SEA, in partnership with DSAT Consultancy Ltd and Peak Pacific UK Ltd, has delivered an innovative training system, enabling the Royal Navy to carry out its own common submarine External Communications System (cECS) training for the first time.
SEA has delivered interim cECS training for the Royal Navy for over ten years and has used its extensive cECS knowledge to develop a blended training solution for delivery at the Submarine School at HMS Raleigh.
The training system significantly reduces reliance on expensive hardware. It combines high-quality training media with interactive system emulation using real system software in a virtual environment, along with a hardware-based training rig to provide the Royal Navy with a self-sufficient and robust cECS training capability.
The cECS training is delivered over two five-day courses for both system operators and maintainers. The operator course covers system infrastructure and the external interface, while the maintainer course focuses on predictive and corrective maintenance and functional checks and system admin.
SEA’s virtual environment offers realistic system behaviour while enabling trainers to simulate faults and better track student performance than when using physical equipment.
Following the award of the £1m contract in January 2020, SEA partnered with DSAT Consultancy to support the course design, generate training documentation, and deliver the pilot and ‘Train the Trainer’ courses. Peak Pacific UK generated the electronic classroom training media and set up the learning management system.
Richard Flitton, Managing Director at SEA, said: “In collaboration with our partners we have delivered a flexible and reconfigurable training system. cECS is less reliant on expensive hardware, which reduces demands on space for the Royal Navy and directly responds to its evolving training requirements. Our detailed knowledge of cECS enables us to provide state-of-the-art training media delivered more cost-effectively and practically. We prioritise the development of the virtual and simulated training environments to expose trainees to vital operational scenarios that are challenging or costly to replicate in other ways.”
