Morpheus is the name of the programme that will deliver the next generation

tactical communications Tactical communications are military communications in which information of any kind, especially orders and military intelligence, are conveyed from one command, person, or place to another upon a battlefield, particularly during the conduct of ...

system to the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, ...

. In 2016, the MoD publicised plans to replace the existing Bowman with a system named Morpheus. Morpheus ''will deliver the next generation of Tactical Communication and Information Systems (TacCIS) capability. It will address critical system obsolescence and introduce a more agile TacCIS solution (both technical and business).''

Procurement history

The procurement of Morpheus is being led by the Battlefield And Tactical Communications and Information Systems (BATCIS) delivery team, part of

Information Systems & Services Information Systems & Services (ISS) was a cluster within Strategic Command Top Level Budget of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence. ISS was replaced by Defence Digital in 2019. History ISS was created from the former Defence Communication ...

MoD Abbey Wood MoD Abbey Wood is a Ministry of Defence establishment at Filton, Bristol, United Kingdom. The purpose-built site houses the MoD's Defence Equipment and Support and Submarine Delivery Agency procurement organisations. It was opened by Queen Eli ...

. In November 2014 an acquisition strategy paper was released which described a two-part assessment phase to examine the feasibility of the principal approaches of "Sustain", "Evolve", or "Replace" the Bowman system. A "Systems House" branded ''Neo'' was appointed following a competition, comprising a consortium of

PA Consulting PA Consulting Group (formerly Personnel Administration) is a professional services firm that works with public, private and third-sector organisations. It was founded in 1943 by Ernest E. Butten, Tom H. Kirkham and Dr David Seymour, who used a n ...

, QinetiQ, Roke Manor and CGI. Its role was ''to generate high level technical architectures and business constructs against the MORPHEUS requirement and to provide corresponding performance, cost, time and risk data, with requirement impact assessment, to enable the Authority to assess Acquisition Options and identify requirement trades.'' In September 2015, it was announced that the "Replace" option was not viable and that the chosen approach was to evolve from Bowman through the appointment of a transition partner and other suppliers, to deliver an open agile system, which would be known as ''Evolve to Open'' (EvO). The £330m contract for EvO was awarded to

General Dynamics UK General Dynamics UK is a British subsidiary of the American defence and security corporation General Dynamics. Founded in London in 1962, the company has grown to include eight sites across the United Kingdom, including in Bristol, Chippenham, ...

in April 2017. Phase 2 of the programme is entitled Evolutionary Capability Delivery (ECD). As of April 2022 it appears the project has hit trouble and is unclear how it may be progressing

System overview

Morpheus EvO will be based on Bowman version 5.6, and will evolve to be an open, modular system. It will connect deployed forces to their commanders, give improved access to operational IT systems and simplify the user experience. An open systems approach will allow new technologies such as radios and apps to be rapidly integrated to tackle emerging threats and enhance interoperability with allies. The element of Morpheus that handles communications for the infantry soldier is known as ''Dismounted Situational Awareness'' (DSA), and is a successor to the long-running Future Integrated Soldier Technology programme.

References

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External links

MoD Morpheus homepage
British military radio United Kingdom defence procurement