For lovers of James Bond’s Q — that indomitable inventor of super-spy gizmos — a visit to QinetiQ is like a journey to Hogwarts for Harry Potter fans. Except, where Hogwarts is fictional, the Ministry of Defence’s prime research establishment is very, very real.
At a recent presentation to investors delivered in London’s Science Museum, the company’s top brass were displaying a range of robot soldiers capable of shooting people, a prototype laser beam designed to shoot down enemy missiles, and plans for something I never thought I would see: an environmentally friendly electric tank.
At the top of this high-tech organisation sits Steve Wadey, a lean 52-year-old with a Devon burr and that love of jargon hard-wired into someone who has worked in the