Bring on the heavy radios

A new radio system for the Armed Forces, developed at a cost of £2.4 billion, is too heavy for the average soldier to carry, a report by MPs has revealed.

Soldiers using the Bowman digital radio have also found that they cannot talk to other communication systems deployed with allies on the battle-field in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bowman, which is beginning to replace the 30-year-old Clansman radio, should have been in service ten years ago, the MPs on the Public Accounts Committee said.

Edward Leigh, chairman of the committee, said: “The Bowman radio packs, despite the repeated concerns of directors of infantry, weigh a ton and so can’t easily be carried by the infantry in combat.”

Soldiers said that the Bowman was better than the Clansman, but was too heavy and so complicated that it required a substantial amount of training.