Germany’s FuInfoSys C4I System
Rheinmetall and KMW both issued releases recently, discussing contracts they’ve won as part of Germany’s FuInfoSys Heer (FuInfoSys H) program. DID has discussed FuInfoSys briefly in the context of the IdZ “Infantry-21” program. Now the working group awarded the “FuInfoSys Heer” (“Army Command Control and Information System”) contract will progressively equip some 1,500-1,600 armoured and non-armored vehicles with the new technology by 2011.
FuInfoSys Heer
The new command and control system will let the German Army network multiple vehicles, linking them up to the tactical operations centers, and down to individual soldier squads. Data transmission will include a digital situation map function, and on the whole the system has a number of similarities to the US FBCB2 aka “Blue Force Tracker”.
Combat and combat support vehicles will be outfitted with the system, and designated command post vehicles will be equipped with NBC(Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) protection, air conditioning components, and power supply systems as part of their upgrades.
FuInfoSys H is already conceptually integrated into FuInfoSys SK, which embraces all branches of the armed forces, and in the medium-term will migrate to FuInfoSys SK as an application specific to the terrestrial armed forces. The systems will be delivered from 2007 on, and their use will also include deployment in the joint German-French Brigade.
The Federal Office for Information Management and Information Technology of the Federal Armed Forces (IT-AmtBw) is responsible for the project. The contractor is FuInfoSys Heer, a 50/50 joint venture between Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall Landsysteme.
Contracts and Key Events
Feb 13/08: EADS Defence and Security hands over the FuInfoSyS H system software, to the Federal Ministry of Defence’s Head of the Modernisation Department, at the Franco-German Brigade site in Mullheim, Germany. SPX.
Dec 21/06: A KMW release places the total value of the FuInfoSys Heer order at about EUR 380 million (about $500 million).
Dec 21/06: A Rheinmetall Defence release notes the EUR 170 million (about $225 million) contract the firm has received to help implement FuInfoSys Heer for the German Army.
April 11/05: EADS announces a EUR 23 million contract to supply the German army with software for FuInfoSys Heer, a system designed to equip the army with a comprehensive range of highly mobile battlefield and command-post facilities. The new system will be introduced from 2007 onwards, starting with the army’s active units.
Additional Reading
- Defense Update – FuInfoSy-H: Divisional Command and Control System
