UK MOD Hires QinetiQ to Upgrade SMERAS Software

QinetiQ, a long established partner for SMERAS research, test and evaluation for the UK Royal Navy, has been contracted by the UK MOD to upgrade and provide on-going maintenance for a specialist software tool designed to aid in the decision making process of submarine escape and rescue systems.

The Submarine Escape, Rescue, Abandonment and Survival (SMERAS) Assessment Model Software provides a method for analysing numerous scenarios based on expert agreed assumptions relating to distressed submarines and the rescue of survivors. It has been used by the UK MOD SMERAS team since 1998 supporting in-service submarines and to drive the design of new builds. QinetiQ GRC, who also developed Paramarine Software, was asked to review the software and assess its usability and future development, and has subsequently been contracted by the MOD to recode and maintain the software in a modern development language.

“The SMERAS Assessment Model Software is an important safety component in support of the Royal Navy’s submarine fleet. We selected QinetiQ not only because of their world leading SMERAS knowledge and understanding but also because they have a significant software development capability which has been built around their Paramarine advanced marine design software,” commented Commander R D Randall, MOD.

QinetiQ has extensive knowledge of SMERAS and maritime life support systems with a large team of subject matter experts. This pool of expertise is located at QinetiQ’s maritime centre of excellence in Portsmouth UK;

“We have established a skilled and substantial software development team who have, in addition to supporting the development of Paramarine Software, carried out numerous and often complex software development projects for a range of clients in both the commercial and public sectors. The award of this contract to upgrade the escape and rescue simulation software is a clear recognition of these capabilities,” said Gareth Draper, Deputy Managing Director, QinetiQ GRC.

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Press Release, December 5, 2013; Image: BAE Systems