Team iMAST to Bid to Support UK Royal Navy

Three of UK’s maritime defence companies – Babcock, QinetiQand Thales – along with academic and industry partners – have joined forces tocreate Team iMAST: intelligent Maritime Adaptive Synthetics and Training to bidto support the modernisation of the UK Royal Navy’s individual maritimetraining.

Down selected to bid earlier this year, the bespoke Team iMAST collaboration – led by Babcock and comprising QinetiQ and Centerprise International along with the Universities of Portsmouth and Strathclyde – has recently been joined by Thales and Learning Technologies Group to further bolster its offering.

Team iMAST and the Innovation Ecosystem, of more than 50 small- to medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), will enable critical technology integration, backed by naval training resources, to drive future-ready training solutions for all elements of the Royal Navy. To launch this Ecosystem, two successful events have already been held with the most recent hosted by Team iMAST at the Digital Catapult, the UK’s agency for the early adoption of advanced digital technologies.

The programme will provide an opportunity to help shape thefuture of Royal Navy training as a strategic partner and drive efficiencies andnew technology.

In addition to the provision of training, the winning bidderof the outsourcing project will be responsible for designing, procuring andmanaging the maintenance and repair of all associated training equipment. Itwill also support the delivery and procurement of the interior design, fit outand relocation to a new purpose-built facility for submarine training based onthe Clyde.

Team iMAST takes its inspiration from Babcock’s iSupport 360concept, which brings total insight to projects creating powerful new ways ofoptimising digital technology to uniquely deliver the complete picture ofcustomer’s programmes.

Providing intelligent, connected insights and evaluation, iSupport360 interprets and integrates technology and information to support themanagement of critical assets such as ships and submarines as well asfacilities, infrastructure and training.