by Carl Haines, Jimmy Lee, Bill Beatty, and Carlos Tavares
SMMTT Submarine Multi-Mission Team Trainer
Historically, all combat and sonar trainers have not had the fidelity to conduct effective training at anything more than the basic level. This problem, combined with a need for trainers that reflected the integration of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technology into our combat and sonar systems, required a new solution. The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Training Program created a unique team arrangement that led to the development and fielding of the world’s most modern sonar and combat control training system: the Submarine Multi-Mission Team Trainer (SMMTT). SMMTT is the Submarine Force’s premier ashore combat system team trainer; it provides team training for the entire submarine attack party. This trainer, used primarily in pre-deployment training (PDT), hones submariner’s skills in strike warfare; anti-submarine warfare; anti-surface warfare; Navy special warfare; mine warfare; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; navigation; and command, control, communications,
computers and intelligence. To ensure mission success, SMMTT allows for the officer of the deck and his sonar, combat control, weapons launch, electronic warfare support, imaging, and ship control teams to execute complex scenarios in a high-fidelity, realistic simulation that replicates forward-deployed operations. The Submarine Force has used combat control trainers for decades. However, they lacked the fidelity and complexity required for realistic training due to computer modeling and simulation limitations. The latest version of this trainer, SMMTT, includes tactical databases and the Oceanographer of the Navy’s highest fidelity oceanographic models running in real time. SMMTT simulates an unlimited combination of operating environments, anywhere in the world, at any time of year, allowing the submarine crew to practice submerged or surfaced operations. In the 1970s submarine training facilities received the first digital submarine sonar and combat system trainers. These trainers were
photo by William Kenny
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stand-alone devices used for individual operator and small team training. Fully integrated team training did not begin until 1981, when an interface allowed two simulators to operate within the same scenario. As the Ohio-class SSBNs commissioned with digital sonar and combat systems, team trainers were developed and fielded to support crew certification and proficiency. NAVSEA developed SMMTT Phase I and II in response to the Acoustic Rapid Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) Insertion (ARCI) program. These trainers replicated the various ARCI system configurations and established a hardware standard as the ARCI program grew. Due to the lower cost of COTS tactical computers, SMMTT was able to use superior training software, which in turn decreased the amount of time needed to deliver an operational trainer to the Fleet. More recently, in response to technological developments in software and sensors, NAVSEA and a cross-functional team of industry and Navy experts developed SMMTT Phase III. This team substantially improved SMMTT’s quality and overall capability, while decreasing the cost of the trainer by a factor of two. They achieved these savings and maintained the unmodified tactical software by utilizing less expensive, commercially available hardware. SMMTT Phase III now provides greater fidelity, which in turn fully supports the Fleet’s requirement for immersive training. This product was so successful that NAVSEA and the diverse team that coordinated on SMMTT Phase III won both the 2008 Warfare Center Collaboration Award and 2008 Secretary of the Navy Acquisition Innovation Excellence award. Three different Navy laboratories collaborated to create a unique team. Each group contributed its core competency of excellence in new software development and repurposed existing software components to form SMMTT. Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division (NSWCCD) provided high-fidelity synthetic signature generation for sonar, visual, and infrared signatures. These raw signatures stimulate actual tactical systems. Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport (NUWC Newport) provided simulation/stimulation of the BYG-1 combat control system, including extensive tactical Tomahawk support and an external The Submarine Multi-Mission Team Trainer (SMMTT) at the Naval Submarine School in Groton, Conn.
