Not every problem can be solved by brainpower alone
Sometimes you need to test your theories in practice. Thanks to our unique heritage, we possess or manage some of the world’s most advanced facilities that allow us to do exactly that.
Our low speed wind tunnel, for example, is one of just three in the world and is used regularly by Boeing as part of a 10-year agreement.
Our Ocean Basin at Gosport, Hampshire, is the largest in Europe and has recently been used to test scale models of the new British aircraft carriers Queen Elizabeth II and Prince of Wales for stability and handling.
We also manage, on behalf of the UK MOD, a wide range of testing facilities and ranges, some examples include:
- Our 1,500m test track at Pendine in Wales (the longest in Europe) was recently used to test small missile-like probes that will allow scientific measurements to be taken from the far side of the Moon for the first time
- At our UK air ranges, including Hebrides (the UK’s largest) and Aberporth in Wales, we have the ability to test, evaluate and assure every type of weapon system and air platform, including helicopters, UAVs, fast jets and heavy aircraft
- Our Ship Integration Facility – a land-based site that exactly replicates the operation rooms of Royal Navy ships for training and equipment testing – is 20-30 times less expensive than using a real ship
- We can shock test ship and submarine structures at our Rosyth facility in Scotland with forces equivalent to a Force 10 storm
- The Diving and Hyperbaric Test Centre (DHTC) at Haslar operates a unique collection of specialist facilities and capabilities for the research, testing and evaluation of diving, submarine escape and other pressurised equipments. DHTC key facilities include; the Experimental Diving Tank (EDT) with acoustic measurement capability; the Life Support Systems Laboratory (LSSL) with 1000 m depth capability, dual breathing simulators and respiratory gas monitoring; the Submarine Escape Simulator (SES) with 1500 m depth capability and a control system for replicating pressurised escape profiles