QinetiQ North America Focuses on Turkish Market
Defence Turkey: Mr. Steinman, Could you please enlighten about us about the core capabilities and products of QinetiQ North America?
QinetiQ North America’s (QNA) Technology Solutions business unit is a world leader in life-saving vehicle armor, EOD robots, soldier systems and other Defence solutions for a wide range of military and security missions. For example, our TALON® robots are in service with the U.S. and 10 other NATO militaries, as well as other countries like Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and South Korea that are serving alongside Turkish and NATO forces in Afghanistan today.
Meanwhile our engineers, scientists and other professionals in QNA also deliver cutting edge services in other areas like space engineering, training, modeling and simulation, cyber intelligence, and logistics and lifecycle management, that leverage our experience and detailed mission knowledge.
Some of our products include:
Q-Net: QNA has developed a lightweight RPG defeat capability using nets. The Q-Net system is an adaptable solution capable of providing RPG protection on a wide range of tactical and lightly armored vehicles.
LAST Armor: QNA is the largest manufacturer of fixed-wing aircraft armor in the world. We also produce ground vehicle armor, a unique appliqué system for tactical ground vehicles that installs without any cutting, welding or drilling. Over the past three years, we’ve fielded 10,000 armor kits.
BlastRide: QNA’s BlastRide seat uses an innovative active damping system to mitigate the effects of mine and improvised explosive device (IED) blasts. It is capable of providing the occupant with the best ride comfort of any seat in the market.
Dragon Runner™ 10 (DR-10): The DR-10 Micro Unmanned Ground Vehicle (MUGV) is a lightweight, compact, multi-mission remote platform developed for supporting small unit dismounted operations.
TALON®: Since its introduction more than a decade ago, QNA’s TALON family of robots has earned a reputation for durability, flexibility, modularity and performance in keeping personnel, assets and civilians out of harm’s way. TALON robots are powerful, lightweight tracked vehicles that are widely used for explosive ordnance disposal, reconnaissance, communications, sensing, security, Defence and rescue.
Tactical Robotic Controller (TRC): TRC is a lightweight, rugged, modular system, capable of controlling a vast variety of unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned ground vehicles and unmanned ground sensors. It is specifically designed for tactical and dismounted operations, with advanced computing capable of running any computing system.
Defence Turkey: Could you please inform us about your activities and your strategy for Turkey?
Turkey is an important partner for QNA. We believe we can help Turkey meet its security needs and develop its strong and competitive export products. Our initial conversations have already produced several strong joint programs aimed at supporting these common goals. We had a very successful experience at IDEF in Istanbul. We have joined the American Turkish Council (ATC) and we are looking forward to further demonstrating our equipment in Turkey this summer. As these programs mature, and as we establish a long term supply base, we are also working to identify areas where we can cooperate for the overall benefit of the Turkish economy.
Defence Turkey: What are your ongoing programmes and future oppurtunuties in Turkey?
Currently we are working on protection systems for vehicles, robots for explosive ordinance disposal and Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), and gunshot detection systems to protect Turkish soldiers, police and security forces.
Defence Turkey: What are your R&D activities, new products?
We maintain a healthy research and development program in support of our core areas of unmanned systems and survivability. In the past year, we have introduced a number of novel capabilities including:
Q-Net II: A lightweight net capability to defeat rocket-propelled grenades.
Light weight armor: Modular, scalable, removable and lightweight armor that can be easily installed and removed by troops without tools in a field environment.
Integrated Warrior Syste (IWS): IWS provides warfighters with tools that lighten their individual load, maintain connectivity with adjacent and higher level units, and extend their mission lifecycle.
Dragon Runner-10 (DR-10): The DR-10 is a lightweight, compact, multi-mission remote platform developed for supporting small unit dismounted operations. While using a wearable controller, the warfighter sends the DR-10 ahead of his small unit to gain situational awareness and take action.
Defence Turkey: What are your activities that you are carrying out with Turkish Companies?
We have a number of programs underway at this point in time, but we would prefer to allow the Turkish government and our industry partners to announce these activities.
Do you have any cooperation with Turkish companies for 3rd markets?
Turkish military ground vehicle manufacturers are viewed world-wide as leaders in the fields of mobility and protection. We think we can help deliver the highest level of protection and capability in Turkish vehicles, while keeping costs affordable. Our armor systems include many of the most advanced in the world, with very lightweight armor providing very high protection levels. We also deliver flexibility. Our protective systems can be mounted or removed quickly by troops in the field as required to meet the commanders’ tactical requirements. This helps reduce unneeded weight, and minimize unnecessary fuel consumption and vehicle wear and tear.
Defence Turkey: The Turkish Defence Industry requires home production contribution to the projects carried out in Turkey. Do you have any studies for a joint venture with a local company/partner in Turkey?
As noted earlier, we are currently working with multiple Turkish partners to identify ways in which we can produce key components of our products in Turkey. This provides significant overall benefit to the Turkish economy, and makes us true partners, allowing us to understand and support the needs and requirements of the Turkish police and military.
Defence Turkey: Finally, would you like to add something and give a message to our readers?
QinetiQ North America is committed to our partnership with Turkey, and we look forward to a sustained strong working relationship for years to come.
For more information visit www.qinetiq-na.com and join our conversation at www.facebook.com/qinetiqna.
