findings I believe have not been released to the public.
According to some reports, blame for the failure appears to lie with both parties; the MoD was too ambitious and over-specific as to the capabilities of the open system (while allegedly neglecting to include an electronic warfare (EW)/cyber layer or the then-nascent Multi-Domain Integration concept in its considerations), and GDMS(UK) failed to produce a viable architecture. The issues with Ajax another GD product didn’t help, as there was likely friction between the MoD and GD from those delays as well
Morpheus is part of a bigger communications program called Land Environment Tactical Communications and Information Systems (LETacCIS). This includes Bowman ComBAT Infrastructure and Platform (BCIP) 5.6, the Dismounted Situational Awareness (DSA) programme, Battlefield Management Application (BMA), and the Joint Common Remote Viewing Terminal (JCRVT). GDUK was to provide the Evolve to Open (EvO) Transition Partner. Which was the open architecture backbone for the whole system. As such the DSA part of the program is in progress with the Android Tactical Awareness Kit. It is currently undergoing trials. The BMA has been delivered by Elbit, but it does not use open architecture. So it may need a further modifiied purchase to give it that capability. The JCRVT has been delivered by L3Harris, again I’m not sure if that has open architecture. The Bowman 5.6 is being rolled out to all heavy and medium vehicles and is expected to roll out to light vehicles as well.