VR headsets to train Navy's sailors of the future
The kit's being installed at HMS Collingwood in Fareham
Cutting-edge navigation simulators which feature virtual reality will be used to train the sailors of tomorrow in Fareham.
Royal Navy staff at HMS Collingwood will soon be able to wear headsets and enter the naval ‘metaverse’, immersing them in key – and sometimes dangerous – manoeuvres.
The VR headsets will be just one facet of new state-of-the-art replica ship’s bridges, with software capable of recreating the entire fleet, harbours and waters around the globe, and challenging weather conditions by day and night.
It comes as part of the modernisation of the Navy's existing simulators, which have been in use for two decades and have trained thousands of navigators, officers of the watch and bridge teams.
They’ve received regular updates and undergone enhancements to keep pace with seafaring and technological changes in that period – such as the Fleet’s switch from paper to digital charts to navigate the Seven Seas.
Three full mission bridge simulators and two smaller ones will be installed at Collingwood.
Lieutenant Commander Mark Raeburn, who’s in charge of Navigation Training there, said the advent of the new facilities meant more sailors could be trained and earn more practical experience rather than spend time in the classroom:
“Nothing beats practical experience and our Fleet Navigators and Specialist Navigators will continue to be assessed at Sea on the Navigation Training Ship HMS Severn but the new simulators should markedly increase the preparedness of the students."
The new bridge trainers can recreate single warships or auxiliaries sailing from one port to another, to complex task group manoeuvres or a replenishment at sea – the challenging transfer of supplies between ships on the move (chiefly fuel, but also food, ammunition and general stores) – all minus the costs and potential dangers of the real thing.
Advanced engineering and hydrodynamic vessel modelling in the simulators ensure vessels, objects and equipment behave realistically, while Virtual Reality headsets will be used to provide an immersive training experience for evolutions such as ship handling and Replenishment at Sea.
The first students are due to use the simulators in September.