QinetiQ has received a contract to supervise the UK Ministry of Defence’s Thundercloud military data management system.
The 15-million-pound ($19.3 million) deal stipulates similar sustainment, handling, and upgrade services awarded to the company in previous agreements.
Work for the contract will be facilitated over two years in collaboration with other small/medium enterprise partners as well as Hampshire-based technical support firm Thorn LTD for lead engineering tasks.
Thundercloud System
The British government’s Thundercloud platform is a situational awareness asset that delivers information across the joint force.
QinetiQ wrote that data relayed through the management system consists of “secure, accurate, detailed geospatial information” to provide an advantage and address battlespace challenges for aerial, ground, and naval warfighters.
Alongside land terrain, the UK government portal noted that Thundercloud can also collect and distribute intelligence from sea and air.
“QinetiQ is proud to apply its expertise in cyber, data and electromagnetics to ensure this critical capability continues to provide its vital service to our military forces around the world,” QinetiQ UK Intelligence CEO James Willis stated.
Continuing Partnership
Thundercloud was assembled in the 1980s by the MoD’s now-defunct research and development segment, the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency.
The technology was then transitioned under QinetiQ’s management in 2001 following the dissolution during which it undertook a series of updates and maintenance.
Prior to the latest award, the company retained the Thundercloud support contract in 2014 and 2019.
“We are very pleased to award this ongoing contract to the QinetiQ team who have ably supported us for 24 years already, working collaboratively with us on what’s needed to deliver this key capability now and for the future,” UK MoD Joint Operational Meteorology and Oceanography Centre Commander Nick Davies commented.
“QinetiQ has worked as a partner to us to get the best from the system in the past, frequently going above and beyond to give us a reliable, best of breed solution and I’m looking forward to continuing that over the next two years.”
Recent Contracts With UK MoD
QinetiQ won a contract in March to deliver digital and information technology services for the UK MoD.
The approximately $1.5-billion effort will cover four-year support for the agency’s cyber, crypto, system design and applications, operations, and integrated digital systems.
In January 2023, the company and a team of defense contractors accepted a $98-million project to supply mission data, electronic warfare skills training, and information technology support for British military systems.
