Three-D video game to train LCS sailors.

• Author: Tadjdeh, Yasmin

Cubic is preparing to deliver a littoral combat ship training video game to the Navy that will give sailors a 3D-view of the ship to help them learn faster, company officials said.

The system--known as the immersive virtual ship environment--includes dozens of missions and can help reduce the time it takes to train a sailor, said Bill Toti, then president of Cubic Global Defense, who recently left the company.

"This is a massive program," he said. "Most video games operate somewhere between 10 and 15 levels. You get to the 10th level and you've mastered the game. If this were a video game, it would have 200 levels."

Training with the program is more efficient than traditional coursework and it is self-paced, Toti said. "The fast learners learn quickly [and] the slow learners who need more time can take more time, and when they are done they have a substantially better level of knowledge than with the traditional methods of training."

Additionally, the training can be done on a laptop or tablet, reducing the need for brick-and-mortar schoolhouses, he said. On average, it can take sailors a year to learn everything the program teaches using traditional methods. With the immersive environment, it takes six months or less, Toti said.

"It's a no-brainer. This is the way we should be training 21st century sailors," he said.

One lesson, for example, takes sailors on a tour of all of the LCS' engineering spaces.

Cubic will be able to add new...