BAE SYSTEMS forms Team Vigilant for the UK Watchkeeper programme

The BAE SYSTEMS-led team to compete for the UK MOD's Watchkeeper programme is to be known as Team Vigilant. Under this new name, BAE SYSTEMS is bringing together a team to deliver the UAV concept that is being defined during the current Assessment Phase of the programme. Other teamscompeting are led bu Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and Thales.

Watchkeeper is a key C4ISTAR programme representing a step change in British Army reconnaissance, designed to provide the Land Component Commander with a significantly greater imagery collection capacity than the current Phoenix system. Benefits will include greater range and time on station, more payload options and better flexibility. It will provide relevant imagery intelligence at every level across the land component. The present in service date is predicted as 2007, although the customer is trying to introduce a significantly earlier Initial Operating Capability.

BAE SYSTEMS says the Vigilant solution to the Watchkeeper requirement will be a cost-effective, low risk solution, to provide the Land Component Commander with 'unrivalled ISTAR capability.

Vigilant will combine BAE SYSTEMS Avionics Group (prime contractor and systems integrator with avionics an sensors expertise) BAE SYSTEMS North America (leading activities associated with mission planning, image exploitation and data links), Alenia Marconi (leading C31 activities). Other contractors will bewill be selected for critical system elements, such as air vehicles and sensor payloads.

BAE SYSTEMS is committing significant private investment to Vigilant, to put the capabilities, technologies and domain expertise in place to manage the programme complexity and deliver a winning solution to the Watchkeeper requirement.

One key area for investment is the Watchkeeper Synthetic Environment (SE), which enables the simulated operation of the Vigilant system solutions to be explored within the battlespace. The distributed SE links BAE SYSTEMS' Rochester, Filton and Stevenage sites, with each site contributing simulated assets such as the UAV Systems, Attack Helicopter and Ground Reconnaissance vehicles into a battlespace scenario. The SE is a critical tool in the development of the optimum system architecture in addition to the development of Concepts of Operation (CONOPS) and tactics for the Vigilant solution.

Another area of investment is in the UAV Management System (UMS) which will provide the command control and data management of the Vigilant solution for Watchkeeper. The UMS applications will include total system command and control, automated launch and recovery, built-in test and health monitoring, mission planning, multi-level image exploitation and Imagery Intelligence (IMINT) dissemination. Rather than a dedicated hardware Ground Control Station (GCS), the UMS will be a portable, scalable software solution that can be installed in platforms ranging from a large control station to a laptop computer, in a land, air or shipborne environment. The systems will meet emerging interoperability and interfacing standards for coalition operations.

BAE SYSTEMS envisages a considerable international interest in the system, particularly the Australian JP 129 project, which has very similar requirements and timescales.

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