ROYAL Brunei Technical Services (RBTS) is set to take a new direction in its acquisition programme with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with British defence technology firm QinetiQ to establish a national experimentation and simulation facility yesterday.

Brunei's proposed national simulation and experimentation facility is a piece of technology that was developed in the UK — a synthetic environment which can be placed in and have all its military's equipment and capability "superimposed", said Alastair Bisset, director of International Programmes, QinetiQ.

"You can look at a particular scenario and then understand how the equipment, the people, the logistics and the support actually respond to that situation. It could be some incursion on the border area that you want to address, and it may well be some activity going on at sea, and so on," Bisset told The Brunei Times.

The integrated technologies involved are basically a "fused picture", where data is merged from many different areas and integrated into a common picture.

"And that's not an easy thing to do," said Bisset, "as it needs to be done on an open architecture."

"But the types of technologies in terms of the capability that we're looking at include communication systems and command and control networks. We're also looking at ships, aircrafts, unmanned aerial vehicles, land forces — all of those types of areas," he said.

Support from QinetiQ will include technology transfer, skills and knowledge from QinetiQ to RBTS and the provision of training local staff.

Yesterday's signing represents the numerous projects QinetiQ have been involved in with the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) and RBTSover the last four to five years, Bisset said.

"In fact, many of our consultants have a history of working in Brunei as part of the UK armed forces," he said.

QinetiQ will be making an appearance in the upcoming Brunei International Defence Exhibition (Bridex) 2009, courtesy of an invitation by Deputy Minister of Defence Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd) Dato Seri Paduka Hj Mohammad Yasmin Hj Umar, said Bisset.

"We're pleased to support Brunei because it understands the benefits that QinetiQ can bring, and also because Brunei is moving into a knowledge-based society. As a leading technology company, with over 15,000 people worldwide, QinetiQ is well-placed to support Brunei."

"I think it is an important exhibition not only for Brunei, but also for the wider region. It shows the commitment that Brunei has in improving its armed forces. And also, its interested in acquiring equipment and capability from many suppliers from around the world. So its good that RBTS and Mindef are putting on the exhibition to provide the focus and the discussions," he said.

Bridex 2009, which aims to showcase the latest, innovative and value-enhancing technology solutions to address various security challenges, will take place from August 11-14 at an undisclosed venue in Jerudong.

RBTS has said it will be focused "exclusively" on the most senior government and defence policymakers and will attract the world's leading manufacturers and suppliers of defence and security systems.

It will address critical issues facing defence forces and security agencies in Asia, and around the world, with specific focus on: command, control, communications, computers, intelligence and surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (C4ISTAR); homeland security; supporting deployed forces on peace keeping or humanitarian operations; and border surveillance and protection.

Source: The Brunei Times