Bull's Eye
Written by Peter Buxbaum
MT2 2010 Volume: 15 Issue: 6 (December)
Systems to Keep Gunner Aim on Target.
Simulators have been playing an increasingly important role in military training in recent years. Especially when it comes to weapons training, the armed services have benefited from advantages in cost, safety, effectiveness and efficiency by having trainees familiarize themselves with equipment in a virtual environment before heading out to the range.
It comes as no surprise, then, that the United States military has made significant investments in the acquisition of training simulators that teach marksmanship skills. The U.S. Army has two programs of record for weapons skills training: the Engagement Skills Trainer (EST) 2000, a system provided by Cubic Defense, and the Laser Marksmanship Training System (LMTS), from MPRI.
The EST 2000 is a projector system that uses weapons mock-ups and includes three modes of training: basic rifle marksmanship; teamwork at the five- to 10-person squad level; and a judgmental mode which trains in shoot/don’t shoot scenarios. Over 800 of the EST 2000s have been fielded. The Army will be acquiring a total of 1,073.
The LMTS uses real weapons to which a laser has been attached and which aims at targets that can recognize a laser hit. Over 2,000 of these systems have been deployed.
The Army has realized several benefits to using marksmanship training simulators, said Lieutenant Colonel Charlie Stein, the Army’s product manager for ground combat tactical trainers. “There is a cost to go to the range,” he explained. “You have to get a truck out of the motor pool, you have to draw ammunition from a supply point. We are setting up EST 2000s at every active duty post. The soldiers just go in, fire and leave. There is no ammunition and the costs are minimal.”“
“The cost avoidance for the use of ammunition is in the hundreds of millions of dollars per year,” said Mark Saturno, director of business development at Cubic Defense. “There is also the environmental impact. The Army has to set aside land for ranges.”
More important than cost, for Stein, is the training value of the simulators. “On the live range, the sun can get in your eyes and there are the effects of weather,” he said. “The student doesn’t get any feedback other than the scoring. The simulator provides an opportunity for a detailed after action review which analyzes where improvement is required.”
Enhanced safety and training effectiveness are other advantages provided by marksmanship simulators, according to Tom Shirey, director of U.S. military sales at Meggitt. “You can teach someone the basics of weapons handling without concern,” he said. “The fact that he is not shooting a live round inspires confidence in first-time shooters. They are not as intimidated.”
Meggitt’s work with the Australian military, Shirey added, has proven that pass rates for marksmanship courses increase significantly for soldiers who train on simulators before moving to the rifle range. “The reason behind that is by the time the trainees get out to the live range they are already comfortable with the weapon,” said Shirey.
What the Army is seeking from marksmanship simulators is realism, said Stein. “The way this is accomplished is through a myriad of testing,” he explained. “The EST 2000 simulator has the exact ballistic characteristics of an M4 round, a 5.56 caliber, or whatever the weapon the soldier is training on.” The EST 2000 also accommodates training on the M16, M240, M249, M320 and Mark 19 weapons, as well as the 9 mm handgun.
The EST 2000, as a product that has been delivered to the U.S. Army, has remained fairly stable in its technology and functionality since it was first introduced in the late 1990s, according to Saturno. “We have added new weapons and new scenarios over the years and have made some changes as they relate to new training requirements,” he said.
Cubic is a licensed weapons manufacturer and, as such, the weapons mock-ups it produces for the EST 2000 emulate, to 95 percent accuracy, the characteristics—such trigger pressure, weight balance and recoil—of operational weapons.
The company has continued to evolve the EST 2000 product line that it markets to foreign militaries by including different weapons such as the AK47, as well as the integration of new technologies and updated software. Technology innovations include updates to the image generator and game engine as well as a plug-and-play capability that allows easy integration of different image generators and game engines within the EST 2000 architecture.
“We have an existing contract with the Army for product improvements,” said Saturno, “and we are negotiating with the Army now to provide those capabilities to them.” The LMTS is used mainly by National Guard and Army Reserve units. “This system can be used in any open area outdoors or indoors,” said Stein. “It helps these units train because otherwise they might have to drive a couple of hours each way to get to a range.”
The system uses weapons that have been outfitted with a laser and are shot at a screen depicting various operational scenarios. Recoil is simulated through the release of compressed air. A computer calculates the effects of a given shot.
Like the EST 2000, LMTS includes group and judgmental training modes. “We regularly create new scenarios based on what is happening out there,” said Shirey. “For example, in the judgmental mode we have a scenario in which a child is holding a gun. In another, someone has doused himself with gasoline. These are difficult situations to teach.”
The system is also designed so that users can create their own training scenarios. “Trainers can create courses that allow them to correct incorrect behaviors that they have observed on their trainees,” said Shirey.
Gunnery simulators are also available for mounted warfighters. Raydon Corporation provides individual gunnery trainers for a HMMWV-mounted .50 caliber machine gun as well as for weapons deployed on the Abrams and Bradley. “These products are all instructorless, meaning that the computer is the instructor,” said Greg Recker, Raydon’s Army business developer. “The trainers teach from the rookie level up to the expert level. We have developed them in accordance with Army doctrine and in consultation with subject matter experts.” The .50 caliber trainer, for example, was designed on the DIDEA (detect, identify, decide, engage and assess) process and follows the training guidelines established in U.S. gunnery manuals.
The .50 caliber virtual trainer consists of a machine gun mock-up and a computer LCD monitor, keyboard, mouse, headset with microphone and foot pedals to virtually slew the simulated weapon. “It is a self-paced curriculum,” said Recker, “and it allows for immediate analysis of an individual’s performance and produces training records that leadership can use to develop training plans.” The weapon mock-up largely emulates the performance of the operational weapon, according to Recker.
The Abrams trainer consists of real or simulated Abrams power control handles. “The system trains and sustains gunner skills in the areas of target engagement and provides voice prompts to the trainee via the headset,” said Recker. The Bradley trainer is currently in development.
Raydon provides gunnery simulators for airborne warfighters as well. Its Virtual Door Gunner Trainer (VDGT), which trains basic door gunner techniques, provides training for communications and crew coordination during flight and system supports multi-ship missions.
The VDGT is a mock-up of a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter and is comprised of a pilot station and a right and left door gunner station. Two aircraft (four gunner stations and two pilot stations) are installed in a mobile virtual training center, a 53-foot trailer with its own electric power connection and back up diesel generator. The mobile virtual training center also has an instructor’s station and a scenario recorder for after-action review.
The system can be configured to replicate crew stations of other Black Hawk variants. Multiple VDGT training systems can be linked together for group training.
“The system is equipped with a very high resolution display because trainees are looking at targets 1,000 or more meters away,” said Recker. “It teaches familiarity with the weapon and is used most for collective training on how to support a convoy.”
A virtualized training system where trainees operate not in front of a computer screen, but out in the field, was acquired by the United States Marne Corps and provided by Saab Training USA. A form of sophisticated laser tag is played with laser mounted weapons, an electronic vest and base stations.
“We won a Marine Corps competition two and half years ago,” said Ken Polczynski, Saab’s Marine Corps program manager. “In the intervening years Saab has delivered over 1,800 vests and base stations to the Marine Corps.”
The vest senses whether its wearer is hit and controls the action. The vest of a participant who was killed or wounded would disable his weapon. But a friendly trainee in the vicinity could pick up that same weapon and use it, since his vest would sense that he is still active in the game.
The vests are equipped with a GPS receiver which communicates locations of participants to the base station. The system also reports to the base all shoots and hits and updates status in real time.
“The trainers know who shot who, how and when,” said Polczynski. “All events are being captured and displayed on the base station. That way, trainers can watch the action and play it back later for after action review.”
Simulator developers continue to work on enhancements to their products. “We are working on a next generation team training product which we hope to introduce some time next year,” said Meggitt’s Shirey. “The new product will give some added realism in the visual environment and some improved artificial intelligence capabilities.”
Saturno of Cubic Defense sees more focus directed toward the training of dismounted soldiers, thanks to the nature of operations in Afghanistan. “Technology allows the training for dismounted solider tasks as never before,” he said. “We now have those enhanced capabilities to conduct and meet more training requirements such as counter-IED training, convoy training, and mounted and dismounted operations in a first person shooter environment. We can increase the realism and fidelity of the virtual environment so that it is more like the real thing. And we can stand the trainee in front of a screen and give a full debriefing on what he did right and what he did wrong. The dismounted solder never had that capability until recently.”
Stein also sees future capabilities for marksmanship simulators in the form additional and more up-to-date scenarios. “We will be taking some lessons learned from the Joint IED Defeat Organization,” he said. “We will also be changing some of the rules by putting the soldier in the position of an enemy sniper.” The idea here is to teach how different actions and reactions can change outcomes.
Perhaps Stein’s biggest game changer is to take the EST 2000 mobile. “We are doing a proof of principle right now,” he said. “We are putting a five-lane EST in a trailer and taking it around to Guard and Reserve bases. We will be capturing statistics on increased throughput and utilization of the system by soldiers by taking it to them.”
Stein anticipates finalizing a contract for the mobile EST 2000s early next year. “If this works, we won’t have to build facilities for the systems,” he said. “We could have 15 of these units spread around the country and soldiers will come around when it’s at their local armory. That should save the taxpayers some money.”
The mobile units may not enhance the capabilities of the systems per se, but it could see more Guards and Reservists taking more training. “When the carnival comes to town,” said Stein, “everybody goes.” ♦