The weapon was trialled earlier this year at the Ministry of Defence’s Aberporth range in west Wales, which is operated by QinetiQ under the Long Term Partnering Agreement. QinetiQ said it supported integration work before the trials to confirm that the engineering had been successful.
The company also created a safety zone at the range and provided realistic targets for Typhoon pilots to train against. These targets included the Banshee Whirlwind, one of QinetiQ’s uncrewed aerial vehicle training targets.
The Banshee Whirlwind has a top speed of approximately 350 mph and is manufactured in Ashford, Kent. QinetiQ said the system is used by more than 30 countries to represent aerial threats during training and testing.
Steve Wadey, group chief executive officer of QinetiQ, said: “From engineering expertise to live trials, our teams are providing the fundamental support needed by our armed forces, to deliver the urgent capabilities that ensure the UK and its allies remain safe and warfighting ready.”
QinetiQ said its support for APKWS integration on Typhoon was enabled through the company-led Engineering Delivery Partnership contract. Under the arrangement, QinetiQ provides specialist engineering services to the Ministry of Defence supporting maintenance and capability upgrades for the Typhoon fleet.
