Calian demonstrates improvements to VCCI, showcases ADS

A graphic displayed at DSET 2025 showing the relationships in the VCCI ecosystem with simulations on the left, C2 systems on the right, and standard protocols along the top, with VCCI's services in the middle. (Giles Ebbutt)

Canadian firm Calian has improved the capabilities of its virtual command-and-control (C2) interface (VCCI) interoperability framework, which connects simulations with C2 and data analysis systems.

Calian showcased the features at the 2025 Defence Simulation Education and Training (DSET 25) conference held in Bristol from 8 to 10 July. VCCI was originally developed in Canada by SimFront, which was acquired by Calian in 2021.

Jason Bone, Calian lead engineer, told Janes that VCCI provides the core data management system for command and staff training. He explained that it will take both synthetic and live feeds on one side and feeds from C2 systems on the other and has services that will “capture all the data and transform, modify, and augment it so it is in one consolidated, normalised open database on which you can run insights”. This then feeds out in a range of standard protocols that support different simulations or C2 systems. “All the data flows from one side to the other and vice-versa go through VCCI,” he said.

The latest development has been to improve the use of VCCI to support data analysis, with a feed specifically designed for data analytics. VCCI is already integrated with Calian's military data analytics and simulation (MIDAS) system, developed for the British Army's Command and Staff Trainer (CAST), which uses Raytheon's Advanced Battlefield Computer Simulation (ABACUS), and is also linked to the ARAMIS after-action review tool. Bone said the latest version of MIDAS, which takes the VCCI feed, now offers a new dashboard and improved analytics capabilities.