Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic’s Common Submarine Radio Room Multipurpose Reconfigurable Training System (CSRR MRTS) is achieving significant cost savings for the Navy.

The 3D multi-touch liquid crystal display system, which accurately simulates a Navy submarine radio room, provides a near 68% cost savings over legacy tactical trainers and offers versatile, hands-on training to the submarine force.

The CSRR MRTS offers a highly realistic virtual training environment for Navy submarine crews. Using photorealistic visuals, crews can train on most submarine platforms and is designed for quick reconfiguration, allowing training teams to switch between different submarine platforms within a single day.

“It gives any Sailor reporting to boats a three-month head start on provisional qualifications before getting their practical qualifications,” said Charles Jones, NIWC Atlantic lead MRTS technician. “It is very easy to train Sailors in an environment where you don’t have to worry about equipment breakdowns, and you can just run hundreds of scenarios.”

Jones started working on CSRR MRTS when he transitioned from active-duty Navy. “You cannot break it. CSRR MRTS can target what you need to work on, again and again.”

Information Systems Technician, Submarine, Communications 2nd Class (ITR2) Matthew Villasenor, USS Georgia Gold Crew, agrees.

“You can work a problem over and over again until you get it right. Unlike in the fleet where you can't make mistakes because Sailors can be hurt or worse. Using CSSR MRTS, mistakes are worked out during training ensuring Sailors are prepared for any issues or problems,” Villasenor said.

Trainers can set up CSSR MRTS for strategic and tactical environments.

“CSRR MRTS forces Sailors to stick to the uniform procedure. There are no fleet workarounds. Everyone has the same training,” Jones said. “I came out of the shipyard on my last boat with 14 Sailors who had never been to sea, but they all had the MRTS training, so they were all in lockstep with safety procedures and operations with the equipment.”

Villasenor, who has been serving in the Navy for four years, added, “When I was still qualifying for radio (room operator), it really helped me out. [CSRR MRTS] gives a new student a basic understanding of what a radio room is.”

There are currently a dozen trainers placed around the globe where experienced fleet returnees to the newest Sailors in training can get hands-on instruction for their boat’s radio room. Instructors can progressively degrade shipboard systems in ways they could not previously do on legacy tactical trainers, such as simulating cut wires, damaged parts, or fires. The ability to experience a simulated catastrophic system shutdown without causing an actual, and costly, systems shutdown provides invaluable teaching moments and allows instructors to vary scenarios, which keeps trainings fresh.

“This is a systems of system trainer. Integrated into a full training, we go beyond the radio room and can simulate satellite communications. The ability to simulate satellite communications is extremely valuable, which removes the need to request satellite resources for training,” said Nate Douthit, NIWC Atlantic CSRR MRTS technical program manager.

The CSRR MRTS team also spoke to the ways in which the system enables complex practice scenarios that align with the current operational environment as well the ability to be tailored to the skillsets of each individual crew.

“It is robust enough that crews are able to fail in a controlled environment, free of fear of damaging ship's equipment,” said ITRC Jeremy Kramer, communications Leading Chief Petty Officer for the CSRR MRTS at the Trident Training Facility in Bangor, Washington.

James Landreth, NIWC Atlantic’s Submarine Integration Division Head “Our mission at NIWC Atlantic is to support the Fleet, and CSSR MRTS provides a great example of how we fulfill that mission. We seek to continuously improve our products to meet the needs of our great Sailors. I am proud of what the CSRR MRTS team has accomplished to date, and I am excited about all we will accomplish in the future.”