Synthetic training concept demonstration given to U.K. navy by QinetiQ, Inzpire, and BAE Systems
NewsSeptember 08, 2023
PORTSMOUTH NAVAL BASE, Portsmouth, U.K. A team made up of personnel from QinetiQ, Inzpire, and BAE Systems delivered a demonstration under Phase 2 of the Platform Enabled Training Capability (PETC) to the U.K. royal navy, under which the team connected simultaneously into three platforms docked at the naval base via satellite communications and enabled the crews of the ships to conduct realistic training against a peer adversary.
The complex synthetic collective training demonstration delivered training scenarios to the HMS Kent, HMS Diamond, and HMS Queen Elizabeth.
James Anderson, Senior Campaign Manager for QinetiQ, said, “Building on the first PETC demonstration held in February 2022, which validated the use of the capability on a single platform, this [latest] trial aimed to prove the ability of the approach to deliver a high-end collective training exercise across multiple platforms. The combined strengths of QinetiQ’s management of the synthetic environment and communications, BAE Systems’ integration of the digital shadow of the combat management system into the ships, and Inzpire’s design of the scenario and delivery of the White Force and After Action Review, resulted in a strong outcome. I was proud to see how the organizations worked together, along with RN staff as a single team, to deliver the demonstration.”
Lieutenant Commander Stephen Gowling, SPARTAN Program Officer and PETC lead for the U.K. navy, said: “The PETC concept poses a significant increase to the synthetic training capability for the Royal Navy, transitioning our ability to train and prepare our warfighting teams for the current threats faced in today’s rapidly evolving maritime battlespace. Whilst the use of simulation to train our ship’s crews is far from new, the ability to train them collectively across multiple geographically dispersed units, from their own organic operations room, will be a step change. Through the development of PETC, we aim to provide our Maritime Task Groups (MTGs) an ability to train against realistic and representative threats in an immersive environment, whenever and wherever. The utility of PETC as a training enabler will be relevant across all tiers of training, in time, supporting the ability of the [navy] to effectively train as they fight.”
