New contract supports marine research

The Ocean Basin at Haslar in the south of England

The Maritime Strategic Capabilities Agreement (MSCA) is set to keep the MOD's marine interests watertight for the next 15 years.

A new contract worth £200 million has been awarded to UK research establishment QinetiQ, securing access to scientific expertise and maritime research facilities.

These include the Ocean Basin at Haslar in the south of England which is the largest freshwater tank in Europe with the capacity of 16 Olympic swimming pools. This is used to assess the manoeuvrability of scale ships and submarine models in different sea conditions. Next door a 270 metre-long ship tank is used to test the stability and propulsion of ships and submarines or the effectiveness of power-generating tidal turbines.

Additional QinetiQ facilities secured under the MSCA include a shock test facility at Rosyth, Scotland, which can assess the amount of pressure ships and submarines can withstand by pounding their structures with forces equivalent to a Force-10 storm, and a hyperbaric medicine unit at Gosport used to treat decompression illness (the bends) and other medical conditions.

The UK government has negotiated a facility-sharing agreement with the French government as part of the MSCA that allows the UK to use the cavitation tunnel at Val de Reuil, in return for French use of the ocean basin at Gosport. Both nations signed a Statement of Intent in March 2008, working towards a long-term legal agreement by mid 2009.

Making the announcement, the then Minister for Defence Equipment & Support, Baroness Taylor said: "As part of the Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS), the MOD is committed to investing in high level technical expertise in the UK to sustain a dynamic engineering industry. Hydromechanics, Submarine Structures and Life Support are three key areas for such investment. Today's contract with QinetiQ will provide access to advanced modelling of submarine hull forms for the MOD's future submarine programme, and hydrodynamic facilities for the detailed testing of the innovative hull to be used by the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers."