Integrating expensive platforms, systems and systems of systems, can be expensive and operationally challenging. Our track record in Ship Air Integration, delivering a safe, secure and effective end-to-end service across multiple domains is second to none. Our world-class expertise has enabled customers from a range of military and commercial organisations to generate new capability, deliver operational effectiveness and save money.

We provide platform and system design, assessment test, evaluation and analysis services across the CADMID cycle (concept, assessment, development, manufacture, in-service and decommissioning), delivering innovative solutions to challenging problems throughout a platform’s life.

Our expert teams engage with multidisciplinary stakeholders to ensure safe maritime aviation across the globe and our 70 years of experience of maritime flight trials includes helicopters, fixed wing and UAVs to a vast range of platforms from offshore patrol vessels to Britain’s biggest aircraft carrier.

• Leading Test & Analysis capability: we provide a data analysis led approach, with a range of options available to suit your schedules and budgets. We have automated tool sets designed to provide you with up-to-date information throughout the process, all supported by safe and efficient flight test procedures.
• SHOL by analysis: we have specialist, in-house developed tools to derive Ship Helicopter Operating Limits by analysis. These tools use data exploitation to minimise expensive flight test requirements, delivering operational results in much shorter timescales. The derivation of predicted SHOL prior to flight trials takes place to focus on testing and reduce costs.
• Flight test expertise: with fully equipped with modular flight test instrumentation solutions, QinetiQ’s Flight Test Organisation is both military and civil approved and is built on a strong heritage of flight test and evaluation. Whether providing data analysis and reporting of recommendations, or supporting the assessment of deck operations and systems integration – the flight test team can provide a complete, capability-focused Ship Air Integration service.
• Air flow air pattern trials: ensuring compliance of standards and calibration of ship’s anemometry system (Air Flow), as well as understanding the airflow around the flight deck (Air Pattern), is vital to inform our test and analysis approach. We have a team with extensive knowledge and experience in a combination of practical trials and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) which can be used to gather the required evidence.
• Software products: we have a host of software products available to support our approach:
  
  
  • Graphical Data Analysis System (GDAS) – Used by the UK’s Air Accident Investigation Branch, this bespoke, interactive software has been developed in-house with a dedicated software team and funded via the MOD-QinetiQ Long Term Partnering Agreement (LTPA). This flexible software is used to display flight test data, visualise it in a 3D simulation or real-time via telemetry and analyse it.
  • ORPHEUS – Orpheus is a live and predicted ship motion tool to aid decision making by the ship’s officers in support of aviation activities, sonar and sea boat deployments or crew comfort. This has been successfully assessed by the Royal Navy on a range of ships.
  • SHOL-Q – A cohesive family of bespoke software tools supporting the efficient, safe conduct of trials, in addition to the derivation of safe operating limits. This family includes: Deck Motion Model; Predicted SHOL; Flight Test Data Replay; Automated Data Reduction; SHOL Publisher.

Supporting Capabilities

The team boasts a range of services that supports the generation of a world class Ship Air Integration capability including:

• ETPS Courses – a range of courses in Helicopter Ship Air Integration Testing can be provided by ETPS – the first and still the best test pilot school. Download the ETPS catalogue to find more about Ship Air Integration Testing in the short course section.
• Advice & Consultancy Services including: proactive design support to Operating Equipment Manufacturers; through life support to procurement agency; customer advice and Independent Technical Evaluation (ITE); safety consultancy and assessments.
• World class Test & Evaluation facilities: through T3E we can provide a variety of world class testing facilities. Find out more here.