VSTEP to Provide CAE with Bridge Simulators for UAE

VSTEP today announced it has been awarded a contract from CAE to provide a suite of custom-built ship bridge simulators for the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Naval Training Center. 

UAE Naval Training Center

In mid-2016, CAE was awarded a contract by the General Headquarters (GHQ) of the UAE Armed Forces to design and develop a comprehensive Naval Training Center (NTC) for the UAE Navy. Serving as the prime contractor and training systems integrator, CAE is developing the UAE NTC to support the training of individual, team, whole ship, and joint/collective mission training for the UAE Armed Forces. The purpose-built NTC facility will feature a range of integrated ship simulation-based training suites as well as maritime aircraft sensor stations that will be used to deliver training for individuals, command teams, and whole ship crews. In addition, the overall naval training system for the UAE Navy is being designed for networking and interoperability to enable distributed multi-platform and joint mission training.

Adaptive Ship Bridge Simulators

VSTEP was selected to provide the Full Mission Bridge Simulators after an extensive evaluation process. The visual quality, the hydrodynamic fidelity and extendibility of VSTEP’s new NAUTIS 3 simulation platform were important criteria. Some of the bridge simulators will be reconfigurable for the different vessels of the UAE Navy to allow for vessel-specific training capabilities.   All simulators can be used individually, or in combination for joint mission exercises. The bridge simulators will leverage the Open Geospatial Consortium’s Common Database (OGC CDB) for high-fidelity synthetic environments, as well as data interfaces to industry-standard networking protocols such as the High-Level Architecture (HLA) for integration with other training devices, including CAE’s Naval Combat System Simulators and Engine Room Simulators. 

"This is a major strategic win for VSTEP and clearly demonstrates our capabilities to provide adaptive and fully integrated simulators in the Defense industry," said Pjotr van Schothorst, VSTEP’s co-founder and CEO.  “CAE’s choice of VSTEP as their provider of ship bridge simulators for the UAE Naval Training Centre proves that our new simulation platform NAUTIS 3, which we are about to introduce on the market, has the quality and flexibility needed for the training needs of the most demanding clients.”

The UAE Naval Training Centre will be located in Taweelah with connectivity to several other naval and air bases throughout the UAE.  The UAE NTC is expected to be complete and ready-for-training in 2019.

“The UAE Naval Training Center program is a clear example of CAE’s training systems integration capabilities,” said Ian Bell, CAE’s Vice President and General Manager, Middle East/Asia-Pacific.  “We are pleased to select VSTEP as the provider of bridge simulators that will play a key role in the overall naval training enterprise that will help the UAE Navy achieve a high level of fleet operational readiness.”

About VSTEP
VSTEP is an ISO 9001:2008 certified developer of simulators and virtual training software. VSTEP is renowned throughout the maritime industry for its suite of state-of-the-art DNV certified simulators (NAUTIS), which facilitate training in compliance with all design criteria, class and IMO requirements. RescueSim is an incident command simulator for safety and security professionals, which allows training in a realistic environment, without the dangers, costs and time associated with traditional training. Headquartered in the business heart of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, VSTEP continues to innovate with professional, accurate and groundbreaking new simulation technology and sets the standard for innovative, effective high-quality simulation. www.vstepsimulation.com