Qinetiq signs £52.5m Typhoon contract

Qinetiq has today signed a contract with the Defence Procurement Agency, worth up to £52.5m over the next three years, to continue support for the Typhoon programme.

The package includes £50m for defined technical support, advice and safety clearance activity, together with £2.5m allocated to sub-contracts and future emergent work.

According to a statement, Qinetiq has played a central role in the evolution of the Eurofighter Typhoon since its conception almost 20 years ago and over the past five years Qinetiq’s activities have been focused under a single integrated support contract. This new contract continues much of the activity done to date, with the introduction of some new customer required tasks.

The pan-Qinetiq team delivers a variety of services to the Typhoon IPT. These include providing independent Release to Service (RTS) safety recommendations; the technical review of Verification, Qualification and Certification (VQ&C) evidence; programme risk reduction and recovery support activities; future capability/decision support; and the operation of strategic facilities for the MOD.

RTS recommendations are based on assessments by Qinetiq’s experts covering all aspects of aircraft safety and functionality. Qualification testing of aircrew equipment is carried out in consultation with the RAF CAM Aviation Medicine advisor and Qinetiq also conducts both manned and unmanned testing on behalf of industry. Other support includes modelling and simulation, flight trials and software analysis.

Typhoon is being developed through two consortia, Eurofighter and Eurojet, both comprising design manufacturers from each of the four contributing countries, UK, Germany, Italy and Spain. Eurofighter is focused on developing the airframe and onboard systems with its UK partner BAE Systems. Eurojet is working on development of the EJ200 turbofan engine with Rolls-Royce as its UK design and manufacturing partner.