A bridge validation demonstration was hosted by the Naval Sea Systems Command to show a virtual preview of pilot house arrangements on Constellation-class frigate ships.
NAVSEA announced Wednesday that the event was held at the Mariner Skills Training Center Pacific in San Diego and attended by NAVSEA engineering directorate and program offices, Constellation frigate principals and industry representatives.
The Constellation class of multi-mission, guided missile combat ships was initially announced by the U.S. Navy in 2017. The fleet is still under development, with expected delivery in 2026.
Creating a real-time virtual bridge environment, the frigate’s program office reused design artifacts to illustrate how crews will interact with general pilot house arrangements in various watchstanding conditions. Design and operational feedback were gathered from the expert audience after the demonstration.
The team also intends to digitalize the frigate’s production life cycle, from design to construction, testing and logistics support data.
“This event was a showcase that demonstrates how we connect detail design and production artifacts together with manpower, training and sustainment concepts to create a digital engineering capability that modernizes Navy shipbuilding processes,” said Jonas Brown, director of product support and readiness for the frigate program.