Delivery Milestone in Rotary Wing Fleet Review

Marking the first major delivery milestone in QinetiQ’s Test Aircrew Training (TAT) Rotary Wing (RW) Fleet Review investment, the first of two new Agusta A109S Grand helicopters has been formally accepted by the company By DA Staff / 05 Jul 2021

Discover Leading Defense Technology Solutions

Discover cutting-edge solutions from leading global suppliers
SUPPLIER SPOTLIGHT
Follow DA

QinetiQ has confirmed that the first of two new Agusta A109S Grand helicopters has been formally accepted by the company, marking the first major delivery milestone in QinetiQ’s Test Aircrew Training (TAT) Rotary Wing (RW) Fleet Review investment.

This acceptance is the culmination of consistent collaboration in delivery from all the Project Team and the QinetiQ Civil Flying Organisation (QCFO) and partners at Castle Air. 

The first A109S – G-ETPN ‘November’ – joined the fleet at the U.K. Ministry of Defence (MoD) Boscombe Down on June 7. The final handover from Castle Air to QinetiQ was June 9 and flying is set to commence as soon as possible, pending operational readiness being approved by the QCFO.

The acceptance of this first A109S brings new levels of operational capacity and service capabilities for those training at QinetiQ’s Empire Test Pilots’ School (ETPS) or otherwise in delivery of test and evaluation projects.

The second A109S – G-ETPO ‘Oscar’ – is complete at Castle Air in Liskeard, Cornwall. It is now ready for acceptance by QinetiQ, pending final regulator airworthiness review, which was due June 11.

Donald Lundie, Senior Project Manager, commented, “Our new AW139 – G-ETPP ‘Papa’ – is now fully re-assembled at Biggin Hill after transit and is due to move into final registration and airworthiness review with the Civil Aviation Authority by June 17. All going well, we are currently planning to undertake acceptance across late June and early July.”

Representing the shift towards the continuing improvement and modernisation of Training, Test & Evaluation (TT&E), this latest investment highlights QinetiQ’s ongoing commitment under the Long Term Partnering Agreement (LTPA) to ensure capabilities match frontline training requirements through new technologies and mission representative assets. 

Posted by DA Staff Connect & Contact

Latest Articles

SmallSat & Space Access Summit 2025 to Convene Key Industry Experts

DSI has announced the 8th Annual SmallSat & Space Access Summit, taking place June 25–26, 2025, in National Harbor, MD, featuring discussions on small satellite technology and space access solutions

May 14, 2025
Textron Systems Advances Naval sUSV Capabilities with TSUNAMI Delivery

Textron Systems has delivered its first TSUNAMI autonomous surface vessel to NSWC Dahlgren, supporting research, testing, and development of future naval capabilities

May 14, 2025
Tactical Digital Communication Platform for Real-Time Battlefield Awareness

Savox has launched the Savox Bridge, a secure and reliable military communications system for challenging tactical environments

May 14, 2025
Enhancing Defense Operations with Efficient Collaborative Robots

Explore how Elite Robots, represented in the U.S. by KT Technical Solutions, is equipping defense operations with safe, flexible cobots that enhance efficiency, safety, and mission readiness.

May 14, 2025
Q&A: Sunhillo’s Advanced Surveillance Solutions Power U.S. Military Operations

In this Q&A, Sunhillo outlines how its surveillance technologies are enhancing U.S. military operations, with real-world deployment examples and innovations in cybersecurity and data integration

May 14, 2025
Next-Gen Group 2 UAS Enters Production with Extended Endurance & Upgrades

Aurora Flight Sciences upgrades the SKIRON-X Group 2 UAS with greater versatility and tactical mission endurance, as well as announcing the hydrogen-powered SKIRON-XLE variant

May 13, 2025

Featured Content

Discover ANELLO’s SiPhOG™ for GNSS-Denied Navigation at XPO25

CEO of ANELLO Photonics, Dr. Mario Paniccia, will present at Xponential 2025 on the company's SiPhOG-based inertial navigation technology in GPS-denied and GNSS-contested environments.

May 09, 2025
U.S. Army Partnership Advances Autonomous Helicopter Logistics Program

The U.S. Army is partnering with Honeywell and Near Earth Autonomy to retrofit Black Hawk helicopters with scalable autonomy kits for uncrewed logistics operations

May 08, 2025
Modular Head-Mounted Digital System for Real-Time Decision Support in Contested Environments

Galvion's new CORTEX™ system integrates compute, power, and data management into a modular helmet-mounted platform designed for modern tactical operations.

May 06, 2025
Advancing Defense Capability Through Strategic Collaboration Defense Advancement works with major OEMs to foster collaboration and increase engagement with SMEs, to accelerate innovation and drive defense capabilities forward.