Collaboration at Cody

Boeing and Qinetiq officials today announced that they are establishing a centre for collaboration and experimentation at Qinetiq’s Cody Technology Park site in Farnborough, UK.

According to Qinetiq, the centre for demonstration and experimentation will offer customers the latest in modelling, simulation and analysis tools. These will be used to explore and understand implications of proposed systems in a real-time, dynamically-evolving environment.

Commercial and military customers will be able to network live, virtual and constructive assets in a collaborative, immersive, development environment to define requirements, evolve capabilities and discover new technologies to meet their needs. They will also have the ability to trade off competing alternatives or “what if” scenarios while optimising design concepts and their performance within the overall ‘system of systems’.

Initial capability within the simulation laboratory infrastructure will be supported by the Qinetiq Unified Experimental Services Testbed (QUEST), with networked nodes across the UK in multiple domains including land, missile defence, air and sea. QUEST provides connection to the UK government’s Joint Multinational Interoperability Assurance Network and, through that, to the US government’s Combined Federated Battle Lab network system.

Pending both governments’ approval, Boeing will provide connectivity to its Laboratory Network (LabNet), linking over 15 Boeing laboratories in the US and Australia as well as US government laboratories and industry partners.

This network operates using Multi-Protocol Label Switching technology and provides an enabling, adaptable and agile network capability that serves the real-time needs of Boeing’s distributed simulation and test activities.

Ultimately, Boeing and Qinetiq will have the ability to tie their relevant demonstration and experimentation capabilities together and access them from any one location to offer customers greater network flexibility. When fully operational, the two companies will address interoperability and network-enabling issues, and they will use the network to develop solutions in the US, the UK and Australia.

The centre, operational by the end of 2006, will comprise development and simulation labs, an integrated test and configuration facility, a world-class presentation and debrief suite, a hi-tech control room and a facility to ‘hook up’ military vehicles.

Separately, Qinetiq and German air traffic management company Comsoft have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to jointly develop a new air traffic surveillance ground station.

Developed by Qinetiq and called Quadrant, the system has both ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) and multi-lateration (three-receiver object location) capability. Qinetiq says these will bring system-wide operational benefits by enabling efficient air navigation services and airspace surveillance operations.

Under the MOU, Comsoft will manufacture, commercialise and market Quadrant exclusively in cooperation with Qinetiq. The two companies also plan to collaborate on a range of other Qinetiq ATM products and services.

Quadrant, at around one tenth the cost of traditional radar systems, allows air navigation service providers to complement their existing radar-based surveillance infrastructure, or ultimately to replace it.