Kilo-developed VIBRaNT capability demonstrated aboard U.S. Navy aircraft carrier
- Andy Parkin
- Jan 19
- 2 min read
Kilo Solutions Ltd has welcomed the recent public demonstration of the Virtual Bridge and Nautical Trainer (VIBRaNT) aboard an operational U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), marking a significant milestone in the application of portable virtual reality for naval bridge team training.
As published by the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), the demonstration took place onboard a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier and showcased how bridge teams can rehearse complex navigational scenarios in an immersive virtual environment, onboard the vessel, without full reliance on shore-based simulators and without exposure to live-asset risk.
VIBRaNT was developed by adapting Kilo’s cloud-connected, untethered VR bridge simulator, VASCO, to meet specific U.S. Navy requirements. The capability was delivered under contract with the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR) Tech Solutions, in collaboration with the Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific, following Kilo’s selection as a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technology partner.
The public demonstration confirms the practical application of the VIBRaNT capability in an operational setting and reinforces the role of untethered VR environments in supporting mission rehearsal, objective evaluation, and the maintenance of bridge watchkeeping standards in constrained naval environments.
Andy Parkin, Managing Director of Kilo Solutions, commented:
This is an incredibly exciting time for the whole team at Kilo and is vindication of our ongoing commitment to ensure that the Maritime Sector benefits from the wide-ranging advantages that immersive technology can deliver. These include ensuring maintenance of operational readiness, harmonisation of people and major reductions in training spend, as we simply take the simulator to the individuals, not the other way round.
The demonstration reflects a broader shift within Defence towards deployable, scalable training capabilities that complement fixed simulators and increase access to immersive training environments wherever crews are operating.
