VRAI refines VADE for UK use, waits on DIP publication

A screenshot of VRAI's VADE mission planning system, showing the visualisation of different elements of a plan, including an unmanned aerial vehicle-restricted operating zone, routes, and intervisibility calculations. (VRAI)

UK- and Ireland-based simulation data company VRAI showcased an updated version of its Virtual All-Domain Environment (VADE) mission rehearsal and briefing software at the 2026 International Training Technology Exhibition and Conference (ITEC 26) held in London in April.

Anthony Casson, VRAI business development lead for UK and Europe, told Janes that VADE can rapidly ingest a variety of data feeds to provide an updating picture of an operational situation. This can be provided for mission planning and rehearsal in map-based or three-dimensional form, or in an immersive environment. “It enables you to visualise your battlespace with, for example, the combined recognised land, air and maritime pictures” he said.

VADE is built in the Epic Games Unreal Engine, using Cesium for Unreal as a data ingestion pathway. Casson said that it is a completely open architecture, specifically designed to allow any sort of data feed to be ingested and visualised in a single space. He noted that he is currently working with the Royal Marines to put VADE into the nascent maritime digital targeting web currently being developed for the UK Commando Force.

Casson said that VADE is part-owned by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), having been jointly developed with VRAI, and the contractual basis for wider exploitation was still being finalised. A basic version was delivered to the MoD in 2025. Further development was waiting for the publication of the Defence Investment Plan (DIP), he said, adding that if the project went ahead the plan would be to distribute VADE to key elements within the UK armed forces to develop use cases and requirement sets.