IT²EC 2024: Saab to continue supporting British Army live training

Saab has been contracted to upgrade the army's live training capability. Pictured are troops practising their debussing drills from a Saab DFWES-equipped Warrior infantry combat vehicle in Alberta. (Janes)

The British Army has signed a GBP60 million (USD75.7 million) three-year support contract with Saab to improve its live training capability.

The contract – Instrumented Live Training (ILT-D) – is replacing the existing Direct Fire Weapon Effects Simulator (DFWES) contract with Saab and will involve modernising its live training capabilities to improve interoperability and address obsolescence.

ILT-D is essentially a mid-life upgrade of the DFWES capability that will comprise upgrading and providing the latest soldier and vehicle training systems as well as EXCON software to ensure it remains relevant to the army's evolving training needs and is interoperable with its allies, Joakim Alhbin, the vice-president of Training and Simulation at Saab, informed Janes and other media representatives at the International Training Technology Exhibition & Conference (IT²EC) 2024.

DFWES is a laser-based Tactical Engagement Simulation (TES) capability that simulates direct and indirect fire.

Support will be continued across permanent collective training locations in the UK and Germany, as well as at the Infantry Training Centre in Catterick, Infantry Battle School in Brecon, and the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines. The agreement also includes an option to extend the contract until 2030.

Along with the ILT-D contract, Saab was recently contracted in December 2023 to provide Austria with new add-on live training capabilities under an existing programme called DuSim, building on their GAMER capability, Alhbin said.

For more information on Saab and DFWES, please see Saab wins UK direct-fire weapon simulation contract.