On-board training simulates real missions at sea
Royal Australian Navy (RAN) personnel can now complete simulated training missions while at sea, significantly enhancing crew preparedness for battle, with Saab's delivery of the On-Board Training System (OBTS) on the Anzac Class Ships.
The ground-breaking On-Board Training System (OBTS) is a technological advancement delivered under the Warship Asset Management Agreement (WAMA) Alliance and developed through a collaboration between Saab Australia and DXC Technology.
The OBTS has shifted the Navy’s traditional land-based training approach to a solution that gives crews access to year-round mission training, whether at sea or in harbour. This provides the RAN with a capability that delivers a more efficient, consistent and effective training system that can simulate battle conditions for crew evaluation, mission rehearsal and development purposes. OBTS is a result of the long term teaming partnership between Saab and DXC, and represents a substantial advancement in training capability as well as delivering significant cost savings.
The technology utilised simulates the ship’s operations room and its communication with shore-based Maritime Synthetic assets, in addition to injecting real-world assets; this provides operators with the ability to identify real-world vehicles and include them in the simulation, as well as sharing the training exercise with other remote simulators. The system integrates the DXC Simulation solution with Saab’s Combat Management System (CMS), ensuring that skills developed while in simulated training environments can be replicated and trusted in real-life situations.
The first OBTS was installed on HMAS Ballarat in 2019 which allowed the ship to conduct Unit Readiness Workup using a synthetic training environment. Having received positive feedback from the RAN, the OBTS was approved for installation across all Anzac Class Ships with installation on the final Anzac ship, HMAS Stuart, having recently been completed.
The installation on Stuart marks the successful completion of the OBTS project, which has been delivered on schedule and within budget.
Note: WAMA is an alliance between the Commonwealth’s Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG), Saab Australia, BAE Systems Australia and Babcock Australasia, to provide total asset management, including sustainment activities and capability improvements for the Anzac Class Ships.