QinetiQ has won a £18.7m contract, Operational Assessment of Signatures Informing Susceptibility (OASIS), that will help reduce the acoustic and electromagnetic signatures of the Royal Navy’s submarines and ships and protect the men and women who serve on them from adversaries, say the firm.
Each ship or submarine has a unique acoustic and electromagnetic signature – the bigger this signature the easier it is to detect, identify and potentially attack.
According tot he firm in a news release, measuring and understanding this signature over the lifetime of a vessel gives Navy Command and Commanding Officers the confidence that they are ready to fight and win in combat at sea.
“Over a dozen services will be made available through the existing Long Term Partnering Agreement (LTPA) – using the new event types and the output based approach to deliver a more cost effective service to the Royal Navy. The outputs are provided from a range of signature detection capabilities including underwater radiated noise; radar cross section; target echo strength; and electromagnetics supported by an extensive range of facilities, equipment and software delivered by highly skilled and knowledgeable engineers.
As part of the new contract all signature information collected will be stored within the Navy’s Maritime Knowledge Management (MKM) system, enabling stakeholders to access and use the repository of information as an aid to decision making on the management of individual platform signatures.”
Commodore Martyn Williams, Royal Navy said:
“The ability to maintain an in-depth knowledge of a ship or submarines acoustic and electromagnetic signature is an essential part of maintaining a battle winning edge – we can see them before they see us. But it is more than that. The data we collect today will inform the fleet of tomorrow and give us the information we need to respond to new threats at pace.”
Steve Fitz-Gerald, QinetiQ’s Managing Director of Maritime, Land and Weapons, said:
“In a world where the pace of technological change is increasing and those that would wish the UK harm have access to ever more sophisticated equipment, it is vital that the Royal Navy is able to protect its fleet of warships and the women and men who serve on them.
We are making a massive investment to create a modernised LTPA and the OASIS contract will be able to turn this investment into real value for our customers. Teams across QinetiQ continue to play a significant role in the modernisation of UK test and evaluation and development of capability for our forces.”
I presume the equipment mentioned in this article is at the sites which were once a part of DERA, now MoD owned but Qinetiq operated, as part of the LTPA.
To expand, that means the sites at Grove Point ( underway noise surface vessels ) Fort Blockhouse ( automated HER ) Loch Fyne, and Loch Goil ( Submarine noise ) Eastern Kings, Plymouth ( Magnetic signatures ) and Rona ( underway submarine noise )
All this was once in house at the MoD, as part of DERA, but as usual was sold off in the seemingly never ending privatisation of everything that is not bolted down.
Would it not have been cheaper, in the long run, to keep this stuff, and the expertise, in house?
Well, as Harold Macmillan pointed out, ‘that woman is selling the family silver’! Mind you, he was a different type of Tory!
Hi Herodotus.
To be fair all parties of all colours have been at it. Some of the worst was in 97 to 2010 under your old lot!!
It is something I actually agree with concerning Corbyn’s policies, the ending of the systematic selling off of national assets.
Yes, I agree. Strangely, even Thatcher thought that John Major was wrong in privatising British Rail. The east Coast mainline is a case in point…numerous operators have fucked up yet when it was under government control …it worked. It’s the problem that political dogma presents…the one size fits. Smacks of lazy government…people just not doing their homework. The craze for ‘business is best’ carried on well in to Blair’s time with crap PFI deals. But, it was the flavour of the month…everyone thought that it was the answer to shrinking revenues. Unfortunately, we are reaping the consequences…but I suspect that the lesson hasn’t been learnt yet.
Yes, I agree with a lot of Corbyn’s ideas…it’s just that I can’t see him as prime minister material. But, if Boris is, then so can he!
Can’t argue with that.
I agree with some of Corbyn’s ideas but he is useless and naive on defence and security. As for ‘Mrs T’ even she thought selling the ‘Queen’s Head’ was a step too far !
“The east Coast mainline is a case in point…numerous operators have fucked up yet when it was under government control …it worked.”
I use the ECL often, caught a new Azuma train last week. Brand spanking new and the buffet car was out of action. The alternative trolly car has no hot water, so no tea or coffee.
On that note do the ex service guys here know about the defence discount card. (I used it to purchase cheap tickets to london on the train) well worth a butchers.
So he was. He served with working people so he realised their strength and their role in defeating vile dictatorships, unlike people like Rabb & Patel, who call their countrymen ‘ the worst workers in the world’.
I don’t know about you guys, and adds nothing to the article. but I personally feel that the Astute boats are the best looking subs going on the surface,
I can’t name a better looking one, the yanks and French are too round for me they look like party balloons. I dont like the look of the new dreadnoughts in pictures though, I can’t wait to see in person to decide.
I agree. I just wish we had more …