General Dynamics [GD] on April 5 said its United Kingdom-based business received a $411.5 million contract from the UK Ministry of Defence to design and develop the next-generation tactical communication and information system under the first phase of the MORPHEUS program.
For MORPHEUS, GD said it will implement a new architectural approach called Evolve to Open, which will evolve the Bowman tactical communications system it provides for British armed forces into an open, modular system. The company said that the open system will allow new technologies to be quickly integrated, enhancing allied interoperability and evolving to keep pace with emerging threats.
“The Transition Partner contract is just the first of many procurement projects to deliver the MORPHEUS Evolve to Open baseline over the next few years,” Brigadier Richard Spencer, head of the Defence Ministry’s Battlefield and Tactical Communications and Information System Delivery Team, said in a statement. “This first contract opens the door for numerous industry opportunities to contribute to the next generation of battlefield communications.”
GD said that the new communications system will be used to plan, deploy, manage and monitor communications and information for the British Army. The company also said the system will allow users to integrate new radios, applications and other system components faster and more easily.
The MoD said the MORPHEUS system will be integrated on to the Army’s new AJAX family of armored fighting vehicles, which are also being built by GD UK. It also said the system will be used by the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy on a number of platforms.
GD said the contract creates 125 new jobs at its UK headquarters in South Wales.