£4m for military batteries

Qinetiq has been awarded a £4m, two-year contract by Combat Support Equipment IPT (CSEIPT) to manage the supply of a range of commercially available batteries.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has options to extend this for an additional two years subject to satisfactory performance against key performance indicators.

‘On a number of occasions the MoD has stated that it spends the same amount administering its various battery contracts as it does buying in product,’ stated Steve Farmer Qinetiq’s battery programme manager. ‘Under the contract Qinetiq takes on the management of this requirement, working with multiple suppliers to ensure continuity of supply against agreed standards, encourage competition and maintain cost-effective supply and specification compliance.’

According to a statement, the MoD has already agreed the required performance standard and Qinetiq will ensure that this is maintained across 22 different types of battery. Ongoing testing will also be a key part of the work and undertaken where necessary to ensure that compliant stocks are available to meet MoD demand within agreed lead times.

Batteries are critical to the performance of battle winning equipment and in many cases highly complex technical equipment. This particular range of batteries is used on a variety of equipment including the head mounted night vision system, weapon sights, personal role radios, global positioning systems and mine detectors.