QinetiQ North America Develops Operational Vision For Novel Sea Based Disaster Relief Concept

ARLINGTON, Va., March 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- QinetiQ North America has developed a System Development Concept of Operations for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)'s Tactically Expandable Maritime Platform (TEMP) program, the company announced today. This Concept of Operations was created for the TEMP Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HA/DR) mission, and defines a concept for TEMP operations that aligns with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)'s Plan, Prepare, Respond, Recover methodology for HA/DR missions while simultaneously proposing novel solutions for how the DoD can do more with less.

"We are excited for the opportunities that our Concept of Operations for the TEMP program offers to the DoD," said Chris Alberg, vice president of QinetiQ North America's Science, Technology, Modeling and Simulation Programs Division. "Disaster relief missions can be disruptive for the DoD with significant impacts on training, readiness and maintenance cycles. The TEMP concept offers a solution that can save the government significant time, money, and wear and tear on their assets while ensuring that the U.S. retains a strong emergency response capability."

Together with its partners Sotera Defense Solutions, Inc. and Maersk Line, Limited, QinetiQ North America has been focused on defining the most effective role for the TEMP concept within the HA/DR mission set by applying systems engineering processes to identify stakeholder needs and develop the necessary system requirements. Throughout this process, the company has been engaged with operational stakeholders to identify HA/DR requirements and objectives and generate preliminary system requirements for the TEMP HA/DR concept.

QinetiQ North America will use modeling and simulation to validate the engineering and analytical conclusions from its Concept of Operations and test the viability and effectiveness of using the TEMP concept for HA/DR support. These efforts are expected to culminate in the development and execution of a notional TEMP-specific HA/DR scenario set in the Caribbean (SOUTHCOM) theater. This demonstration is designed to illustrate how commercially available capabilities may be employed by the United Stated Government or DoD in an HA/DR mission to supplement what have traditionally been uniquely military capabilities.

DARPA'S TEMP program is focused on providing alternative solutions for the HA/DR mission, in order to enable COCOM resources to focus on primary warfighting and training operations. The TEMP program addresses this challenge through a novel seabasing concept that employs commercial container ships, civilian air and sea lift capabilities, and ISO standard containerized relief capabilities to supplement current HA/DR objectives to provide rapid relief aid to points of need with less impact on defense personnel and assets.

About QinetiQ North America

QinetiQ North America delivers world-class technology, responsive services, and innovative solutions for global markets, focusing on US government and commercial customers. More than 5,300 QinetiQ North America engineers, scientists and other professionals deliver high quality products and services that leverage detailed mission knowledge and proven, reliable tools and methodologies to meet the rapidly changing demands of national defense, homeland security and information assurance customers. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, QinetiQ North America had annual revenues of more than $1.5 billion in the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2011. QinetiQ North America is part of QinetiQ Group PLC (LSE:QQ). For more information, please visit QinetiQ-NA.com and join our conversation at www.facebook.com/qinetiqna.

Contact:
Michael Rudd, Boscobel (for QinetiQ North America, Inc.)
301-588-2900
[email protected]

SOURCE QinetiQ North America