INDIAN ARMY MOOTS AMBITIOUS BATTLEFIELD MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS PROJECT
By Bulbul Singh
19 Jan 08. India is on a global hunt to procure unspecified numbers of Battlefield Management Systems (BMS) for the Indian Army. The aim of the procurement is to provide C2I integration tool supporting from individual soldier to the command level. The BMS will comprise palm computers at the soldier level and tactical computers at the command level.
Senior Indian Army planners said India Army’s proposed Battlefield management systems (BMS)will comprise of Command and Decision Support Systems, Surveillance Systems, Weapon Systems, Systems to coordinate Time and Space, Information Warfare systems and in-built Operational logistic Systems. It will be operated through a high capacity Tactical Data Network by employing standard interfaces and protocols .
Under the ambitious $750m BMS project, the Indian Army will have Command, Control and Communication and Intelligence inflow from the Command headquarters and the soldier in the battlefield
The Army planners added that presently the infantry soldier in the battlefield does not have any gears to obtain and operate real time situational awareness , and the BMS will provide all surveillance resources at the unit level of the infantry and provide real time location of the troops and the important weapon platforms.
Indian defence ministry official pointed out that a limited global tender will be floated in the next three months to major defence companies from India, Israel, United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Singapore for implementation of BMS project.
The tailor made BMS will also have variety of intelligent solutions in the battlefield such as terrain analysis, details of own and enemy troops, resources & capability, weapon systems. It will also be capable to support applications to operational logistic functions at the unit level which will include deployment, management and planning of minefields, obstacles, management of casualties, management of weapons, ammunition management.
The Indian Army BMS will have specialized homegrown sensors and other gears which will be capable of multi sensor integration; digital data transmission capability, real time tracking of own resources, multi-option integrated display capability, Geographical Information System (GIS) enabled capabilities, encryption capabilities and Decision Support capabilities for terrains, Intelligence and Operations.
The BMS will also receive and transmit data, voice and images from multiple sources including radars, cameras, laser range finders, ground sensors in a manner the soldier on the battlefield is able to get real time information simultaneously with the Command headquarters.
The Indian Army planners further added that the objective of the BMS project is to provide a C2I integration tool supporting every user of military users ranging form individual to Battalion Group / Combat Group Commander in the Tactical Battle Area, which will provide in near real time an appropriate, common and tactical picture by integration of all elements in a battle group. The integration will include inputs from command and control elements, combat platforms , detachments, supporting arms , surveillance devices and headquarters, thereby proving a distinct ege in successful execution of operations and optimization of resources.
The BMS will comprise Palm Top computer with individual soldiers and Tactical Computers at Battle Group Headquarters and Combat Vehicles. Computers will be integrated employing application and database servers connected on a data enabled communication network. The system will enable generation of common operational picture by integrating inputs from all relevant sources within a battle group by using integrated GIS platform and GPS.
The essential requirements of the BMS should be a high mobile system which is able to network itself by integration of component ns provide a high