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DSTO's Virtual Submarine deploys overseas

The Defence Science and Technology Organisation's (DSTO) 'Virtual Collins Submarine' has deployed to the United States to take part in a major U.S. Navy warfighting experiment in what is the virtual submarine's first overseas operation.

The virtual submarine is part of DSTO's Undersea BattleLab which immerses virtual entities - virtual submarines, surface ships or aircraft - into a realistic representation of the maritime environment.

A team of Australians from DSTO and the Royal Australian Navy participated in the Fleet Battle Experiment - Juliet (FBE-J) during August.

The team operated the Virtual Collins Submarine from Newport, in the U.S. state of Rhode Island, conducting anti-surface warfare and anti-submarine warfare operations with other real and virtual platforms spread from the United Kingdom to Southern California.

More than 4,000 U.S. Navy and civilian personnel plus coalition personnel from Australia, Canada and the UK participated in FBE-J, a joint warfighting experiment bringing together both live field forces and computer simulations at various locations in the U.S., Canada and the UK.

The virtual submarine was developed at DSTO's Edinburgh laboratories north of Adelaide.

"The Coalition Experiment was centred on improving command and control for joint and combined operations," DSTO's Dr Todd Mansell said from the Virtual Submarine's headquarters at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) laboratory facility in Newport, Rhode Island.

"The effort was focused on the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission area. Coalition partners functioned in support of maritime superiority and sea control, to enable access and manoeuvre for follow-on expeditionary forces."

Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom naval forces comprised the multi-national component working with USN forces, with the US functioning in the lead nation role. The live and virtual forces Order of Battle participating in this initiative included:

• USS BENFOLD (DDG-65), operating live in the Southern California Operating Areas with a SH-60B Seahawk providing an Air ASW helicopter operating from Naval Air Station North Island (NAS-NI).
• Virtual HMAS COLLINS (S-73), developed by the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO), operated from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) laboratory facility in Newport RI, and crewed by RAN and DSTO personnel.
• Virtual HMS ARGYLL (F-231), operating from the NC3SI laboratory facility in Portsdown West UK, with support from the Defence Science & Technology Laboratory [DSTL].
• Virtual HMCS HALIFAX (FFH-330), operating from the Defence Research Development Canada - Atlantic (DRDC-Atlantic) laboratory facility in Halifax Nova Scotia.

These real and virtual forces worked together to prosecute Red submarines and surface combatants as part of the tactical scenario. The advanced simulation systems are such that the Virtual COLLINS was able to conduct coordinated ASW operations with a live DDG (USS BENFOLD) against a live submarine.

The major objective was to integrate and establish a shared information environment for effective command and control in a multi-national, network-centric operational framework. There are wide ranging benefits to DSTO and the RAN including:

• Providing experience in running an exercise where real and virtual platforms interoperate in the same geographic area. This experience should impact on future RAN Headmark exercises.
• Supporting the development of a preliminary concept of employment for RAN submarines operating in a coalition network centric warfare environment. Providing DSTO and the RAN with greater insight into the future requirements of a Collins Class submarine to engage in coalition network centric warfare operations.
• Providing for experimentation on the type of information and the rate of information exchange required to generate and maintain a common tactical picture between coalition platforms.
• Exposing the USN and The Technical Cooperation Program partners to leading edge DSTO research. In addition, it provides DSTO with some insight into the operational utility of these applications.
• Gaining experience in the FBE process to enable effective participation in planned future coalition experimentation activities. (Planning is underway for the DSTO virtual Ship, crewed by RAN personnel to participate in FBE Kilo in April/May 2003).

FBE-Juliet was the tenth in a series of FBE's and was conducted under the overarching objectives of Millennium Challenge 2002 (MC-02), a congressionally-mandated joint event designed to simulate a realistic 2007 battlefield to assess the interoperability of new methods to plan, organise and fight.

FBEs are developed and run by the Navy Warfare Development Command using fleet resources to conduct the experiment and evaluate the initiatives in an operational environment.

FBE-J was hosted by the Commander, Third Fleet (C3F) staff. VADM Cutler Dawson, Commander, Second Fleet served as the Joint Forces Maritime Component Commander.

"FBE-J was the most sophisticated FBE to date and involved experimentation across all maritime warfare areas from over, on and under the sea and over land," said Dr Mansell, head of DSTO's Submarine Combat Systems Group.

Further information: Steve Butler, Manager Defence Science Communications, DSTO Edinburgh, ph. 08 8259 6923, email stephen.butler@dsto.defence.gov.au

The Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) is part of Australia's Department of Defence. DSTO's role is to ensure the expert, impartial and innovative application of science and technology to the defence of Australia and its national interests.

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