VR and simulation training for shipbuilding and shipyard trades

Last updated October 21, 2026

Welding simulators and VR trades training used to bring new welders, pipefitters and other tradespeople up to speed.

This guide lists 6 providers of immersive shipbuilding and shipyard trades training, in alphabetical order: Industrial Training International (ITI), Lincoln Electric, Miller Electric, Moth+Flame, Seabery and VRSim. The order is not a ranking. Each provider is described with the same fields, from its own materials and public records, with sources.

1. Questions buyers ask

2. Overview

Shipyards that build and repair Navy ships depend on skilled trades such as welding, machining, marine electrical work, blasting and coating, and nondestructive testing. Immersive training uses virtual or augmented reality simulators so trainees can repeat techniques such as welding, spray painting or crane operation before working on real steel, coatings or equipment.

The approach is already in use. Federal spending records show Navy shipyards buying VR welding, painting and crane simulators since at least 2010, and Ingalls Shipbuilding opened a VR welding lab in January 2025 that it says trained more than 1,000 workers by September 2026.

Demand for these workers is rising. Navy industrial base planning targets about 140,000 new submarine industrial base hires over a decade, Congress required biennial Navy reports on shipbuilder training until 2026, and a 2025 executive order called for a plan to rebuild the maritime workforce.

The problem

The submarine industrial base needs far more workers: Navy and BlueForge Alliance planning targets about 140,000 new hires over the next decade, roughly 14,000 a year, to support building one Columbia-class and two Virginia-class submarines a year.

Practicing on real materials and equipment is costly and risky. In a 2024 research topic, the Navy said its shipyards work and train in harsh, high-risk environments and sought extended reality to cut safety mishaps, rework and the waste and cost of physical mock-ups.

New workers take time to become proficient. Federal law required the Navy to report on the time and cost for new shipbuilders to reach proficiency in key trades, and on whether emerging technologies such as augmented reality could aid their training.

Mandates and programs

• Navy Maritime Industrial Base (MIB) Program. The Navy created the MIB Program in September 2024 as a Director Reporting Program Manager under the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, merging the Submarine Industrial Base and Surface Combatant Industrial Base programs; its work includes workforce development with BlueForge Alliance.
• Submarine industrial base hiring goal. Navy and BlueForge Alliance planning targets about 140,000 new hires over a decade, about 14,000 a year, recruited through the Navy-funded BuildSubmarines.com site and trained in programs such as Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing in Danville, Virginia.
• Executive Order 14269, Restoring America's Maritime Dominance (April 9, 2025). Orders a Maritime Action Plan to rebuild U.S. maritime industries and workforce, and a report on maritime workforce challenges that inventories training grants and scholarships for critical shipbuilding specialties and recommends improvements.
• 10 U.S.C. 8693, biennial report on shipbuilder training. Added by the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act and expanded by the FY2022 NDAA, it required Navy and Labor Department reports to Congress every even-numbered year until 2026, including an analysis of whether augmented reality and other emerging technologies may aid new shipbuilder training.
• Workforce funds in Navy shipbuilding contracts. The Navy's August 2023 multiyear contract with Ingalls Shipbuilding for Flight III DDG 51 destroyers included funds for workforce development such as virtual learning labs; Ingalls opened its VR welding lab with Navy, state and community college support in January 2025.

3. Providers compared

Every provider below is described with the same fields and the same length limits, from its own published materials and public records. Where a provider does not publish something, the entry says “Not published.” Providers are in alphabetical order.

4. What to ask a vendor

1. Which trades, processes, positions and joints does it cover, and can you add our shipyard's own joints and procedures? Simulator scores matter most when exercises resemble the welds, coatings or lifts your workers must qualify on; some products offer custom joints, coupons or lessons.
2. What performance data does it record, and can results be exported to our learning management system? Products in this category record technique data such as torch angles, travel speed and coating thickness; exportable records let instructors track trainees from simulator to live work.
3. What independent evidence shows skills transfer to live welding, painting or crane work? Many published savings and speed-up figures in this category come from vendors or vendor-cited studies; ask for study methods, sample sizes and whether results were independently reviewed.
4. Can it run offline or on a closed network, and what would shipyard accreditation require? The Navy has said XR technology in naval shipyards needs an authorization to operate at Impact Level 4 or 5, and headset cameras need shipyard security approval.
5. What hardware, floor space and setup does each station need, and can it travel between sites? Equipment ranges from tabletop and phone-based kits to motion-base stations, which affects whether you can train at several sites, recruiting events or partner colleges.
6. Is it a purchase, an annual subscription or a lifetime license, and what do renewals include? Navy records show recurring subscription and license-renewal orders for simulator software, so total cost depends on renewal terms as well as hardware.
7. Can we order through an existing contract vehicle, a distributor's GSA schedule or simplified acquisition? Federal records show simulators bought under distributors' GSA schedule contracts and through shipyard and DLA Maritime purchase orders under simplified acquisition procedures.
8. Who maintains the content, and how fast can lessons change when procedures or ship classes change? Training content goes out of date as specifications change; confirm whether updates are included and whether your instructors can edit lessons themselves.

5. How buying works

Naval shipyards buy simulators through their own contracting offices or the DLA Maritime offices that support them. Federal records show purchase orders for trainers, licenses and subscriptions, many competed under simplified acquisition procedures, the FAR Part 13 rules for purchases that do not exceed the simplified acquisition threshold.

Welding simulators are also sold through welding distributors. Federal records show agencies ordering them under distributors' GSA Multiple Award Schedule contracts, the federal supply schedules through which government buyers order commercial products at pre-negotiated prices.

Software-based trainers are often licensed by subscription. Navy records show VR crane simulator subscriptions bought for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in 2018 and 2025 and Navy license renewals in 2024 and 2025, so budgets should include renewals.

Workforce money also flows through shipbuilding contracts and Navy programs: Ingalls' 2023 destroyer contract included funds for workforce efforts like its VR welding lab, the MIB program and BlueForge Alliance support regional training programs, and Navy SBIR topics such as N241-043 seek new shipyard XR tools.

For SBIR, GSA schedules, OTAs and other routes in general, see How buying works.

6. More questions