UK defence technology provider QinetiQ has provided live and virtual operational training to the Royal Navy’s Carrier Strike Group and Nato allies.
The training, which focused on counter drone capabilities, was offered during the week-long Exercise Med Strike.
The exercise took place off the East coast of Sicily and aimed to enhance the Carrier Strike Group’s air defence capabilities and foster carrier integration among Nato allies.
QinetiQ said it designed and executed threat simulation sequences, which involved deploying 16 uncrewed Banshee Whirlwind aerial targets from the support ship SD Northern River.
The Banshee Whirlwind uncrewed aerial vehicle is a low-cost, long-endurance training target for threat representation and military operational training. It is powered by a 40bhp rotary engine, features QinetiQ’s CASPA Avionics, more than 15 payload options, integrated GPS and digital telemetry systems.
Additionally, teams from QinetiQ company Inzpire introduced hundreds of synthetic threats into the Carrier Strike Group’s command and control picture to increase the complexity of the training scenarios.
Royal Navy Captain Hugh Harris said: “The role of the Royal Navy’s Joint Training and Exercise Planning Staff is to deliver complex and realistic maritime warfare training to UK and Allied forces.
“This collaboration with QinetiQ and Inzpire has proved our ability to deploy contemporary live threat simulations outside of UK waters for the first time. This is a big step forward in terms of quality, relevant and flexible training delivery. It prepares our people and proves our equipment far more comprehensively than was previously possible.”
This training initiative was a collaborative effort with the Joint Training Exercise and Planning Staff (JTEPS), a component of the Navy’s Fleet Operational Standards & Training (FOST) unit.
The exercise featured various Royal Navy vessels such as HMS Prince of Wales, HMS Dauntless, and HMS Richmond, along with the Italian aircraft carrier Cavour.
Surface and aerial platforms from Denmark, France, Norway, Spain, and the US also participated.
Exercise Med Strike coincided with QinetiQ’s support role in Exercise Formidable Shield off the coast of Scotland and succeeded the Sharpshooter exercise that took place in April.
QinetiQ UK defence sector managing director of air Simon Galt said: “As nations look to increase their readiness to defend against escalating drone threats, we are able to draw upon our expertise in threat representation, to prepare crews for complex missions.
“This important work builds on the support we provided to the Royal Navy at the Sharpshooter exercise in April, demonstrating our role as a trusted, long-term Test, Trials, Training and Evaluation partner for the UK and its allies.”
In 2023, the Royal Navy took delivery of jet-powered Banshee Jet 80+ remotely-piloted air systems from QinetiQ.
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