British science and high-technology company QinetiQ used this year’s recent Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) exhibition to investigate the local market. QinetiQ is a technology development, technology services and niche manufacturing company predominantly, but not exclusively, operating in the defence, security and aerospace sectors. “We came to AAD to explore the potential for how our products and services match South African requirements, with particular interest in partnering, which is essential for mutual success,” explained QinetiQ group director: international marketing Richard Mears. “We also interacted with other African delegations, as well as those from further afield.”

The company is seeking to expand its markets. “We operate in defence and security and in industrial support services – a lot of the complex problems in these sectors are surprisingly similar. Partnerships are key for us – making the most of what we’ve got, with local partnerships for delivery and support.” The company was “excited” to be at AAD, he affirmed, as it was “a good opportunity” to meet people and hear their problems and challenges. “We’re a really good listening company.”

One of the specialist manufacturing activities it undertakes is the production of armour kits for retrofitting to aircraft. For example, it produces an armouring kit for the C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft, which, when fitted, protects key areas of the aircraft. But, when the aircraft is redeployed out of the combat zone, the armouring kit can be removed, lightening the aeroplane and so reducing its fuel consumption and cutting costs.

“We also make a lot of unmanned ground vehicles,” he noted. “But you can best describe us as critical thinkers, innovating for our customers’ advantage!”

In a press conference at AAD, Mears itemised what QinetiQ regarded as its main strengths. The first of these – in the order he gave – was “Definition” – the ability to define complex projects and so derisk them. This area includes advice on procurement programmes. “It’s a huge area,” he said.

The second is summed up by the word “Detect”. “This is the outcome of years of specialist research,” he reported. To give just one example, the company has developed a passive sensor system that monitors the microwave radiation that every person naturally emits. Should a person be carrying concealed weapons and/or explosives, these would affect the pattern of the radiation emitted by that person, allowing the detection of the weapons and explosives. The device has a range of about 20 m, making it ideal for missions such as airport security. And this is only one of the many sensors the company can provide.

The third area of strength is “Protect”. This includes area security (such as a base or an industrial site or critical infrastructure) and large-scale border security. This area includes expertise in how to integrate such security systems and how to design their deployment, regarding both assets and personnel. “Next is to ‘Assure’,” he stated. “Test and evaluation is a really valuable part of our offer. We deliver commercial innovation, increased utilisation of test ranges and have demonstrated savings over multiyear commitment projects.”

The fifth area of strength is “Operate” – that is, operating services. “It could be anything from operating a managed service to advanced simulation and training,” he pointed out. One of the services contracted is Britain’s internationally renowned Empire Test Pilots School (the oldest test pilot school in the world), which is run under a partnering agreement between the company and the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), using both seconded military personnel and QinetiQ employees. As for simulation, “we save governments millions of pounds, coupled with significant time savings, and at a lower risk for the operators”.

QinetiQ came into being in July 2001. At that time, the British MoD divided its then Defence Evaluation and Research Agency into two separate entities. The smaller entity was designated the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and remains part of the MoD, while the larger was named QinetiQ (a play on the word ‘kinetic’), which was privatised in 2002 and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2006. QinetiQ continues to carry out top secret work for the UK MoD and allied countries and confidential work for commercial clients, as well as unclassified programmes.