Lockheed secures two-year extension for UK tactical trainer

Lockheed Martin has been awarded a two-year extension worth £10 million by the UK Ministry of Defence to continue operating and modernising the British Army’s Combined Arms Tactical Trainer (CATT) programme, according to a press release.

The contract will run until February 2027, ensuring that the Army’s largest battlefield simulation trainer remains at the forefront of training technology.

Based at the British Army Land Warfare Centre in Warminster, UK, and Sennelager, Germany, CATT is the world’s largest and most advanced battlefield simulation trainer. It spans an area equivalent to three football pitches and includes over 200 networked simulators that can replicate a combat area of over 10,000 square kilometres (3,800 square miles).

The system enables over 400 personnel to train simultaneously in scenarios involving vehicles, aircraft, insurgents, civilians, and NGOs, providing a fully immersive experience.

Kathryn Hopes, Project Manager for Training and Special Projects at the MOD’s Defence, Equipment and Support branch, emphasised the importance of CATT for maintaining operational readiness:

“The contract award of the CATT extension will ensure Collective Simulated Training continues to be delivered across the British Army. CATT is a key component of the British Army’s safe system of training and vital to its progression to operational readiness validation. Without CATT, live training costs, such as ammunition, fuel, and equipment, would significantly increase, and formations would not be able to take advantage of the plethora of other benefits it brings to generating a capable fighting force.”

Lockheed Martin has been operating and enhancing CATT for more than 20 years, with recent updates including a new visualisation engine to produce more lifelike graphics for real-world environment simulation.

Emlyn Taylor, Group Managing Director of Lockheed Martin UK – Rotary and Mission Systems, expressed the company’s ongoing commitment to evolving the system:

“Our training pedigree on CATT spans more than two decades, playing a crucial role in maintaining mission readiness for the British Army. With this extension, we remain committed to adapting to evolving requirements through ongoing investment, incorporating advanced features to ensure CATT provides soldiers the most sophisticated battlefield simulation training experience.”