Saab has signed an initial three-year contract with the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), for the provision of support to live simulation systems with ILT-D (Instrumented Live Training), valued at £60m ($76.2m) and options to extend until 2030.
The contract replaces the previous DFWES (Direct Fire Weapon Effect Simulator) agreement, with ILT-D supporting high fidelity systems that use a blend of laser and geometric pairing technology to simulate direct and indirect fire effects. This data rich capability provides feedback which is used to inform the After-Action Review (AAR) process and validate training.
According to a 9 April 2024 release from Saab the contract includes “significant” investment in extending the life of the capability to ensure that “it remains relevant” to the British Army’s training requirements.
Support will be continued across permanent collective training locations in the UK and Germany, as well as at the Infantry Training Centre in Catterick, Infantry Battle School in Brecon, and the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines.
“Ahead of the Collective Training Transformation Programme, ILT-D will ensure that the British Army has access to a training capability that is able to keep pace with the training needs bought about by an increasingly complex strategic context and rapidly evolving character of warfare,” said Simon Pearce, Training and Simulation Systems Portfolio Leader for Defence Equipment & Support, the contracting authority.
The British Army has recently deployed its Saab live simulation systems around the world including overseas exercises delivered in Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Jordan, Kenya, Oman, and Sweden.
Land sector dominates simulated training
The warfighting domains are seeing increased use of instrumented, digitised, or digitally-augmented training capabilities as a way to provide additional data feedback and after-action analysis to trainers.
A further departure is seeing entirely simulated training becoming ever-more popular, providing cost savings and additional benefits compared to traditional, live scenarios.
According to GlobalData analysis, the global military simulation and training market, valued at $28.9bn in 2022, is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 2.6% through to 2032, reaching $37.2bn in the forecast period for a cumulatively value of $352.7bn.
The military simulation and training market consists of four categories: Air Simulation and Training, Joint Simulation and Training, Land Simulation and Training, Maritime Simulation and Training. The market is anticipated to be dominated by the Land Simulation and Training segment, which accounts for 80.2% of the market, followed by Air Simulation and Training segment with 12.8% share.
Among geographic segments, North America is projected to dominate the sector with a share of 84.7%, followed by Europe and Asia-Pacific, with shares of 7.6% and 4.7%, respectively.