The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded a contract to Canadian information technology consulting company CGI for a mid-life upgrade to the Fire Control Battlefield Information System Application (FC BISA).
Under the four-year contract, the company will replace the existing practice of voice communications and liaison officers with digitised Joint Fires weapon systems.
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UK MoD Artillery Systems head colonel Matt Botsford said: “The award of this contract and our close working relationship with CGI will enable the British Army to implement a step change in Joint Fires by achieving highly effective interoperability with our NATO Allies.
“Digitisation of our mission systems is a key enabler for meeting the ever-changing threat environment and through FC BISA’s mid-life upgrade, the UK will be at the forefront of ASCA developments for our Allies.”
Valued at £17m, the major mid-life upgrade of the FC BISA will involve the implementation of the Artillery Systems Cooperation Activities (ASCA) capability by 2020, along with the integration and automation with other Joint Fires weapon systems.
CGI UK Space, Defence and Intelligence senior vice-president Neil Timms said: “Our ongoing relationship will enable the MoD to take advantage of automation technologies that will digitise the Joint Fires capability with our Allies.
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By GlobalData“We’re proud to have supported the British Army and Royal Artillery and look forward to continuing to work collaboratively in delivering agile, secure, digital services into the next decade.”
CGI serves as the prime contractor for the upgrade project and will deliver secure software application design, build and training support for FC BISA in version 4.0.
This will help develop critical battlefield mission systems for the Royal Artillery.
