Navy Crews "Train to Qualify"
Written by Edward Lundquist
MT2 2010 Volume: 15 Issue: 4 (July)
New breed of combatant requires new breed of simulator.
The littoral combat ship (LCS) is a new and different kind of combatant, so it requires a unique approach to training. Although LCS manning is augmented by mission specialists and an aviation detachment, the ship itself has a crew of 40. The crews rotate, so while one is deployed or operating the ship, the other is “off hull” and back in San Diego training.
There are two distinctly different ships, called “sea frames.” The USS Freedom (LCS-1) was built at Marinette, Wis., by a team led by Lockheed Martin. The USS Independence (LCS-2) was built at Mobile, Ala., by a team led by General Dynamics Bath Iron Works. LCS-1 is a monohull. LCS-2 is a trimaran. Both have waterjet propulsion and are the largest waterjetpowered combatants in the world.
Every person onboard has more than one job, and must be trained and certified before they get to the ship. There are no dedicated trainers or training teams on board. The mission detachments can operate from either sea frame, but the ship crews will be trained to operate just one type of sea frame.
To accomplish this, the Navy’s LCS program has established the LCS Shore Based Training Facility (SBTF) at San Diego. The facility has a variety of training systems for LCS crew, including bridge simulators for both sea frames, to train individuals as well as teams of individuals working together.
The training is based upon the professional qualification standards (PQS) established for surface warfare qualified officers and enlisted personnel. “PQS is the requirement,” said Joe Shifflett, director of training for the LCS SBTF.
The Navy is employing a concept called “Train to Qualify” (TTQ) to give LCS crew members “the knowledge, skills and abilities required to competently perform tasks at a basic level associated with a (specific) shipboard watch station or position.”
Individuals arrive with certain skills already based on their rate or previous assignments. The LCS training includes both classroom instruction, computer based training (CBT) and simulation, along with live, hands-on training import or at sea. The initial crewmembers did not have the luxury of training on an existing sea frame.
Following individual training, team skills—to include navigation and seamanship and combat systems in a simulated hostile environment—are taught and practiced. “Once an individual is trained, certified and qualified, the commanding officer can approve an individual to stand that watch,” Shifflett said.
The Navy plans to build 55 LCS. Today, all the crews are based at San Diego, but eventually there will be training facilities on both coasts. While there are two different LCS sea frames today, the Navy is going to “down select” to one this year. Even with one type being selected, the Navy will need both simulators for the foreseeable future.
USS FREEDOM TRAINER
The initial crew members receive a familiarization course with their respective ships at the building yards at Marinette or Mobile, along with specialized Navy schools and specific system training at vendor sites. “Our understanding was that the ship would not be considered as training platforms once they are operational,” says A.J. Wise, with Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems and Sensors in Washington, D.C., where he supports the LCS program. “Since crew costs are the largest contributing factor to life cycle costs, the ships rely heavily on automation and have very small crews. In general, the crews would be high quality, senior and experienced.” This turned out to be true. “They are quick learners,” Wise said.
Wise says the need for a shore based trainer (SBT) was identified in December 2005. The contract for the first trainer was issued in May 2006. Lockheed Martin built and installed the trainer at the Littoral Combat Ship Land-based training facility on the “dry side” of the San Diego Naval Station. By April 2007 crews had began training on the system.
While the Navy has bridge simulators, none incorporated the very small crews, unique control arrangements, propulsion configurations or very high speeds of LCS, and two very different LCS sea frames at that.
Lockheed Martin calls their trainer the Future Surface Combatant-Scalable Shore Based Trainer (FSC-SSBT), as it can be scalable to other ship types, although this version specifically meets the needs of LCS. The initial modeling and simulations were based upon the physics associated with the hull and propulsion system. As the crews began to operate LCS-1, the engineers were able to improve the touch and feel of the simulator to provide even greater fidelity, especially for evolutions such as underway refueling from different delivery ships, such as an oiler or an aircraft carrier. They found the ship with its waterjets maneuvered even better alongside than anticipated and minor adjustments were made to the software.
The trainer also incorporates a full-scale mission control center component, where sailors use the actual operational software from the ship’s COMBATSS-21 ship’s combat management system.
“The Surface Navy was very interested in the form, fit and function of these ships. We know that the officer of the deck likes to conn [control] the ship from the bridge wing, so we built that capability into the trainer. We built in as much realism and fidelity as possible, within funding constraints,” said Wise.
Lieutenant Commander Samuel Timmons, combat systems officer for the LCS-1 Blue Crew, schedules several LCS-1 bridge trainer sessions a week to work on his ship handling before actually getting to his ship. “She handles like a dream,” he said. “I like the way she walks laterally and accelerates rapidly. She handles well at high speed.”
USS INDEPENDENCE TRAINER
On LCS, the mission packages are separate from the sea frame, such that the mission packages can be changed depending on the mission. Navigation, self-defense and communications, etc., are referred to as core capabilities.
Dave Markham, director of core mission integration for General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, which designed and built the LCS-2 ship control systems and integrated the combat management system, and whose business unit is the prime contractor for the LCS shorebased trainer, said the bridge on LCS-2 is different from other combatants. LCS-2 features an integrated command center where traditional bridge and combat information center functions are co-located to accelerate data exchange and simplify communications. “They are separated only by a curtain, so you can have close communications between the combat systems people and the people driving the ship,” Markham said. “We used an open architecture approach. Multifunction consoles allow an operator to gain access to any of the sea frame control systems as well as any of the weapons sensors from any console. You can very quickly shift from one function to another.”
Before they built the trainer in San Diego, General Dynamics created a system integration laboratory in Pittsfield, Mass., to validate how all the components would fit together.
“The infrastructure is a COTS [commercial off-the-shelf] common computing network,” says Rick Beauchemin, the chief engineer for the General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems LCS trainer. “The room layout and the man-machine interfaces are identical to the ship itself. The trainer has the same, look, feel and functionality of the actual ship. You do the same things you would do on the ship, in the same way. When you go on the ship, you can have the same behavior.”
When the crews had a chance to actually operate the ship, they were able to validate the fidelity of the simulation. “The crew told us it was the most realistic trainer in the surface Navy,” said Markham. While the fidelity of the simulation was very good, Beauchemin said they are able to take trials and performance data and “and update the model should we need to.”
Window projectors create a visual image of what the ship is doing. “The intent is to give crew as realistic an experience as we could so it would be as close as possible to what they are going to get at sea,” said Beauchemin.
“We’re leveraging tactical equipment as much as we can,” said Markham, “so as upgrades are uploaded into ship’s tactical baseline,
our trainer can be as up to date as the actual ship. We’re not simulating the bridge,” added Markham, “it is the bridge.” ♦
Editor’s note: Edward Lundquist is a senior science writer with Washington Consulting Government Services in Arlington, Va. He may be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .