QinetiQ displays synthetic cyber experimental rig

The QinetiQ T&S deployable digital experimentation test rig shown at DSET 2025. The replica GVA hardware is on the left with the synthetic vehicle crew displays – gunner, commander, and driver – on the right. (Giles Ebbutt)

QinetiQ Training and Simulation (T&S) has developed a “hardware-in-the-loop” digital experimental test rig of the Generic Vehicle Architecture (GVA) for the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to enable laboratory-based investigation of cyber effects and cyber vulnerabilities.

The rig was showcased at the Defence Simulation Education and Training (DSET) 2025 conference held in Bristol from 8 to 10 July. The GVA standardises vehicle electronic and power architectures and human-machine interfaces and is recommended for new UK vehicle platforms.

A QinetiQ T&S project manager, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Janes that the test rig consisted of a physical representation of the GVA using commercial-off-the-shelf components and a digital synthetic version of a vehicle with soft replicas of crew displays created by QinetiQ T&S. These are linked using the Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BIS) Virtual Battlespace 4 (VBS4) virtual environment. The system includes a data visualiser that shows the messages between the different GVA components.

The project manager explained that VBS4 is used to create scenarios to stimulate the system and then representative cyber attacks are generated to identify and understand any vulnerabilities in the various GVA components. The behaviour of the synthetic vehicle can be observed, measured, and assessed to determine the potential impact on operational behaviour. “We need to understand how the system responds to different attacks and different scenarios,” the project manager said, adding, “and we have various artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help us do this”.