Industry awaits Project Vulcan tender

The UK MoD expects to issue an invitation to tender in May for industry to propose new simulators to train crews on next-generation British Army armoured vehicles.

Project Vulcan is currently in the assessment phase, the British Army announced on 22 April. Initial investment of £90 million ($125 million) could rise to up to £200 million as new armoured vehicles (such as the Boxer Mechanised Infantry Vehicle, the upgraded Challenger 3 MBT and  Future All-Terrain Vehicles) are added to the British Army fleet.

Training is expected to take place in time for the arrival of the first Boxers to British Army units in 2023. The initial contract will run for five years with options to extend it for two further five-year periods.

‘Known as the Vulcan Ground Manoeuvre Synthetic Trainer, the simulator system will provide comprehensive technical training for both individuals – driver, gunner, commander – and crews, while the Land Reality Trainer will provide tactical training,’ the British Army noted.

Project Vulcan will initially be a desktop system where troops must achieve a required level of competency before they can go into the simulator. The simulator will be a modular system into which all the different controls for each piece of equipment can be connected.

Project Vulcan will condense training for multiple types of armoured vehicle on a single platform, to replace low-level tactical training that is currently carried out on the Combined Arms Tactical Trainer (CATT) up to and including company or squadron level. The Lockheed Martin-supplied CATT has been in use with the British Army since 1996.

Brig Frazer Lawrence, Head of Capability (Training) in the British Army, said: ‘Importantly, Project Vulcan will be interoperable with both the Interim Combined Arms Virtual Simulation (Deployable)… with the simulation and simulators delivered as part of the Collective Training Transformation Programme from 2025 onwards.’

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