Bureaucracy $ = Battery $: QinetiQ Gets Contract to Fix This

Carry that weight…
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DID has discussed the growing importance of batteries to modern troops in the field, and the escalating power requirements of the new “Infantry-21” future equipment sets. The British government has QinetiQ working on that problem.

Now a QinetiQ executive observes that “On a number of occasions the MOD has stated that it spends the same amount [of money] administering its various battery contracts as it does buying in product.” Looks like QinetiQ will be doing something about that, too, via a a 2-year, GBP 4 million (currently about $7.9 million) contract from the UK MoD’s Combat Support Equipment Integrated Project Team (CSEIPT) to manage the supply of commercially available batteries. The contract includes an option for an additional 2 years, subject to satisfactory performance against key performance indicators. See QinetiQ’s release for more details.