SAIC Allies With U.S. Navy for Fleet Synthetic Training Exercises

SAIC is helping the U.S. Navy and its allies completely change the way they prepare for operations and saving them millions of dollars in the process. Through synthetic training — a predeployment, virtual training program — the Navy now trains its sailors in a low-cost, repeatable environment to their individual requirements.

SAIC's involvement in synthetic training with the Navy began in 1992 with a program called surface-launched attack missile exercise (SLAMEX) and a team of eight SAIC employees. It progressed to the point that in 2007, SAIC responded to a request for proposal and was awarded a five-year prime contract to support U.S. Fleet Forces Command, providing a full range of training support that includes staff support and classroom training as well as fleet synthetic training (FST) exercises.

Synthetic training has been called a visionary readiness tool in a recent issue of Proceedings, a U.S. Naval Institute publication which goes on to mention that there has been an increase in scheduled events, integration of additional simulators and systems, and more joint, coalition and interagency partners. (Daly, Peter H. “A Visionary Readiness Tool,” Proceedings, Dec. 2009)

According to the Proceedings article, the Navy conducted 59 FST events in fiscal year 2004, 72 in 2007 and 98 in 2009.

"The Navy really sees the value in it when compared with 'live' exercises," said Joe Quinn, an SAIC division manager. "It costs a couple million dollars a day to send a strike group to sea. With synthetic training, it costs significantly less — a couple million dollars a month. There are also significant fuel and maintenance savings to take into account as well as a reduced impact on the environment."

How SAIC Helps Train Sailors

Every military unit, whether it's a hospital ship or a strike group, has a list of mission-essential tasks that it needs to be able to perform during a mission, Quinn said. First, SAIC takes the lists and develops courses to train sailors.

"We teach the courses and then create scenarios tailored to the list of mission-essential tasks," Quinn said. "We have to make sure the crews on each ship are capable of doing what their mission demands."

SAIC then assists the Navy in a series of planning conferences for the scenario. The scenario script is written and then executed. During the exercise, data is collected and then analyzed to see how the exercise participants performed. Based on their observations, the Navy fleet commanders certify the units for deployment overseas.

Allows for Larger Scale, More Flexibility, Realism

Synthetic training allows for scenarios to be written that cover the full range of requirements, from individual ships to multiple strike groups. Multiple U.S. agencies and services can also be injected into training scenarios for an added level of realism. For example, the Navy trains from four to six times a year with German and United Kingdom forces.

Exercises like these can last for as long as 56 hours, which Quinn notes could be incredibly difficult and expensive to do with live aircraft and ships.

“In synthetic training, aircraft don't have to fly, ships don't have to steam, and you can replicate the scenarios the sailors will experience at sea while they remain in port.”

"In synthetic training, aircraft don't have to fly, ships don't have to steam, and you can replicate the scenarios the sailors will experience at sea while they remain in port."

And while the exercise is a simulation, sailors aren't training in unfamiliar surroundings.

"They're on their own ships or aircraft simulators during the training, employing their systems as they would in operations at sea, which just adds to the realism and effectiveness of the scenario," Quinn said.