Britain is having yet another major disaster with the introduction of a new army radio. The Bowman line of tactical radios was developed to replace the 1980s era Clansman series. The Bowman radios were to be more secure, capable of handling digital data, easier to use and so on. Didnt work out that way. The Bowmans weigh three times as much as the ones they are replacing (15 pounds, versus five), and thats without the control unit that was to fit around the operators wrist. This came in at 4.4 pounds, and was wisely dropped as unworkable. But the Bowmans have other problems, like sometimes causing radiation burns on the operator when transmitting. The $3.7 billion dollar project was so flawed that the Director of Infantry refused to accept the radios. He was overruled by the government, and came out and said so. He told the troops to hang on to their cell phones. 

This is not the first time the British have had problems with tactical radios. They were slow to adopt FM for tactical radios. Although FM was only developed during the 1930s, the United States was quick to realize that the better quality sound on FM solved the problem with various types of noise (electronic and otherwise) radio users had to contend with in combat situations. The U.S. went into World War II with FM tactical radios. But even the radios the British did introduce during World War II had serious technical problems. These problems continued during the Cold War, although the Clansman series of radios turned out pretty well.