Kongsberg Digital has been awarded a contract to deliver new simulators to the Royal Navy as part of Project Selborne, a 12-year program to modernize and deliver training for the Royal Navy.
Under Project Selborne, run by Capita, Kongsberg Digital will provide its simulation technology to ensure that Royal Navy personnel can maximize operational effectiveness in all types of situations, from single unit pilotage through to Replenishment at Sea and Task Group maneuvers, day and night and in all weather conditions.
The simulators will enable teams to train together with multiple vessels in the same scenarios, reducing associated risks, logistics and cost of seagoing training programs. In future, the new simulators will be able to integrate across different training establishments allowing Bridge Teams at Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC), HMS Collingwood and HMNB Faslane to operate together.
Existing trainers which have served the Royal Navy for the last 20 years will be replaced with cutting edge simulators to support the next generation of Warfare Branch personnel. Additional simulators will be installed at HMS Collingwood, enhancing capacity and training resilience.
Using customized bridge configurations and instruments, Bridge Teams will experience realism in a range of training scenarios. According to Kongsberg, advanced engineering and hydrodynamic vessel modeling in the simulators ensure vessels, objects and equipment behave realistically, equipping personnel to meet future challenges in various missions. Also, for the first time, VR headsets will be used to provide an immersive training experience for evolutions such as ship handling and Replenishment at Sea.
Metaverse VR, an SME providing immersive training solutions based in Portsmouth, UK, will provide modeling support to the project, including VR training systems.
“We are proud to deliver advanced simulator systems contributing to building competence for safer operations at sea, and it’s an honor to provide the Royal Navy with our solutions,” said Andreas Jagtøyen, Executive Vice President of Digital Ocean, Kongsberg Digital. “A number of naval academies worldwide are using our simulator systems today for education and training purposes. The Royal Navy contract recognizes our technology and will strengthen our position within the naval simulator training domain.”
David Hook, Managing Director of Capita Defence Training, said: “This new suite of simulators will not only create highly realistic training scenarios for Royal Navy trainees but will also deliver significant resilience to the Navy’s training program by allowing us to run, test and roll out regular updates without the need to wait for holiday downtime. This is a significant milestone in Project Selborne’s mission to get better trained people to the front line, faster, and I’m proud to be working with Kongsberg Digital to deliver world-leading training for our Royal Navy personnel.”
“The new Bridge Trainers will modernize the world class navigation training synonymous with the Royal Navy,” added Colonel Aaron Fisher, Commandant, Royal Navy Training Management Group. “The future upgrades will provide the ability to train across multiple RN establishments, via a secure network, and provide a tangible example of RN and ‘Team Fisher’ collaboration to deliver training modernization for our people.”
