Virtual

The CAE fully reconfigurable trainer consoles installed in the Swedish Naval Warfare Training Department configured in C4 layouts. © David Oliver

Virtual Naval Training

By David Oliver

As in many other operational areas, the application of simulation and training technology is becoming more important. The latest generation of warships have crew of less than 100 personnel which puts a high premium on simulation training in order to ensure that fighting efficiency is maintained.

Sweden is one of many nations that is fully committed to take advantage of the latest capabilities of virtual naval training technologies. During the Cold War between 1945 and 1991 the Royal Swedish Navy operated a total of 129 ships. Its current strength of 36 ships means that the service has to do more with less and to this end one of the ways that it is doing this is by making a significant investment in virtual training. The Swedish Naval Warfare Centre (NWC) is a joint naval school of the Swedish Armed Forces that was established in Karlskrona Garrison in Southern Sweden in 2005. The historic naval base monitors the territorial waters of Sweden and provides the basic training for about 1,200 service personnel every year as well as specialist divers of the Swedish Armed Forces.

The NWC is responsible for the majority of all naval training in the Swedish Armed Forces. It trains officers and specialist officers, sailors, and soldiers of all ranks, assembles crews and leads the development of strategies and tactics for

naval operations and supports the development of naval equipment. The NWC also includes the Swedish Armed Forces’ diving and naval medical units.

With a staff of 272 made up of 195 officers and NCOs, 21 sailors and 56 civilians, the NWC is responsible for all basic and specific naval training, planning, conducting and evaluating all naval, joint and combined exercises and the testing and evaluation of new naval equipment in support of the Swedish Defence Material Administration (FMV).

The Naval Warfare Training Department’s courses include communications and electronic warfare (EW), above water warfare, underwater warfare, amphibious warfare, and maintenance and support. Courses range from nine-month basic training for conscripts that includes military training, seamanship, damage control, combat training and professional training, to a three-year officers course, most of which is synthetic training.

The Naval Warfare Training System (NWTS), originally developed by CAE for the Swedish Navy and put into service at the NWC in 2016, is used by the service for training in a range of disciplines, including sensor operations and command, control, communications, and computers (C4). A total of 52 student stations along with 13 instructor operator stations allow the Swedish Navy to train and rehearse for their operations. The system is reconfigurable and scalable to allow multiple users to operate together in a common scenario at any location. The system can be configured as a classroom with instructor and student workstations, or can be spread across multiple sites and networked for distributed training. The instructor can control multiple student stations simultaneously, providing each student a set scenario to run in isolation, or multiple platforms can be rendered to allow for multi-ship or task group operations.

In 2019 CAE was awarded a contract from the FMV to upgrade and expand the capabilities of the NWTS with upgrades that include enhancements supporting active sonar training, additional electronic warfare (EW) training capabilities, and improved training scenarios. In addition, CAE has added a range of computer-generated forces (CGF) entities to simulate both friendly and enemy forces to deliver a more realistic virtual training environment. “We are continually looking for ways to improve training and make the delivery of training at the NWC more efficient and effective,” said Captain Magnus Jonsson, Commander, Swedish Naval Warfare Centre. “The upgrades to the NWTS will help us enhance the training delivered to sailors and officers in naval tactics, procedures and doctrine.”

The student stations that are part of the NWTS include a range of core CAE simulation technologies, such as simulation systems for sonar, radar, and communications. The synthetic maritime environment has been built to the

Student workstations of the CAE Naval Warfare Training System (NWTS) showing different displays for sonar, comms and C4 plus a large instructor’s display. © CAE

The Transas, now Wärtsilä Voyage, full-mission navigational bridge simulation system installed in the Swedish Naval Warfare Centre. © David Oliver

Transas has provided upgraded FMBSs for BAE Systems Maritime Composite Training System (MCTS) at HMS Collingwood for Royal Navy training. © Royal Navy

Open Geospatial Consortium Common Database (OGC CDB) standard, which is an open and international standard for the creation of synthetic environment databases. These Phase A upgrades and other planned upgrades will continue to add functionality and capability to a training system that has become an integral part of Swedish Navy training. The Swedish Navy has a requirement for a total of 10 more Phase B upgrades that include brown water operations, upgraded corvette C2 simulator, an NH90 helicopter rear crew cabin trainer, fleet synthetic training and enhanced realism with live environmental data.

The NWC also houses a full-mission navigational bridge simulation system delivered by Transas, now Wärtsilä Voyage. The centre already has a fully functional replica of the Visby-class operations room that features the Saab 9LV Combat Management System (CMS) multifunction consoles that can be used for planning and rehearsing real operations using a Saab Sea Giraffe AMB radar mounted on the NWC’s roof. The facility can also be used for continuation training and to trial upgrades to the ship’s equipment and systems.

Used for training sonar operators and officers, the NWC’s Gotland simulator also replicates the submarine’s Saab 9LV Fire Control System (FCS). The two Gotland-class submarines have been undergoing a mid-life update (MLU) and the simulators have been upgraded to synchronise with the submarines’s upgrade. The NWC is also well ahead in its preparation for the new A26 next generation submarines that will replace the Södermanland-class boats. Two Blekinge-class submarines are being built at Saab Kockums shipyard at Karlskrona, the first of which is scheduled to enter Royal Swedish Navy service in 2024. Crews are already training at the recently established A26 command centre’s simulator that includes the Saab 9LV CMS and Atlas Elektroniks sonar consoles, and the Safran Electronics & Defense dual-axis stabilised Series 30 Search Mast System (SMS) which is a nonhull-penetrating optronic search mast.

According to Commander Per Nilsson, Head of the Naval Warfare Training Department, it still needs to improve the pedagogical use of simulators, live virtual constructive fleet synthetic training, enhanced realism with live environmental data, and more naval procurement projects to involve simulators.

In 2016, CAE had been awarded a contract by the General Headquarters (GHQ) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Armed Forces to design and develop a comprehensive Naval Training Centre (NTC) for the UAE Navy. Serving as the prime contractor and training systems integrator, CAE is developing the NTC to support the training of individual, team, whole ship, and joint/collective mission training for the UAE Armed Forces. The purpose-built NTC facility will feature a range of integrated ship simulation-based training suites as well as maritime aircraft sensor stations that

VSTEP NAUTIS FMBSs have been selected for CAE’s Naval Training Centre for the UAE Navy, the Bulgarian Naval academy and the Greek Navy training facility. © VSTEP

Rheinmetall FMBSs are installed in the ANNS training facility at the German Navy Officers Training Academy. © Rheinmetall

will be used to deliver training for individuals, command teams, and whole ship crews. In addition, the overall naval training system for the UAE Navy is being designed for networking and interoperability to enable distributed multiplatform and joint mission training.

The Rotterdam, Netherlands-based VSTEP was selected to provide the Full Mission Bridge Simulators (FMBS). The visual quality, the hydrodynamic fidelity and extendibility of VSTEP’s new NAUTIS 3 simulation platform were important criteria. Some of the FMBSs will be reconfigurable for the different vessels of the UAE Navy to allow for vessel-specific training capabilities. All the simulators can be used individually, or in combination for joint mission exercises.

The FMBS will leverage the Open Geospatial Consortium’s Common Database (OGC CDB) for high-fidelity synthetic environments, as well as data interfaces to industry-standard networking protocols such as the High-Level Architecture (HLA) for integration with other training devices, including CAE’s Naval Combat System Simulators and Engine Room Simulators. The NTC is due to be on stream later this year.

Bridge Watch

Several European defence companies have a long history of producing ship’s FMBSs with replica bridges, multi-channel visual systems and motion platforms.

The UK company Transas has delivered more than 5,500 maritime simulators in more than 90 countries to date. The main customers include government owned training centres as well as navies and coastguards. Transas was taken over in May 2018 by the Finland-based company Wärtsilä, that provides propulsion and powering solutions for naval and coast guard vessels.

Transas recently provided upgraded FMBSs for the BAE Systems Maritime Composite Training System (MCTS) at HMS Collingwood that is a versatile training platform designed, developed and operated by BAE Systems used by the Royal Navy (RN) to provide state of the art classroom and simulation training facilities delivering maritime training in controlled environments. Its highly complex and sophisticated systems replicate the control rooms on up to 30 virtual and real ships anywhere in the world, so operators can get a realistic experience and develop their skills in a wide variety of scenarios with no risk to themselves or their colleagues.

The upgraded FMBS at Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC) features photo-realistic recreations of key harbours such as Portsmouth and Plymouth, immersing trainee naval officers, budding navigators and experienced ship’s teams in an almost-real world as they hone their ship piloting skills safely on dry land.

There are four FMBSs to train RN navigators and bridge teams, two at HMS Collingwood and one each at Dartmouth and Faslane. The FMBSs consist of the reconstructed front section of a generic warship’s bridge. Behind the windscreens are a bank of giant digital displays covering 180-degree Field-of-View (FoV). The images are based on high-resolution photographs taken of key harbours by a graphics specialist from Transas which built the simulators. These images were taken by both day and night for complete realism.

The Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy (NVNA) in Varna, Bulgaria opened a new simulation centre in October 2016 and VSTEP was selected to deliver and install a Liquid Cargo Handling Simulator with instructor station, a NAUTIS DNV Class A

FMBS with 240-degree FoV and a NI Accredited NAUTIS DP Class A FMBS with 180-degree FoV including instructor stations at the NVNA simulation centre. Two NAUTIS DNV Class C Desktop Simulators and two NAUTIS Class C DP Simulators were also purchased for training of its Naval and Merchant Marine students.

VSTEP has also won a contract to provide three NAUTIS Console bridge simulators for the Greek Navy training facility in Piraeus, Athens. They will have three screens with a 120-degree FoV, and 15 types of vessels will be modelled.

In 2019 Wärtsilä was contracted to supply two mini-bridge simulators to the NVNA including the hardware and software for two NTPro bridge simulators. The contract also includes extending the functionality of an existing engine room simulator in order to upgrade it to meet the latest standards.

The German Navy Officers Training Academy at Mürwik accepted delivery of a new nautical training facility from Rheinmetall in December 2018. Known as the Ausbildungsausstattung Nautische Schiffsführung (AANS) it is used for training all German Navy cadets, all future watch officers, and preparing bridge personnel for nautical operations. The AANS includes two FMBSs and four small console simulators, six trainer stations, and an auditorium for postoperation briefings. Every surface ship now in the German Navy inventory, from minesweepers to supply ships, is modelled in the AANS. This applies not only to the physical depiction of various ships and boats, but to their exact performance

Kongsberg’s K-SIM FMBS realistically replicates the speed and handling of the Royal Norwegian Navy’s Skjoldclass missile corvette. © Kongsberg

characteristics. In addition, numerous German and NATO maritime training areas are replicated, as are current and potential areas of operation.

Kongsberg has a long relationship with the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy and the Royal Norwegian Navy establishment. One of the FMBSs delivered was a specially designed full size simulator replica of the tactical bridge system on board the Skjold-class Corvette. As one of the fastest warships in the world, with a capability of speeds above 60 knots, the stealth missile corvettes are subject to very strict requirements for safe navigation. Built on Kongsberg K-Sim technology, the FMBS features advanced software that realistically replicates the speed and handling of the Skjold.

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) awarded Kongsberg Digital a contract in May 2019 for the delivery of two new K-Sim FMBSs at the HMAS Watson Bridge Simulator Facility in Watsons Bay, Sydney. The simulators will be used for the training of RAN officers and sailors undertaking all levels of ship-handling, navigation, warfare, and bridge management courses.

The Royal Australian Navy is taking delivery of two new Kongsberg K-Sim Polaris FMBSs at the HMAS Watson Bridge Simulator Facility in Sydney. © Commonwealth of Australia