The power of partnership: GDMS–UK deepens cooperation with the British Army

As the battlespace evolves at an unprecedented pace, forces like the British Army need rapid integration of cutting-edge technologies to maintain operational advantage.

For GDMS–UK, this means delivering the deepest possible cooperation with end users at every stage of development, according to Chris Burrows, the company’s VP, UK Tactical Communications and Information Systems (TacCIS).

The GDMS–UK team works with Army HQ and the Ministry of Defence’s TacSys delivery team to enable continuous integration and delivery of C4I capabilities to the British armed forces. The Bowman system is continuously upgraded to deliver timely capability enhancements for both dismounted soldiers and fleets of armoured and light mobility platforms.

Among other projects, GDMS–UK is a key partner in Project Asgard, which aims to modernise and enhance the command and control (C2) capabilities of the British Army as part of NATO’s Forward Land Forces (FLF) in Estonia. Project Asgard harnesses cutting-edge technologies to enhance decision-making, boost operational efficiency, and elevate the overall effectiveness of the armed forces.

At its core, the Bowman system serves as the TacCIS for UK troops deployed in Estonia, augmented by industry-leading technology to extend communication ranges and ensure resilient, continuous connectivity across diverse and challenging operational environments.

GDMS–UK is leading the integration of its Tactical Cross Domain Solutions (TACDS) to ensure a robust boundary protection, safeguarding critical communications and data from unauthorised access or cyber threats. All of these capabilities will be added to the British Army’s baseline deployed system through capability uplifts.

As demonstrated by the war in Ukraine, the British Army and other militaries are facing a rapidly evolving environment. “There’s a lot of change; and our team is responding to emerging needs at pace,” said Burrows.

How can militaries adapt to this change? For Burrows, it is all about partnerships.

Growing trend

Burrows joined General Dynamics in 2021 and has worked in his current role leading the UK TacCIS team since March 2024. Throughout his career, he has observed the growing importance of deeper partnerships between militaries and industry.

“Partnerships allow us to provide greater capability to the end user at an increased pace,” he said. “I want constructive relationships, partnerships and collaboration to be a laser focus for our UK TacCIS business.”

This collaboration has significant practical implications. Armed forces today must be able to rapidly upgrade or update their weapons, communication systems and other technologies based on developments in the shifting security landscape – a capacity that can only be delivered through closer partnerships with industry.

By developing such cooperation at the earliest stages of systems development, technology integration and insertion can be delivered on a spiral basis, passing capabilities into the hands of users quickly and ensuring they are fit for purpose from the beginning.

“It’s critical in today’s environment that you can iterate updates to technology at the quickest possible pace,” Burrows said. “We need to look over the horizon to anticipate their changing needs and adapt as quickly as possible for our customers.”

Innovation from the heart of South Wales

Burrows sees the benefits of such partnerships every day at the GDMS–UK facility in Oakdale, South Wales. The company is working closely with its customers, including Defence Digital, Field Army and Army HQ to share capability ideas, confirm the need and find the most appropriate delivery mechanism.

This means GDMS–UK can quickly adapt its offerings to incorporate direct military feedback at pace, ensuring enhanced systems are rapidly forward-deployed into the British Army. Increased collaboration from the beginning – and throughout the process – nurtures an organic approach that can adapt as needed.

“Instead of working in isolation with formal, distant relationships, we're now working much more closely together from the start,” Burrows noted.

The requirement for rapid integration and technology insertion is at the heart of the technologies being developed by GDMS–UK. For instance, Burrows highlighted the MESHnet product line, which provides an end-to-end communications and information suite for modern combat tactical vehicles. MESHnet incorporates intercom and networking, vehicle systems and sensor integration, battle management (BMS) for C2, and more.

Importantly, MESHnet is a “military-off-the-shelf” system that can be readily and swiftly customised for user needs.

“It enables the integration of new capabilities, whether radios or other bearers, at a pace that’s quite different to the current system and setup,” Burrows explained. “It shows that we recognise the need for rapid capability insertion – and can develop products that enable the capability.”

Asgard’s lessons

The value of partnerships is demonstrated in the company’s work on Project Asgard and its efforts to support the British Army’s forward deployment in Estonia. Ultimately, the goal is to help the army make informed decisions quicker, a critical requirement in today’s environment, with capabilities delivered at an accelerated pace.

Burrows said GDMS–UK has worked closely with the army to develop a “continuous feedback loop” in its Systems Integration Laboratory in Oakdale; this enables the company to adapt its products based on real-time information from operators once they have had experience with the technologies, such as uplifts to the Bowman system.

“We can take that information in and utilise spiral development to accelerate turnaround and increase capabilities in certain areas or make adjustments to meet their ever-changing needs,” he said.

Burrows said GDMS–UK and the British Army collaborated throughout Asgard's initial stages to determine “the art of the possible.”

“Asgard is a fantastic example of how we brought design forward at pace in the space of a matter of weeks and months, as opposed to a traditional approach that would have taken years.”

Asgard is not the only example of the benefits of continuous technological iteration and industry-military partnerships. Bowman, for instance, is an enduring capability for the British Army. However, this does not mean the technology has stood still; it has evolved continuously, most recently through the BCIP 5.6 project. The system will continue to support the British armed forces into the next decade.

“Over the last five to ten years, we have continually delivered capability uplifts for Bowman. Sometimes that’s not well understood,” noted Burrows. “We were bringing those uplifts in for quite some time, and we continue to do so with the best industry alliances.”

Industry alliances

Project Asgard is likely to further expand in the coming years, Burrows noted, meaning it is important to continue close collaboration with the MoD and on a business-to-business basis with partners across industry. This project does not simply involve one or two partners – GDMS–UK is working with SMEs and other defence primes to spiral development of new technology integration into Bowman to deliver additional user and operational effect.

When asked how GDMS–UK supports the MoD’s vision to make the British Army 10 times more lethal, Burrows emphasised that it goes beyond kinetic effects. It’s about boosting overall operational effectiveness through leadership, training, and the integration of systems, software, and hardware to enable faster decisions, sharper targeting, and deeper industry collaboration to deliver capability at pace.

“We’re looking at core technologies that we might be able to exploit collectively,” he explained. “Some of those industry players are small to medium-sized enterprises; we take particular interest in ensuring that we support them in getting their great capabilities into the hands of the user.”

He said that a growing sense of urgency is common in conversations across industry. The spiral development approach and close collaboration with both the army and other companies enable rapid technology insertion and integration by supporting an adaptable, iterative approach across the development cycle.

The rate of development has only increased. Efforts like Project Asgard underscore how the defence industry today can take a flexible and adaptable approach to procurement and development, partnering with end users and other companies to deliver the technologies they need and adapting them to fit an evolving landscape.

“There is absolute value in sustaining capabilities across the industrial base to enable accelerated insertion of technology and proactiveness from industry to meet the needs of our customers.”

Future ambitions

As the UK government increases its focus and spending on defence, there is an exciting future ahead – not just for GDMS–UK, but for the country’s defence sector as a whole.

“I believe the defence industry has a major role to play both economically and in terms of delivering security for the UK. We are completely aligned with Prime Minister Starmer’s insistence that it is time to ‘drive innovation at a wartime pace’ and as we enter this new era, we take great responsibility in making that happen.”

Since taking on his new role, Burrows said he has been struck by the energy and drive among GDMS–UK employees and their capacity and willingness to drive the expanding partnership with military end users.

“The level of energy that we’ve got within our team enables us to step up to the mark,” he said. “We want to continue to be a trusted partner of the British Army, bringing our capabilities and views to bear, to support the end user and bring new ideas to the table.”

For more information, email enquiries@gd-ms.uk