Combined Arms Tactical Trainer (CATT) 20th Anniversary – Reflections on Land Training

As Lockheed Martin, the British Army, and Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Combined Armed Tactical Trainer (CATT), I thought you might find the speech I gave – which reflected on the heritage, operational relevance, social relevance, and future potential of Land training – to be of interest.

Introduction

It is a personal pleasure for me to be here, celebrating the partnership between the Ministry of Defence and industry in delivering the British Army’s Combined Arms Tactical Trainer (CATT) for over 20 years.?Because I started my own career as an engineering apprentice working in the field of civil and military simulation.?My first role was working on a tank simulator.

From my time as Group Managing Director for Lockheed Martin UK’s Rotary and Mission Systems, and now as UK Chief Executive, I have learnt a lot more about land training and simulation – including its heritage, its operational relevance, its social relevance, and the future potential of synthetic training.

Heritage

CATT can trace its heritage to the virtual training systems that Lockheed Martin developed for the U.S. Army from the mid-1980s, including SIMNET and the Close Combat Tactical Trainer.?We have delivered the Tactical Trainer in partnership with the U.S. Army for almost 30 years.

In the late 90s, having seen the value of this system in providing training including for the First Gulf War, the British Army decided to acquire CATT.

CATT officially came into service in 2002.?It was a first-of-kind system in the UK.?And, dare I say, CATT set the benchmark for virtual and constructive training – both individual and collective – in other parts of defence, too.

Operational Relevance

CATT is made up of over 360 networked simulators covering an area the size of three football pitches across two sites – one here in Warminster, and one in Sennelager in Germany.

It can train up to two Battle Groups simultaneously in a Brigade or Divisional setting.?In practical terms, that means CATT can accommodate over 400 personnel training together as a coherent formed unit.?And it can simulate a combat area of over 10,000 square kilometres, including vehicles, aircraft, soldiers, headquarters, civilian populations, and non-state groups.

CATT’s operational relevance is clear.

Over the past two decades, CATT has delivered a quarter of a million troop training days and 4,000 mission training exercises to British and NATO personnel.?In plain language, that means over 250,000 soldiers have been trained on the system.

CATT has supported those soldiers in training for the counter insurgency operations that dominated the past two decades.?

It is arguably even more important now.?The threat posed by Russia – and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine – demonstrates the continued relevance of armoured warfare and the importance of effective combined arms manoeuvre.?CATT is helping the UK to rebuild these competencies.?I am also proud that our training solutions are being used to support the efforts by the Government and other allies to help Ukraine successfully defend democracy.

And CATT has the ability to support the strategic intent of Multi-Domain Integration.

Social Relevance

It does this whilst demonstrating value for money.?For example, it has reduced live ammunition expenditure by over ï¿¡3 billion.

In addition to this operational relevance and value for money, CATT has been ahead of its time in contributing to Social Value.?It has:-

• Saved 6 million track miles
• Saved 13 million gallons of fuel
• Saved 147 million kilograms of CO2 emissions

Before the Ministry of Defence developed its ‘Strategic Approach to Climate Change and Sustainability’, and before the Government writ large developed requirements for tackling climate change as part of public procurement, CATT was already doing this.

We should all be proud of our leadership in this area – and the example we set for all of Defence.

Future Potential

Nowadays there is much discussion about advances in training and simulation technologies.?I would argue that CATT is at the forefront of adopting these.?

Over the past 20 years, we have opened the core system architecture to enable a ‘Plug and Play’ approach to new platforms, new combat information systems, and new terrains.

The image generation and immersion have been advanced, creating ever more realistic environments for soldiers.?This has been achieved by leveraging technologies developed in the “Serious Games” industry and modifying them for military applications.?

Commercial gaming graphics deliver incredible realism into systems, such as digital live fire ranges and gunnery and urban training solutions.?

And enhanced perception and integrated control create common operating pictures for live, virtual and constructive exercises.

As importantly, the system and its evolution are designed with the student – not the device – in mind.?Our approach applies the science of learning and adapts to cultural preferences, as well as leveraging advanced technologies.

CATT’s continuous technical evolution positions it well for the future of collective training, as new platforms enter services and as the threat environment changes.

Conclusion – Partnership

But all of those aspects – CATT’s operational relevance, its social relevance, and its continual technical evolution – would not be possible without the true partnership that exists between the Ministry of Defence and industry.

From the Military Instructors and Exercise Support staff, to industry’s sustainment and maintenance teams, Defence Equipment & Support’s acquisition teams, and the role of Army Headquarters in setting requirements, the collaboration and trust across the whole community has allowed CATT to be so successful.?It is an example of best practice in the complex – and sometimes controversial – world of defence procurement.

As I close my remarks, I want to thank all of you here today and your predecessors.?You have resolutely remained focused on the mission.?You have ensured that, over two decades later, CATT remains a pre-eminent training system preparing our forces for operational deployments in an increasingly complex security environment.

Just as we couldn’t predict how our world would look back in 2002, nor can we know how it will look twenty years from now.?What we can predict is that virtual training will continue to underpin our armed forces’ success.?Open architectures, networking, and new technologies integrated across all domains, including for training, will optimise the decision-making, lethality, and effects of the Armed Forces.

From all of us at Lockheed Martin, thank you for your continuing support and trust in us to help deliver these mission critical capabilities.