QinetiQ's Westar subsidiary to provide technical services and expertise to support US Army Apache helicopter fleet

The US Army Aviation & Missile Command (AMCOM) awarded Westar Aerospace & Defense Group Inc, the Systems Engineering Group of QinetiQ North America, a task order to provide technical services, and systems engineering and management expertise to the Apache Attack Helicopter Project Manager's Office (PMO). The not-to-exceed ceiling price for the one-year basic effort, plus four option years, is $13.3 million.

Westar, which has been fulfilling Army Aviation task orders for more than 18 years, will apply its systems engineering expertise to assist the Apache PMO's modernisation of on-board software throughout the Apache fleet, and help the Army Reserve and Army National Guard to complete their missions to field up-to-date Apache aircraft and support systems.

Westar will support the PMO to ensure that all software (ie weapons, navigation, radar, flight control displays, countermeasures and on-board mission planning systems) have the most relevant and safest software available for use throughout the Army Active, Reserve and National Guard components.

"Before any changes are made to the Apache, whether it's a modification to the entire fleet or to a single aircraft, our job is to support engineering recommendations that ensure the strictest of system specification requirements are met. That's our area of expertise,� said Kurt Heine, Vice President, EXPRESS Programs, Westar Aerospace & Defense Group.

"What's more, Westar's recent ISO 9001:2001 certification further assures the Apache PMO of our commitment to quality and continuous improvement,� Heine added.