Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) and Naval Group have signed a ‘Letter of Intent’ to expand their collaboration in the field of design and production of all shore based simulators for Scorpene Submarine project and also for other future advanced simulator requirements of the Indian Navy.
A successful industrial cooperation in India
In line with ‘Make In India’, these simulators are planned to have significant indigenous content. The two companies had also signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) (latest one in Oct 17 for simulators for submarine’s Combat Management System (CMS)). The two entities had also collaborated earlier on future projects including advanced simulators for Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS) and Submarine Escape Training Tower (SETT). With this renewed collaboration with Naval Group, GSL will be able to offer complete suite of simulators, including 3D simulators for the different future platforms of (including submarine program) for Indian Navy.
During the occasion, Rear Admiral Shekhar Mital, Chairman and Managing Director of GSL said, “Moving ahead with the Vision of ‘Make In India’ and bringing state of art technologies to India, we have expanded the scope of futuristic diversification on the strength of our old partner M/s Naval Group, France and will now be making series of simulators for Scorpene Submarines of Indian Navy. This is in addition to the array of Land Based Simulators such as Damage Control Simulator, Fire Fighting Simulator and Nuclear Biological & Chemical Simulator that GSL has designed and supplied to the Indian Navy in the past.”.
Sharing the joy of this partnership, François Dupont, the Director of the International Trade Department of Naval Group added, “Naval Group’s commitment to ‘Make in India’ is reinstated through this value added partnership while offering latest generation advanced simulators which will benefit the future trainings of Indian Navy’s ambitious and autonomous crews.“
Advanced and High Tech Simulators for world navies
Naval Group considers training as key aspect of shipbuilding and operations of naval assets. In line with this, Naval Group develops its own simulators. The objective is to meet in a practical and pragmatic way the needs of crews in operations. The use of simulators enables navies to prepare their crews for the most extreme situations. Naval Group supplies a tactical simulator, an exact reproduction of the control room of the Scorpène® submarine, and a diving safety simulator driven by a moving platform. Naval Group also proposes solutions for crew training on ship operation (FREMM frigates, force projection and command ships, Gowind® corvettes, etc.) without immobilising the ships. In parallel, for operations, the tactical simulator is capable of reproducing the interaction of more than 100 operator stations for some twenty different ships.
Commitment to the “Make in India” for Indian Navy
Besides being a leading shipyard of India, GSL has exhibited passion for diversification. The yard has successfully expanded the business operations in field of simulators among others. Presently they design, manufacture and install simulators for several Indian projects as well as international projects.
When the Indian Navy was looking for simulators for the P75 Scorpene submarines, which are being realized at Mazagon Dock and Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), Naval Group and GSL found the right synergy to work together. They offer to the Indian Navy advanced simulators which include in their production process maximized indigenous content. The relationship has been formalized through several memorandums of understanding and is presently being extended for futuristic 3D simulators.
3D Simulator: Ship Inside
Naval Group’s 3D simulator named Ship Inside is aimed to new crew members, instructors and naval base maintenance staff. This product is intended for familiarization of crew with new ship (working space, living spaces, systems, equipment and weapons).
When the ship is unavailable (building or under maintenance periods), this immersive and interactive software of visualisation allows each crew member to have a first contact with its future onboard environment.
Each crew will be able to locate itself physically and functionally within the platform and its equipment thanks to the 3D simulator.
Key USPs of this product is its interactive simulation, usable virtual reality devices for immersive experience, adaptability to any systems, based on COTs hardware, and multi-configuration training. It is adapted for both submarines and surface ships.