Firm wins £150m ship testing deal

A £150m contract that will secure a maritime testing site in Hampshire has been announced by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Defence technology firm QinetiQ tests the Royal Navy's ships' underwater equipment at its site in Gosport.

The new contract will extend that agreement for another 15 years but also see the facilities opened up to other government and commercial clients.

They include an ocean basin, which is the largest freshwater tank in Europe.

'Save lives'

The pool, with a built-in wave machine and enough water to fill 16 Olympic swimming pools, is a test lab for scale models of submarines and ships.

There are also facilities to assess tidal turbines, as well as a unit to treat divers with the bends.

The Maritime Strategic Capabilities Agreement (MSCA) also includes a shock test facility at Rosyth in Scotland.

Graham Love, QinetiQ's chief executive officer, said: "Through the MSCA, QinetiQ will continue to deliver critical facilities that help the Royal Navy save lives, time and money.

"We are now able to attract additional commercial business to these facilities, enabling us to drive down UK marine research costs while developing environmentally-friendly technologies in sectors such as tidal power generation."