Serco awarded new Typhoon test capability contracts
Image courtesy Serco
The work will be undertaken by Serco’s Design, Integration and Test (DIT) team based at Waterlooville, Hampshire, who have been developing support solutions for Typhoon aircraft since 2005.
The Serco designed General Purpose Support Equipment (GPSE) is an Automatic Test System (ATS) built and qualified for use in aircraft support environments. It was originally conceived as a general-purpose automatic test solution for the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy to support more than 130 different assemblies fitted to six different aircraft. Since then, GPSE has replaced nine separate pieces of support equipment with a single box solution, reducing operating costs for the UK Ministry of Defence and other NATO air forces.
Commenting on the contract extension, Keith Hillas, Interim Managing Director of Serco’s UK defence business, said: “These new contracts underpin Serco’s growing reputation as a first-class supplier of armament support equipment for modern aircraft. They increase our provision of testing for the Eurofighter and Typhoon fleets across Europe and supports our journey to becoming the favoured supplier of armament support equipment for the Typhoon programme.”
The new contract is to provide new versions of the GPSE test sets to refresh the support capabilities for the UK fleet of Typhoon aircraft whilst the new contract with the Spanish Air Force adds Pylon and High Pressure Pure Air Generator (HiPPAG) test functionality to the existing GPSE capability at the Moron and Albacete airbases.
Serco provides GPSE equipment to support Armament Control Systems for the Royal Air Force, the German Air Force and the Spanish Air Force. Serco has worked closely with the Spanish Air Force since 2015, developing new applications and helping them to move to a full GPSE capability in support of their Typhoon aircraft fleet. The use of GPSE equipment offers better value for money and improvements in test efficiency and reliability.
Pylons and launchers are the structures under the aircraft wing and fuselage that suspend, carry and release mission stores. Pylons are located on each wing, and the fuselage, and on each wing tip are integrated launchers. Mission stores could be armaments, fuel tanks, RECCE Pods or Launchers.
The HiPPAG is a sub-assembly of the two launchers fitted to the Typhoon aircraft, it provides high pressure air to cool infra-red detectors of the missile guidance systems. The HiPPAGs can be tested, either stand-alone or as part of a complete Launcher, to ensure their serviceable status using the GPSE provided by Serco.
