A new suite of navigation simulators for the Royal Navy will be rolled out this year as part of Project Selborne’s modernisation of Royal Navy training.

The Kongsberg Digital simulation technology will ensure that Royal Navy personnel can maximise operational effectiveness in all types of situations, from single unit pilotage through to Replenishment at Sea and Task Group manoeuvres, 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 programmes. In future, the new simulators will be able to integrate across different training establishments allowing Bridge Teams at Britannia Royal Naval College , HMS Collingwood and HMNB Faslane to operate together.

Existing trainers which have served the Royal Navy well 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.

Kongsberg Digital has been awarded the contract to deliver the new simulators by Capita, who are running Project Selborne, a 12-year programme to modernise and deliver training for the Royal Navy.

Using customised bridge configurations and instruments, Bridge Teams will experience ultimate realism in a range of training scenarios. Advanced engineering and hydrodynamic vessel modelling 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 a ship handling and Replenishment at Sea.

Metaverse VR, an SME providing immersive training solutions based in Portsmouth, will provide modelling support to the project, including Virtual Reality training systems.

“We are proud to deliver advanced simulator systems contributing to building competence for safer operations at sea, and it’s an honour to provide the Royal Navy with our solutions,” says 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 recognises 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 programme 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.”

Colonel Aaron Fisher, Commandant, Royal Navy Training Management Group said: “The new Bridge Trainers will modernise the world class navigation training synonymous with the Royal Navy. 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 modernisation for our people.”

The contract was signed in Q4 2022.