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Military Training Technology, Volume 19 Issue 8, December 2014
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December 2014Volume 19, Issue 8
www.MT2-kmi.com
Command Profile:
Simulation and training technology center
2015 Look Ahead O Visual DisplaysAir Traffic Control Training O Fire Simulations
America's Longest Established Simulation & Training Magazine
Training Sustainer
Maj. Gen. Jon A. Maddux
Program Executive OfficerPEO STRI
SFCPA
ULRAY
SMIT
HSI
MU
LATIO
N & TRAINING
TECH
NOLOGY
CENTER
SIM
ULATION TECHNOLOGY FOR THE WARFIGH
TER
UNITED STATES ARMY
I/ITSEC ISSUE
HigH-Fidelity Simulation
Special Section:
www.metavr.com
Real-time screen capture is from MetaVR’s visualization system of the 3D virtual terrain of a geospecific area with 1 inch per pixel imagery collected by the MetaVRC™ platform. The operational readiness testing of the MetaVRC was performed as described by the FAA and AMA applicable airspace operation rules and regulations. (AMA National Safety Code and FAA AC 91-57.) Data was collected as part of this testing. This screen capture is unedited except as required for printing. The real-time rendering of the 3D virtual world is generated by MetaVR Virtual Reality Scene Generator™ (VRSG™). 3D model is from MetaVR’s 3D content libraries. © 2014 MetaVR, Inc. All rights reserved. MetaVR, Virtual Reality Scene Generator, VRSG, MetaVRC, the phrase “Geospecific simulation with game quality graphics,” and the MetaVR logo are trademarks of MetaVR, Inc.
The MetaVRC 1 inch per-pixel resolution imagery collection platform for real-time terrain visualization is in operation.
See the aircraft and real-time terrain demonstration at I/ITSEC Booth #1249.
www.metavr.com
Real-time screen capture is from MetaVR’s visualization system of the 3D virtual terrain of a geospecific area with 1 inch per pixel imagery collected by the MetaVRC™ platform. The operational readiness testing of the MetaVRC was performed as described by the FAA and AMA applicable airspace operation rules and regulations. (AMA National Safety Code and FAA AC 91-57.) Data was collected as part of this testing. This screen capture is unedited except as required for printing. The real-time rendering of the 3D virtual world is generated by MetaVR Virtual Reality Scene Generator™ (VRSG™). 3D model is from MetaVR’s 3D content libraries. © 2014 MetaVR, Inc. All rights reserved. MetaVR, Virtual Reality Scene Generator, VRSG, MetaVRC, the phrase “Geospecific simulation with game quality graphics,” and the MetaVR logo are trademarks of MetaVR, Inc.
The MetaVRC 1 inch per-pixel resolution imagery collection platform for real-time terrain visualization is in operation.
See the aircraft and real-time terrain demonstration at I/ITSEC Booth #1249.
Aerial imagery collection
Ground-level photography
Terrain compilation
3D content modeling
Scenario creation
Real-time visualization
Cover / Q&AFeatures
major General jon a. maddux
Program Executive OfficerPEO STRI
23
Departments2 editor’s PersPeCtive4 ProGram HiGHliGHts/PeoPle20 data PaCkets38 team orlando39 resourCe Center
December 2014Volume 19, Issue 8military training technology
Industry InterviewLarry rainesVice PresidentVirtual SystemsMeggitt Training Systems
40
6seeing CLearLy With advanCed dispLaysAdvancements in visual display technology are making military training even more lifelike and effective. A host of developments are under way and on the horizon to improve visual displays for military use.
By Karen e. thuermer
26simuLation drives air traffiC ControL trainingUnique challenges and tough requirements have led to increased use of simulation for training air traffic control staff in the military. The trend toward better and more realistic simulation, with more functions and scenarios, and far more decentralized, is likely to continue.
By henry Canaday
32simuLations aid fire fightFrom virtual reality scenarios to very real jets of burning propane, simulation technologies are playing an important role in preparing Department of Defense personnel to respond to fires and other disasters.
By harrison donnelly
35Looking ahead to 2015Military Training Technology recently asked representatives of leading companies in the field to consider this question: “What aspects of training do you think our armed forces need to focus on in 2015, and what does your company have to offer in those areas?”
12high-fideLity trainingThe U.S. military’s demand for immersive and realistic training and simulation environments to prepare warfighters for a variety of missions and tasks has created a more complex technology environment and challenged developers to deliver products and solutions that display ever-increasing levels of fidelity and resolution.
By Peter BuxBaum
Special Section
30simuLation and training teChnoLogy CenterArmy facility conducts research and development to enhance warfighter effectiveness.
By miChelle milliner
Command Profile:
SFCPA
ULRAY
SMIT
HSI
MU
LATIO
N & TRAINING
TECH
NOLOGY
CENTER
SIM
ULATION TECHNOLOGY FOR THE WARFIGH
TER
UNITED STATES ARMY
You can learn to play baccarat on the Internet, so training in at least one of James Bond’s essential skills has moved into the digital age. Even so, the issue of how best to train intelligence agents for today’s technology-focused world remains an important issue for Department of Defense and intelligence community leaders.
The topic is also a concern for the modeling and simulation industry, as shown by a workshop on the program at this year’s I/ITSEC conference, being held December 1-5 in Orlando, Fla. Titled “The Intelligence Community’s Challenge to Training Innovators,” the session will bring together experts from Army Training and Doctrine Command, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to discuss how the training commu-nity can support intelligence analysts.
The challenges are more pressing, session organizers note, in light of the explosive growth of open-source information and social media, as well as a looming shortage of highly-trained people resulting from demographic changes in the workforce.
The session will follow the recent release of a report from the DoD Office of the Inspector General, which found significant shortfalls in the department’s ability to address the basic training needs and essential skills required by the intelligence workforce.
According to a summary of the for-official-use-only report, DoD does not have the structure, resources or capability to provide the joint training needed to develop a professionalized intelligence workforce. Clearly defined standards for basic training are lacking, and fragmented management is leading to both training redundancies and gaps in critical skills.
Although the report acknowledges DoD leaders are aware of the problem and have taken steps to address it, the complexity and enormity of intelligence training and education processes have gotten in the way. In response, it calls on the under secretary of defense for intelligence to undertake a thor-ough review and reform of training policies, and for the joint staff to establish a joint intelligence training program management office.
Harrison Donnellyeditor
Recognized Leader Covering All Aspects of Military Training Readiness
editorialEditorharrison donnelly [email protected]
Copy EditorsCrystal Jones [email protected] Jonathan Magin [email protected]
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Military Training Technology
Volume 19, Issue 8 • December 2014
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NYSE: SAIC© SAIC. All rights reserved. Image Credit: Photo Courtesy of U.S. Army
CONNECTIONS THAT WORK.
MISSION+ TECHNOLOGY
SAIC’s services and solutions help solve your most complex training and simulation challenges while protecting your data from cybersecurity threats.
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Program highlightS Compiled by KMI Media Group staff
Major General Michael A. Keltz, director, intelligence, operations, and nuclear inte-gration, Headquarters Air Education and Training Command, has been assigned as commander, 19th Air Force, Air Education and Training Command, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas.
Brigadier General John A. Cherrey, deputy director, intelligence, operations, and nuclear integration for flying training, Headquarters Air Education and Training Command, has been assigned as director,
intelligence, operations, and nuclear inte-gration, Headquarters Air Education and Training Command, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas.
The National Center for Simulation has announced the results of its recent election to fill two seats on its board of directors. Karen Connors, president of Quality Project Control, and Pete Marion, CEO for TMST Consultants, will serve three-year terms.
SDS International has been awarded a contract to provide upgrades, improvements and general support to Air National Guard (ANG) Mission Training Device (MTD) simulators, including their LIFE-based arti-ficially intelligent-driven scene content soft-ware. The overall scope of the support to be provided will include a variety of system-related areas, such as: system sustainment, concurrency upgrades, and improvements needed to ensure system relevance and operational effectiveness; system move-ments needed to support changes in unit
mission needs; initial and follow-on training of crews and maintenance personnel; and system maintenance support. Initially, SDS’ Advanced Technologies Division will provide selected MQ-9 Reaper MTD concurrency soft-ware updates; develop MTD-LITE (sensor-only) simulation software by modifying the current ROVATTS-based MQ-9 MTD software baseline; convert one current MTD simulator system into two MTD-LITE simulators; and perform an initial test-integration of the resultant MTD-LITE system with selected ANG networked training system capabilities.
Engineering & Computer Simulations (ECS) has won a $29 million contract that taps into ECS advanced learning technologies and methodologies to improve medical educa-tion and training for Air Force health care providers and patients. The Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation contracted with ECS to lead the major Air Force program, called Air Force Medical Modeling and Simulation Training. ECS will apply its advanced learning technolo-gies and training personnel to the Air Force Medical Service Central Program Office in San Antonio, Texas. The program also supports simulation centers and medical treatment facilities inside the contiguous United States and at locations outside the United States. The ECS key team members include Camber Corp., Comprehensive Medical Services and the University of Miami.
Advanced Technologies Aid Air Force Medical
EducationHeartwood, a supplier in 3-D
interactive training technologies, has been selected by Sikorsky Aircraft to develop custom 3-D virtual main-tenance training courseware. These training applications will be used to train maintenance personnel of UH-60M and UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters in a truly interactive and immersive hands-on manner by leveraging the latest in next-genera-tion 3-D interactive and gaming technologies. Heartwood was selected because it is recog-nized as a leading provider of 3-D interactive training solutions for the aerospace, defense
and military industries. The custom 3-D inter-active training applications are expected to be first available for maintenance training in late 2014.
3-D Courseware to Train Helicopter Maintenance Personnel
Following action by the General Accounting Office denying the protest of another bidder, Meggitt Training Systems has been reaffirmed as the supplier of the Army’s next-generation virtual small arms trainer, Engagement Skills Trainer (EST) II, in the $99 million contract announced in June. The five-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract from the Army Program Executive Office for Simulation and Training covers more than 1,000 new and upgraded systems and simulated weapons for Army facilities worldwide. The Meggitt solution represents a significant step forward in technology and capability over the incumbent EST 2000 system. Meggitt’s scalable and robust FATS M100 open archi-tecture frees customers to readily integrate Meggitt and third-party training modules, and will accom-modate evolutions in fidelity and graphic complexity for greater realism. Meggitt modules cover enhanced 3-D marksmanship and an intelligent coaching application on a wireless tablet, enabling trainers to change scenarios quickly within a single training session.
Compiled by KMI Media Group staffPeoPle
Contract Supports ANG Mission Training Simulators
Army Upgrades Virtual Small Arms
Trainer
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STATE OF THE ART, NOW…AND AFFORDABLE, TOO. The rental of virtual training enablers to support current training requirements provides state-of-the-art technology that is immediately Ready to Train and at a cost per soldier training hour far lower than that of traditionally acquired enablers (Military avoids the typical Total Costs of Ownership).
COMMANDERS DESERVE DIRECT INPUT TO THE TRAINING ENABLERS THEY NEED…and they should not have to wait years for their arrival, if ever. For the first time, Commanders can demand Training Enablers that directly match their training objectives and are scalable to available time to train, throughput and location. Risk and responsibility for sustainment, upgrade, and storage shifts from the Military to Industry.
RAYDON_SOTECH_May.indd 1 4/28/14 2:54 PM
Advancements in visual display technology are making military training even more lifelike and effec-tive. A host of developments are under way and on the horizon to improve visual displays for military use.
One trend on the radar screen for MetaVR, for ex-ample, is higher-resolution screens and projectors. “For a number of years, graphics cards got faster while display resolution was on a plateau. Now they are both improving together—or perhaps displays are even out-pacing graphics cards. Higher-resolution displays put more pressure on the image generator to perform,” said Philip Winston, lead software engineer for the compa-ny, which focuses on visualization of real-time 3-D.
Winston noted that MetaVR’s flagship product, Virtual Reality Scene Generator (VRSG), does every well with high-resolution dis-plays, adding, “So we welcome this development.”
VRSG is a COTS image generator that runs on game-level Win-dows computers. MetaVR software is used in the Air Force, Air Nation-al Guard, Army and Army National Guard, and Marine Corps use is growing. “Our customers create a variety of applications such as UAV payload operator training, manned flight simulators, mission planning and rehearsal, JTAC simulation training, urban operations training and aerial refueling boom operator training,” he said.
Higher-display resolutions create a desire for higher-resolution im-agery and terrain. “We have long invested in feeding VRSG with high-resolution imagery with our own Terrain Tools plugin for Esri ArcGIS,” he added. “Our Terrain Tools plugin for ArcGIS is how customers build their own terrain, but it is worth mentioning that most customers use the wide variety of terrain that we make available for free or at a nomi-nal cost with a VRSG license.”
For example, the company has data on the continental United States at 1-meter or better resolution.
Last year, MetaVR began flying its own remote-controlled aircraft, MetaVRC, in order to collect 1-inch-per-pixel imagery. “We processed it with Terrain Tools, and the result is gorgeous terrain that takes full advantage of 4K resolution screens and projectors,” he said.
In addition, the Scenario Editor component of VRSG is a significant new capability. “Now customers can create patterns of life or other scenarios on our terrain or on terrain they have built,” Winston added. “These scenarios provide essential training value in many simulations.”
The trend toward increasing resolutions extends to video output, he said. “VRSG can output HD H.264 video feeds for recording or for embedded UAV train-ing. Not long ago all of these video feeds were standard definition, but now HD is becoming the new normal. This is also something we welcome, since we can very
efficiently encode these data streams using hardware acceleration pro-vided by modern graphics cards.”
The development of high-performance software and high-quality content presents many challenges, however.
“One advantage we have is the simulation industry enjoys a lot of synergy with the entertainment industry,” commented Winston. “Many of our tools and techniques originated in video games, for ex-ample, although they often have to be customized for the specific needs of simulation customers.”
He also pointed to the learning curve associated with every new wave of technology. “We spend a lot of time using our tools ourselves so that we can be the first people to climb up the curve,” he said. “We do not believe in asking customers to use tools or techniques we have not tried ourselves.”
Going forward, Winston said he sees the visual realism of simu-lations as approaching ever more closely to reality, while the time to create new terrain and complex scenarios will shrink until it can be measured in minutes. Still, the efficacy of a simulation is the training value it provides.
“That is the measure by which our progress as an industry should be judged,” Winston emphasized. “Visuals are an important element of simulation, but the ability to integrate multiple complex systems quickly and elegantly so that the training can begin is more important and something I hope is improved in the future.”
By Karen e. Thuermer
mT2 CorrespondenT
Philip Winston
Seeing Clearly With
TeChnology improvemenTs have enaBled a new Class of lower-CosT, high-fideliTy simulaTors ThaT Can Be quiCKly deployed.
Advanced Displays
www.MT2-kmi.com6 | MT2 19.8
A high standard of OEM training-comprehensive training for aircrew, maintainers and technicians.
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image generaTion
Another company working actively with the mili-tary in this field is Aechelon Technology, which offers real-time computer graphics applications for training and simulation markets and is a supplier of COTS-based, geospecific image generators, with applications used for tactical training, mission rehearsal, sensor simulation and unmanned vehicles.
Aechelon Technology recently won a contract to provide visual databases that will support Marine Corps MV-22 training and readiness. Aechelon Technology will provide a high-fidelity multispectral visual and sensor database, 3-D moving models, and a variety of airfields in Marine-aviator-specific key locations. The technology will be used on Marine Corps MV-22 Containerized Flight Training Devices (CFTD) located in the Unites States and overseas.
Each MV-22 CFTD features an Aechelon Technology pC-Nova im-age generator. Aechelon Technology has provided all of the image generators in support of the MV-22 CFTD fleet since the program’s inception.
Aechelon Technology also received a subcontract award from Aero Simulation to provide a new image generator and existing databases currently in use by the Marines. The technology will be used on a CH-53E Flight Training Device that directly supports the Marine Corps Re-serves in Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.
Aechelon Technology will also provide high-fidelity multi-spectral visual and sensor databases, 3-D moving models, and a variety of air-fields from its library already being used on existing Department of Defense programs.
The CH-53E Super Stallion is the largest, heaviest and most power-ful helicopter in the U.S. military. The heavy-lift helicopter of the Ma-rine Corps is essential in the transportation of heavy equipment and supplies.
Among the company’s offerings are image generators (Aechelon pC-Nova), data center unified storage and management (Aechelon Nexus), multi-spectral global databases and integration services.
“Our products are widely used by both the U.S. gov-ernment, including DoD, DHS and the Coast Guard, and the larger U.S. prime contractors, with close to 300 installations,” reported Javier Castellar, co-founder and vice president of business development at Aechelon Technology.
Publicly disclosed programs in which Aechelon is involved include both manned and unmanned vehicles across the Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Coast Guard and U.S. Special Operations Command.
Aechelon’s pC-Nova is the company’s state-of-the-art image generator. It is fully implemented on
a commercial PC hardware/Windows 7 environment and is deliv-ered as a fully functional turnkey system for 60 Hz frame rate, full-mission, multispectral geospecific image generation. PC-Nova-based visual systems are currently on hundreds of devices with thousands of channels in training programs, research laboratories and ground stations.
The Aechelon Nexus Unified Storage System (USS) enables access to very large databases for hundreds of streams, from large multichan-nel, multispectral training and mission image generators and radar simulation subsystems to page database streams in real time, inde-pendently of each other but from the same file system. Additionally, the USS includes support for Aechelon Nexus Data Packs, designed to transfer very large format database updates.
Aechelon’s Castellar identified three distinctive and rapidly grow-ing trends that he said also offer a significant increase in revenue. They are data center products to support and include unified image gen-erators and global databases; image generator training technology and databases used for mission preparation and situational awareness; and unmanned vehicle ground stations.
“The key technology enablers have been threefold: the increase of resolution and ground truth of multispectral global databases for out-of-the-window scenes, night vision goggles, infrared and radar; the cor-relation of multisensor databases with the tactical environment; and the deployment of modern data center services to include unified im-age generators and database storage,” Castellar said.
Javier Castellar
TRAINING &SIMULATION
Wegmann USA, Inc., Training & Simulationmailto: [email protected]
Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG, Training & Simulationmailto: [email protected]
Our fully intergrated light-weight HMD features: Provides: stereoscopic, high-resolution see-trough micro-displays stereo audio inertial and optical tracking system microphone
out-of-the hatch view view through optical vision blocks first-person view third person view
| www.kmwsim.com |
Visit us at I/ITSEC 2014, Stand-No.: 2401
The company has focused on an enormous amount of research and development in deploying, at several sites, unified management at the data center level to make these technologies easier and more cost-effective to maintain in the long run.
“The challenge was how to manage sites that feature dozens of high-end image generators with hundreds of terabytes of databases while complying with the mandatory information assurance require-ments,” Castellar remarked. “This was key to our increase in the adop-tion of our latest image generation technology both for manned and unmanned vehicles, and we have already experienced a significant growth this year responding to our new products.”
Since the systems have become diskless and can be managed in a more modern, centralized fashion, Castellar has found that the learn-ing curve and therefore both deployment and maintenance costs have decreased, while the feature set and capabilities available to the end-user have increased.
Where does Castellar see the technology evolving in the fu-ture? “Clearly, our technology is blurring the line between training and real missions at unmanned vehicle ground stations and reusing the considerable investment by the U.S. government in databases in ar-eas such as unmanned vehicle situational awareness and manned and unmanned mission planning,” he said. “Our technology can also easily cross over from our military market into the expected increase of commercial uses of unmanned vehicles.”
mulTiple graphiCs Cards
Ken Jackson, vice president at Concurrent, a pro-vider of unified content delivery and video analytics solutions, sees a trend today in the need to support multiple graphics boards in a single chassis, which re-duces the footprint and energy consumption of the im-age generator while providing higher performance and visual resolution for the end-user.
The advantages of multiple cards in a single sys-tem include lower cost, reduced footprint, lower power consumption, and lower maintenance cost and higher mean time between failures,”
Jackson said. “As we enhance the rendering software, there will be a single instance of the software that runs all of the graphics cards, free-ing up additional cores that can be available to support more graphics
boards.”Jackson described Concurrent’s ImaGenIG as the
solution for supporting multiple graphics boards in a single chassis. “The German Luftwaffe is using our ImaGen, as is the U.S. Army for the Apache helicopter trainer,” he revealed.
ImaGenIG is of interest to these two organizations because it enables them to condense the size of the im-age generators at the training facilities. “The ImaGenIG provides a four-to-one reduction while providing a state-of-the-art visual system,” Jackson explained.
Jackson argued that Concurrent’s new ImaGenIG is easier to use than image generators that require the
user to create a database. “ImaGenIG requires only a GIS source to cre-ate the scene,” he explained.
For more information, contact MT2 Editor Hank Donnelly at [email protected] or search our online archives
for related stories at www.mt2-kmi.com.
TRAINING &SIMULATION
Wegmann USA, Inc., Training & Simulationmailto: [email protected]
Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG, Training & Simulationmailto: [email protected]
Our fully intergrated light-weight HMD features: Provides: stereoscopic, high-resolution see-trough micro-displays stereo audio inertial and optical tracking system microphone
out-of-the hatch view view through optical vision blocks first-person view third person view
| www.kmwsim.com |
Visit us at I/ITSEC 2014, Stand-No.: 2401
This real-time scene shows a Grey Eagle UAV entity in flight over MetaVR’s high-resolution geospecific terrain of Kismayo, Somalia. The Grey Eagle and the geospecific culture are from MetaVR’s 3-D model libraries. [Image courtesy of MetaVR]
Ken Jackson
Older rendering technology calls for the development of a visual database comprising polygons that represent the scene in the simu-lation—a task that requires a significant effort in both manpower and project time. If the database is complex, it can take many months to generate an acceptable visual system.
“The ImaGenIG does not require the generation of a visual data-base, but can create the scene from a satellite picture in hours, saving many man-hours,” Jackson explained.
seamless display
The quality of visual systems for military training has improved significantly in the past five years, according to Andrew Jamison, CEO of Scalable Display Technologies.
“Improvements have come from several fronts: projector quality; projector resolution; image generation applications; graphic processing unit (GPU) horsepower; and au-tomation to maintain ‘factory fresh’ calibration of the display,” he said.
Taken as a whole, he suggested, these improve-ments have enabled a new class of lower-cost, high-fidelity simulators that can be quickly deployed in volume.
“The big winner in all this is our servicemen and women who have access to more better-quality training devices,” Jamison emphasized.
Scalable provides software to automatically warp and blend multiple projectors into the seamless display that is required for military simulation. “Our software is used by all branches of the armed forces in the United States and several foreign forces as well,” he said.
Scalable’s software, Scalable Display Manager (SDM), is a Windows-based application. The software uses a camera to collect images that are used by an algorithm to automatically calculate “warp and blend” instructions.
The SDM software packages the warp and blend instructions to-gether with “view frustum” data and hands it off to a Linux display
client that is located on a Scalable SDK-enabled image generator. Once it has been delivered to the image generator, the instructions are ap-plied to the GPU and the images projected from the array of projectors automatically form a seamless display.
“Because the Scalable Mesh File is executed on the image genera-tor, no latency is introduced,” Jamison explained. “The GPU resource used is less than 0.3 ms (of the available 16 ms when operating at 60 frames per second), which is considered negligible by all customers we have met.”
Scalable Display Manager is used on simulators for a wide range of services and programs.
One of the biggest challenges facing these technologies today in terms of their use or development is maintaining the seamless quality of a display, Jamison suggested. “That is critical to training efficacy,” he said. “Artifacts in the visual system detract from the immersion that
is essential to the training. Scalable’s software solution takes what had been an art of display management and moves it into science. Using patented camera feedback technology, a computer now delivers precise results that previously required a highly-trained technician to achieve.”
Going forward, Jamison contends that display tech-nology will continue to mature and evolve at a rapid pace.
“Recently, the trend with projectors has been to-ward solid-state light sources such as laser and LED,” he said. “The benefit of these light sources is lower total cost of ownership with more stable color performance.”
Other trends include increased resolution as pro-jectors move to 4K; richer, more realistic graphics that are enabled by the latest GPUs and image generators; and new features like dynamic eye-points that more realistically represent reality for part-task-train-ers such as hoist operators. O
For more information, contact MT2 Editor Hank Donnelly at [email protected] or search our online archives
for related stories at www.mt2-kmi.com.
Andrew Jamison
www.MT2-kmi.com10 | MT2 19.8
At L-3 Link, We’re Delivering the New Standard for Virtual Simulation Realism.HD World® is a high-fidelity virtual training environment that immerses warfighters in real-world, dynamically interactive training scenarios. In providing unparalleled realism, HD World combines high-resolution geo-specific databases and multi-spectral, physics-based processing technologies with state-of-the-art image generation and display systems. Our multi-spectral training environment provides a fully correlated and physically accurate suite of sensor simulations – including all the operational modes of EO/IR, radar and sonar systems – to support manned or unmanned training.
To see how L-3 Link is redefining training capabilities, go to www.link.com.
Link Simulation & Training L-3com.com
Source: Swiss Federal Office of Topography
IMPROVING MISSION READINESS.IT’S OUR SOLE OBJECTIVE.
The U.S. military’s demand for immer-sive and realistic training and simulation environments to prepare warfighters for a variety of missions and tasks has cre-ated a more complex technology environ-ment and challenged developers to deliver products and solutions that display ever-increasing levels of fidelity and resolution.
The realism and fidelity of a training system is often viewed as a function of the power of its image generators, which are the picture portion of a game engine that creates realistic virtual environments. Im-age generators have doubled in power in recent years, allowing for the projection of images that approach the acuity of the hu-man eye. But that is only the beginning of the innovations that make military train-ing systems more realistic.
Beyond the power of the image genera-tors, the projection systems used to display the images have also advanced dramati-cally and improved by orders of magnitude the efficacy of training on night vision equipment.
Moving beyond imagery, a variety of other aspects of training simulations—such as sounds, motions, vibrations, and the look and feel of controls and weap-ons—also go into making training systems that portray true-to-life environments and situations. Coming down the pike are en-hanced capabilities to make these systems available on handheld devices.
“The military currently expects 75 per-cent of aviation training to take place in synthetic environments,” said Jim Takats, president and CEO of TRU Simulation + Training. “In order to make that transition,
you have to increase the fi-delity and realism of training devices.”
TRU focuses on the vi-sual, motion and sound cues that go into aviation simula-tors so that the training sys-tem performs and feels like an actual aircraft.
“What we consistently hear from our high-end simulation customers in terms of capabilities and performance is the desire for eye-level resolution. This is reflected in the development of our systems for night vi-sion goggle training for mili-tary applications,” said Dave Kanahele, a senior account manager for Christie Digital, a maker of advanced projec-tion systems used in training simulators.
“Fidelity has increased in almost every area of model-ing and simulation,” said Mark McDaniel, director of simulation solutions at AEgis Technologies Group. “The fidelity in the model-ing, the databases and the displays are far greater now than they were just two or three years ago. Increased computing power and ad-vanced software allow simu-lated vehicles to look like and behave more like vehicles than they have in the past, as
far as texture, shadows and the location of infrared hot spots.
“Terrain databases allow the portrayal of trees, foli-age and other features with greater realism than before,” added McDaniel, whose company’s products include simulators for operator training on small unmanned aerial systems.
“Our customers are now integrating visually coupled systems into their platforms,” said Skip Rodgers, president of Polhemus, which devel-ops tracking technologies that are incorporated into training platforms. “High-fidelity simulation is more efficiently working through the complexities of creating common reference frames and minimizing system-level latency. Notable advance-ments include the integra-tion of, in many cases, doz-ens of subsystems into one harmonized trainer.”
One example of the work being done in this area comes from Bihrle Applied Research, which has studied stall training and technology solutions for military trans-port class aircraft, according
to Jack Ralston, the company’s president, who noted, “We’ve applied our technology
By peTer BuxBaum, mT2 CorrespondenT
High-Fidelity
miliTary Training developers are delivering produCTs and soluTions ThaT display ever-
inCreasing levels of fideliTy and resoluTion.
Jim Takats
Mark McDaniel
Training
Dave Kanahele
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www.MT2-kmi.com12 | MT2 19.8
Imagine a portable, instantly deployable training system that enables instrumented training exercises with up to 300 players. Then picture it all fitted inside a box. What you see is the all-new ManPack 300 – an instrumented training system that will give your capabilitythe edge and take your live training experience closer to reality.
ManPack 300 supports company-sized exercises with capabilities for Combat training, MOUT/FIBUA, CBRN and Counter-IED training as well as precision gunnery training. The system is fully independent, has a powerful new radio and provides 24-hour operation. By linking ManPack 300 to an existing CTC it can also be used to extend the training area footprint to facilitate larger scale exercises and scenarios.
Customers all over the world rely on Saab’s thinking edge to provide innovative, highly realistic and effective training solutions that will prepare them for current as well as future challenges.
www.saabgroup.com/iitsec2014
Visit the Saab booth 1939 at I/ITSEC 2014
CHANGING THE GAMEMANPACK 300 – DEPLOYING THE FUTURE IN LIVE TRAINING
ManPack 300, new
instrumented training system:
• Up to 300 players
• Scalable – add on to CTC
• Moves with the action
Saab_234-0791_Full page_212x276_MTT.indd 1 2014-11-03 11:29
to the P-8 simulator and it has been very well-received.” The P-8 Poseidon is a Boe-ing-developed multimission Navy aircraft.
Most existing aircraft training simulators do not have any significant de-scription of stall behavior. “We have found that stall behavior is quite a bit more dynamic than is represented in most simulators,” said Ralston. “The Navy knows its pilots are going to operate the aircraft in a more aggres-sive manner than a normal transport pilot, and wanted to be able to provide better training for recognizing and recovery from stall behavior. We looked at what would be required to provide that type of data and how it could be integrated into existing sim-ulators without requiring the simulator to go through an additional validation process.”
virTual BaTTlefield
The value of fidelity and realism in training sys-tems is equally applicable to the training of ground soldiers as it is to pilots.
Intelligent Decisions, for instance, markets the Dis-mounted Soldier Train-ing System (DSTS), which uses a man-worn backpack computer.
“The system is designed for virtual environments, but activities such as handling a weapon standing, kneeling and prone, and communica-tions with squad members and higher headquarters and calling for fire are all done in physical space,” said Clar-ence Pape, the company’s vice president of training and simulation. “Other activities such as kicking down doors, throwing grenades, and de-tecting ingress and egress lo-cations take place on a virtual battlefield.”
AEgis Technologies’ Vam-pire family of products fa-cilitates training for the small Raven, Wasp and Puma UAVs with no additional hardware required. “It runs on rugged laptops and the UAV ground control stations,” said McDan-iel. “Users just have to plug in the system and they can train anywhere, anytime.”
Vampire, which was in-troduced in 2010, has been fielded to customers in the
U.S. Army and the Marine Corps as well as a few overseas customers.
In 2012, AEgis inaugurated the Vampire Instructor Operator Station, which has the ability to connect multiple Vampires over a network, allowing instructors to handle trainings of 10 teams at once. The Army has acquired about 30 of those systems.
AEgis last year brought out the Vam-pire BAT, or bidirectional advanced trainer, which can download sensor feeds for train-ing UAV payload operators.
“For the unmanned air system trainer, the warfighter just has to unplug the an-tenna that controls the real UAV [to] train on the same control station,” said McDan-iel. “One advantage is that the operator can learn how to react when things go wrong and not just when the system is operat-ing correctly. The student can learn how to react if a UAV engine goes out. The sce-nario can be inserted into the simulation without wasting a UAV. The simulation is high-fidelity enough to represent a real emergency, and the warfighter can learn how to react.”
AEgis has also provided a low-altitude air defense system to the Marines and Army. “It includes a realistic representation of the full spectrum of operations,” said Mc-Daniel. “The system is housed in a 40-foot dome that can accommodate three teams working in coordination with one another. It provides a very realistic environment for training on portable air defense systems.”
In addition, AEgis has provided the two services with a similar environment for
Clarence Pape
Skip Rodgers
TM
Jack Ralston
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the improved moving target simulator for training on Stinger portable surface-to-air missiles.
Christie, meanwhile, has provided projection capabilities to the HC-144A op-erational flight trainer for the U.S. Coast Guard that, according to Kanahele, offers landmark levels of realism and fidelity. “The simulation achieved new levels of field of view never before achieved on a col-limated display system,” he said.
Christie projection systems have also advanced training in the area of night vision by allowing trainees to use the same night vision goggles (NVG) during training that they would use in operations.
“Training on night vision goggles has his-torically involved compromises on fidelity,” said Kanahele. “Our projection systems for night vision training stimulate the goggles in the same way as they would be in the real world. There are certain character-istics that are unique to the goggles, and the trainee is able to recognize these [char-acteristics] and how the goggle circuitry responds.”
Christie Matrix Series projectors are used for stimulated NVG training by Allied Armed Forces around the world.
One of the key advancements that has enhanced the fidelity of Christie systems has been the increase in the update rate of
the system to produce greater-fidelity im-ages. The traditional approach to image fi-delity has focused on pixel densities.
“Our tests have shown that in many cases, temporal resolution is more effective and more important in achieving high im-age fidelity than the spatial resolution by it-self,” said Kanahele, noting that the unique dual-input architecture of the Christie Matrix Series projectors composites two 60Hz inputs in order to output 120Hz, doubling the update rate, while maintain-ing compatibility with existing 60Hz image generators.
solid-sTaTe illuminaTion
Among other technology developments that enhance the fidelity of images in pro-jection systems are higher levels of perfor-mance in the processing of pixels and the increasing use of solid-state illumination, such as laser-powered phosphor displays, as opposed to lamp-based illumination.
“[The] mean time between failures of solid-state illumination is an order of mag-nitude greater than lamp-based systems, and the stability is greatly increased and maintenance costs of the systems are dra-matically reduced,” said Kanahele. “Lamp-based systems also degrade over time and their performance changes over the life-time of the lamp.”
Open architectures and flexible systems have allowed technology advancements to be incorporated into existing systems. “These address the need for high levels of performance to meet budget constraints by scaling down capabilities,” said Kana-hele. “There are always trade-offs in perfor-mance with decreases in costs, but flexible implementation can provide benefits for users wherever they are on the costs and capabilities spectrum.”
In the late 1960’s, Polhemus began navigation system studies as part of devel-opment programs for improving the sys-tems utilized by military aircraft. “Shortly thereafter, internal research regarding magnetic fields led the company to pioneer the world’s first magnetic motion tracking system. The initial application tracked the motion of a pilot’s head, and the objective was to more efficiently match aircraft sen-sors and displays to the pilot’s actual point-of-regard at any given moment,” Rodgers explained.
This new system also made the reverse possible, enabling a pilot to be dynamically
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innovation
It’s true… Innovation has been a driving force throughout CAE’s almost 70-year history and has led CAE to be the technology leader in simulation. We continue to be unique in the industry as the only truly global company focused exclusively on modeling, simulation and training.
Defense forces around the world now want to extend their use of simulation to enhance safety, save money, and most importantly, support mission readiness prior to operational deployments. This requires training systems to be networked and interoperable to support integrated mission training across platforms, services and coalition partners. And once again, CAE is leading the way with innovative solutions across the air, land, sea and public safety domains.
Our focus and technology leadership leads to the development of market-leading capabilities, such as the common database and synthetic environments that facilitate interoperability, networking and correlation. We have invested to develop a next-generation capability called the CAE Dynamic Synthetic Environment designed to create virtual worlds that more accurately and realistically simulate the real world. No company has more experience as a training systems integrator, enabling our customers to expand the use of their existing training systems. CAE is also unique in our capability to deliver comprehensive, full-service training centers, such as the C-130 Tampa Training Center in the U.S. and new CAE Brunei Multi-Purpose Training Center.
Trust a company with the focus, experience and expertise to be your partner of choice for networked, interoperable simulation-based training.
Please visit CAE’s booth at I/ITSEC (Booth #1734) in Orlando, Florida from December 1-4, 2014 to learn more about our world-class simulation and training solutions for the air, land, sea, public safety and healthcare market segments.
CAE is a world-class training systems integrator that offers training centers, services, and products designed to prepare defense and security forces for mission success.
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cued to look in a specific direction in real time when an aircraft sensor system identi-fied an incoming threat. This coupling of a precision motion tracker with a visual dis-play allowed for what are today known as helmet-mounted cueing systems (HMCS)
Polhemus has developed fully scalable tracking coverage systems that allow their customers to add hardware components as their tracking needs evolve over time. “G4, our latest tracker, offers this scalable value, in addition to the tetherless track-ing that many dismount training systems need to employ,” said Rodgers. “Because Polhemus tracking technology does not require line of sight, it enables the mili-tary to track multiple soldiers seamlessly in the same training space. Shoot houses utilize our technology and our tetherless tracking products provide full freedom of movement to simulate the most realistic training experience available. Polhemus proprietary electromagnetic technology is widely used in countless military training and simulation exercises.”
Polhemus products serve two core seg-ments within Department of Defense train-ing and simulation. The Scout trackers fly on F-16, A-10 and C-130 aircraft today. “We supply and support the identical tracker to the simulation community responsible for training aircrew to utilize HMCS capa-bilities,” said Rodgers. “Polhemus also ad-dresses the motion tracking needs within dismount and mechanized training shoot domes, as well as forward observer, call for fire, and search and rescue simulators.”
“We look at the level of realism in simulators with two goals in mind,” said TRU’s Jim Takats. “One is to simulate the environment of the aircraft itself, while the other and more important goal is to pro-vide a level of fidelity that meets the needs of the training. This includes training for handling maneuvers in a variety of weather conditions and sea states, and the existence of power lines and other environmental conditions. We have modeled the aerody-namics of the rotor blades of a helicopter. The integration of all of these things to-gether brings a level of fidelity that meets the objective training needs and the sub-jective criteria of total immersion in an environment.”
At the core of TRU’s technology are cueing algorithms that enhance the real-ism of flight simulators. “The rotor dynam-ics on helicopter training systems and their visual acuity, including peripheral vision,
even the effect of the rotors on blades of grass, are all important to get to the level of realism that pilots experience in the real world,” said Takats.
TRU produces products that are inte-grated into aviation trainers to simulate the sights, sounds and vibrations of the real platform. TRU’s customers for these products include the U.S. C-130 transport aircraft community, as well as the Italian and Romanian air forces.
TRU has also applied its technologies to aircraft maintenance trainers. “We are seeing more complex aircraft like the F-35 being deployed,” said Takats. “Maintenance training on these new breeds of aircraft can benefit from high-fidelity simulations to a greater extent than those that came before.”
TRU, a subsidiary of Textron, is also developing a series of high-fidelity trainers for the Scorpion jet, which is currently un-der development by the company.
sTall model
Bihrle’s work in this area has been fo-cused on integrating a module that simu-lates aircraft stall behavior into training simulators without putting those systems through a new certification process. “Exist-ing simulations have a fairly simplistic rep-resentation of a stall based on the list curve and pitching movement of the aircraft,” said Ralston. “But there are a lot of other characteristics to a stall, such as the reduc-tion in control authority and the reduction in stability that we include in our model.”
Bihrle came up with a system that in-corporates all of the stall data and repre-sentations in a separate, external device that is integrated via Ethernet with exist-ing P-8 aircraft training simulators.
“Our stall box allows us to introduce our advanced stall model to the simulation without having to get into the host code or the very complicated model architecture of the airplane,” said Ralston. “This approach is minimally invasive to the system and re-quires little downtime for the integration. When the stall occurs in the simulation, the system transitions to the stall box and later transitions back to the baseline simu-lator. It also doesn’t influence any evalua-tion work” that has been completed for the main training system.
Intelligent Decisions recently intro-duced several enhancements to DSTS and is in the process of installing the system at
15 National Guard stations. “The enhance-ments implement some of the govern-ment’s desires, including increasing the frame rate on the man-wearable computer graphics system to provide better fidelity and experience for the user,” said Pape.
DSTS version 3.0 provides greater fi-delity in a number of areas, including the realism of the weapon and by introducing a model for treating casualties. “We took as-pects of a real M4 and used it in the trainer so that it feels more like the actual weap-on,” said Pape. “By introducing a medic into the training environment, DSTS su-pervisors no longer need to fabricate an emergency medical situation on the virtual battlefield.
“Instead, the casualty becomes a part of the simulation itself as the wounded sol-dier loses his capabilities to function effec-tively in the environment. This increases the overall effectiveness of the simulation by forcing soldiers to react and understand the impact of a battlefield casualty without altering the experience or jeopardizing its fidelity,” he said.
Future plans for the system include in-corporating a camera to pave the way for incorporating augmented reality, which will merge the physical and virtual worlds in the helmet-mounted display. Intelligent Decisions will soon be announcing the incorporation of more realistic ballistic models in the system to portray gunshot wounds.
McDaniel foresees more high-fidelity simulations being made available on hand-held devices such as smartphones and tab-let computers. “That is where the future development is going,” he said. “Instead of having a special dedicated computer for a simulation, warfighters will pull out their handheld devices and train.”
“The demand for high-fidelity simu-lation will continue into the foresee-able future,” said Rodgers. “[Being able to] train as you fight is becoming ever more important as military financial con-straints heighten the need for virtual train-ing and mission rehearsal. Simulation is the more affordable option, but unless it truly simulates the real world, it is likely to be counterproductive.” O
For more information, contact MT2 Editor Hank Donnelly at [email protected] or search our online archives for related stories at www.mt2-kmi.com.
Special Section
www.MT2-kmi.com18 | MT2 19.8
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innovation
It’s true… Innovation has been a driving force throughout CAE’s almost 70-year history and has led CAE to be the technology leader in simulation. We continue to be unique in the industry as the only truly global company focused exclusively on modeling, simulation and training.
Defense forces around the world now want to extend their use of simulation to enhance safety, save money, and most importantly, support mission readiness prior to operational deployments. This requires training systems to be networked and interoperable to support integrated mission training across platforms, services and coalition partners. And once again, CAE is leading the way with innovative solutions across the air, land, sea and public safety domains.
Our focus and technology leadership leads to the development of market-leading capabilities, such as the common database and synthetic environments that facilitate interoperability, networking and correlation. We have invested to develop a next-generation capability called the CAE Dynamic Synthetic Environment designed to create virtual worlds that more accurately and realistically simulate the real world. No company has more experience as a training systems integrator, enabling our customers to expand the use of their existing training systems. CAE is also unique in our capability to deliver comprehensive, full-service training centers, such as the C-130 Tampa Training Center in the U.S. and new CAE Brunei Multi-Purpose Training Center.
Trust a company with the focus, experience and expertise to be your partner of choice for networked, interoperable simulation-based training.
Please visit CAE’s booth at I/ITSEC (Booth #1734) in Orlando, Florida from December 1-4, 2014 to learn more about our world-class simulation and training solutions for the air, land, sea, public safety and healthcare market segments.
CAE is a world-class training systems integrator that offers training centers, services, and products designed to prepare defense and security forces for mission success.
AM
309
The Army has released a desktop/laptop version of an interactive video game program to teach young leaders how to resolve their soldiers’ personal and performance problems. The program is called the Emergent Leader Immersive Training Environment (ELITE), which is now available as ELITE-Lite. ELITE teaches leaders how to ask the right questions to understand a soldier’s problem and how to use the Army’s resources to address the problem. It helps the Army develop leaders to their full potential and represents another resource to stop sexual harassment and sexual assault. ELITE has interactive segments with these five scenarios: a dispute between sergeants; a soldier with finan-cial problems; a soldier with a driving under the influence arrest; a female soldier asking for a transfer after problems with a male NCO; and a fight between NCOs over a sergeant’s comments about a female soldier. Each scenario provides users a menu of questions to ask an avatar representing the soldier with a problem. The users’ choices affect the video’s storyline. At the end of the scenario, users receive a score based on the questions they selected. “It hones junior leaders’ listening and communicating skills so they can understand problems and then direct soldiers to the right person or agency that can help resolve those problems,” Marco Conners, chief of the Army’s Games for Training Program, Fort Leavenworth, Kan., explained during a
recent media briefing. Conners’ organization certified the program for use across the Army. “What we want to do is develop a scenario and counseling tool that will teach how to do counseling. We don’t want a simulation that will teach you to be a counselor. Instead, it provides you with some resources and techniques for how to effec-tively counsel,” Conner said. The last two scenarios above, involving female soldiers, are based on the Army’s sexual harassment/assault response and prevention program. The ELITE program is being used this semester at the U.S. Military Academy in a military leadership class. Soldiers and units can download ELITE for free off the Army Milgaming site: https://milgaming.army.mil.
Data PacKetS
Airbus Defence and Space is updating the radar jammer systems used by the German armed forces to train radar operators and pilots. This means the German armed forces are bringing their own capabilities for combating electronic jamming attacks in line with the increasing capa-bilities offered by new tech-nologies. Airbus Defence and Space has already delivered four jammer systems to GFD, a German aviation company. The multi-frequency jammer systems based on digital radio frequency memory technology simulate electronic jamming attacks, allowing processes to be developed to protect aircraft from radar-guided missile attacks. Conversely, opera-tors of air defense radars train to combat such
jamming attacks in order to keep air defense systems functioning despite electronic counter-measures. At GFD, the jammer systems are housed in a pod positioned under the wings of Learjet aircraft. The jammer systems can be integrated into other flying platforms at any time.
Simthetiq has become the largest provider of professional 3-D content with the release of over 500 new mili-tary vehicles to the simulation and serious gaming industry. The library now includes more than 1,000 real-time 3-D vehicles that are compat-ible with the most recent technologies used in today’s simulators. These new models offer the best visual quality by using the latest real-time rendering technology, such as reflection, dynamic shadow and micro details. They come with off-the-shelf compatibility with the HLA & DIS network protocol and work with various sensor simulation solutions.
Multi-Frequency Systems Simulate Electronic Jamming
Counseling Training Hones Listening Skills
Military Vehicles Added to
Simulation Library
www.MT2-kmi.com20 | MT2 19.8
Ryan Aerospace has announced arrival of the new Helimod Mark II in a teaming effort with Precision Flight Controls that will see a new rotary wing capability added to their lineup of simulation products. The original Helimod was a flagship product of Ryan Aerospace, offering a new, affordable, modular and reconfigurable helicopter simu-lator control system. Helimod units are in use by military and civilian organizations all around the world and enjoy an excellent track record in performance and reliability. However, the new device has taken things to a new level with a vast array of improve-ments and new features. These include improved electronics, including Penny & Giles
potentiometers to give much more precise control movement with very little noise or interference. Wiring harnesses and connection systems have also been improved. The USB motherboard is 12-bit and designed to give the maximum amount of resolution (over 4000 steps) per axis. The company also has added electronically adjustable pedals via a rocker switch under the pilot’s seat. This means that any size pilot can fit comfortably into the system. Pushing the rocker switch forward or aft will electronically move the pedals using a high-quality, high-strength electric actuator. In addition, the pedals are dampened by a high-quality adjustable hydraulic dampener to give a realistic and smooth feel.
Concurrent, a provider of unified content delivery and video analytics solutions, has unveiled support for new high-density edge server configurations in its latest UpShift content delivery network software release. As a unified solution, UpShift supports content delivery to any viewing device from a common platform, enabling commercial video services to be streamed to consumers at home or on the go and over fixed-line or mobile broadband networks. Concurrent’s UpShift software has been certified to operate on next-generation servers featuring higher solid-state storage capacities and new form factors. The additional storage capacity can be used to cache a greater amount of popular content closer to the consumer, reducing the traffic demands on the content delivery network (CDN) and improving network efficiency. Licensed multiscreen content, Internet-based over-the-top content and content for on-demand TV services can be cached within a single server and delivered to any screen, over any network on demand. Concurrent’s UpShift solution supports a variety of integrated and attached storage options in support of intelli-gent caching, including DRAM, solid-state drives (SSD), and hard disk drive (HDD) storage. The latest software release includes support for SSD densities of up to 19 terabytes per rack unit and on-board HDD storage density of up to 36 terabytes per rack unit. UpShift edge servers share cache capacity across services, making them more efficient and capable than traditional CDN caches. Concurrent’s UpShift software and certified hardware solutions are currently available and being shipped to customers in support of their multiscreen content delivery network deployments.
DiSTI has introduced the GL Studio 5 Designer, providing the best user experience for creating the highest-performing and most compelling user interfaces. The new Designer has been reen-gineered to modernize the user
interface development experience while preserving the efficient and flexible development workflow GL Studio is known for. The new design provides the ultimate user experi-ence by allowing users to work in multiple windows.
Solution Modernizes User Interface Development
Helicopter Simulator System Adds New Features
Unified Solution Supports Content Delivery to Any
Device
TrianGraphics has released Trian3DBuilder 5.1.11, the latest version of its terrain data-base generation and modelling solution. Trian3DBuilder offers comprehensive features for the generation of geospecific correlated terrains optimized for real-time rendering. With its simple workflow and a concept based on modular construction templates, Trian3DBuilder is a well established terrain-creating tool on today’s simulation market. Flexible licensing options, with the choice for various feature/export upgrades, a short training period and an overall simplified tool chain can help cut costs in the everyday production process.
New Version Enhances Terrain
Database Generation
Compiled by KMI Media Group staff
www.MT2-kmi.com MT2 19.8 | 21
Major General Jon A. MadduxProgram Executive Officer,
Simulation, Training and Instrumentation
U.S. Army
Major General Jon A. Maddux entered the Army as an enlisted sol-dier in 1976. After a three-year enlisted tour with the 82nd Airborne Division, he earned a Bachelor of Science in English language and literature and a Bachelor of Business Administration in operations research analysis from Eastern Michigan University, and was com-missioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. His postgraduate education includes: a master’s degree in administration from Central Michigan University, a master’s degree in telecommunications from University of Colorado-Boulder and a MSST in strategy from the Unit-ed States Army War College. His military education includes the Sig-nal Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, Project Management Course, Defense Systems Management College, Army Command and General Staff College and the Army War College.
Maddux has held key staff positions at the tactical, operational/joint and strategic levels. His prior assignments include: assistant to the principal military deputy, assistant secretary of the Army Acquisi-tion, Logistics and Technology [ASA (ALT)]; deputy commanding gen-eral, Support, Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom; program executive officer am-munition/commanding general, Picatinny Arsenal; chief of staff, Of-fice of the ASA (ALT), Pentagon, Washington, D.C.; director for Army Evaluation Task Force Integration, Directorate for Program Manager for Future Combat Systems (Brigade Combat Team); project manager for Future Combat Systems Network Systems Integration; executive officer, Aviation and Intelligence and Electronic Warfare Systems Directorate, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Research, Development and Acquisition); staff officer, Aviation and Intelligence and Electronic Warfare Systems Directorate, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Research, Development and Acquisition); and commander, Signal Detachment, 75th Ranger Regiment, after a suc-cessful company command of B Co, 38th Signal Battalion. Maddux also served as an enlisted military police in the 82nd Airborne Division MP Co and 301st POW MP Brigade.
Maddux’s awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit with four oak leaf clusters, the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with five oak leaf clusters, the Army Achievement Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal with two service stars, the Southwest Asia Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with service star, the Global War on Terrorism Medal, the NATO Medal, the Kuwait Liberation Medal, the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, the Master Parachutist Badge, the Ko-rean and French Parachutist Badges, the Air Assault Badge, the De-
partment of the Army Staff Identification Badge and the coveted Black & Gold Ranger Tab.
Q: How do you see PEO STRI’s mission and programs changing as a result of broader strategic changes in the Army, including the reduction of ground operations and federal budget constraints?
A: While the U.S. Army represents the most versatile, agile, rapidly deployable and sustainable land force in the world, we acknowl-edge the conditions necessitating strategic change in order for us to continue answering our nation’s call. We must operate differ-ently, enable forces differently and organize differently to maintain overmatch and to set the conditions for fundamental long-term change.
To achieve this magnitude of transformation, we’re adhering to an operating concept called “Force 2025 and Beyond,” which sets the con-ditions for the Army to meet current missions while preparing for the future. It will allow us to operate as part of joint, interorganizational and multinational combined arms teams to confront increasingly dan-gerous threats, accomplish the mission and win in a complex world.
The level of preparation required for conducting complex joint operations is achievable through a hybrid blend of simulated train-ing that we at PEO STRI can provide. Modeling, simulation and training play a critically important role in modernizing our military in a fiscally constrained environment. Because we at PEO STRI offer
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Training SustainerPrioritizing to Achieve a Synthetic Training Environment
Q&AQ&A
high-fidelity training devices and systems embedded with cutting-edge technology, we help to make the U.S. Army the most lethal weapon on the battlefield.
Q: What is PEO STRI doing to prepare for the future?
A: The U.S. faces complex and even unknown threats. Our Army is operating in a dramatically austere fiscal environment. This set of circumstances requires us—just like nearly every other Depart-ment of Defense agency—to make tough choices.
Our first order of business, to this end, is stabilizing our programs to ensure that our top-priority programs are funded to the approved Army requirement. These priority programs—including the Call for Fire Trainer, Engagement Skills Trainer and Medical Simulation Train-er Centers, among many others—will anchor our portfolio to achieve a synthetic training environment for our force.
Given our current constraints of structure, the reduction in force and a declining defense budget, Army training programs are our pri-mary concern to bolster the chief of staff of the Army’s readiness prior-ity. We will also ensure that we can continue to provide the relevant training, test instrumentation and cyber-defense capabilities that rank second to none. We will ensure these capabilities and products get into the hands of our sister services and those of our allied and partner na-tions where and when it makes sense.
Q: You issued a detail assessment of PEO STRI operations shortly after taking office. What were some of your key conclusions?
A: As an acquisition agency, speed, precision and applicability mat-ter. The best product or service is only successful if we can get it into the hands of soldiers exactly when and where they need it.
Our past funding profile has drastically delayed our programs, with some not scheduled to complete fielding until 2025. To mitigate the delay in fielding critically important training technology, we are work-ing in concert with our partners at the Combined Arms Center-Train-ing (CAC-T) and Department of Army Military Operations-Training (DAMO-TR). Together, we are assessing the entire portfolio and making trade-offs to divest obsolete programs, modify existing programs to a “good enough” solution and start new programs where it is appropri-ate to shape Force 2025 and Beyond. These actions are being made in an effort to meet the new Army’s new operating concept to optimize human performance.
Q: You are working with other Army organizations on developing a 30-year plan for technology development. Where does this stand, what do you expect it to say, and how will it influence what PEO STRI does?
A: We are strategically focused on developing a near-term, mid-term and long-term 30-year plan for the PEO STRI portfolio of programs with our triad partners, CAC-T and DAMO-TR.
The plan, called the Training Long-Range Investment Require-ments Analysis (LIRA), charts the plans, priorities and funding for Army training devices. The Training LIRA will employ a similar meth-odology for planning and prioritization as the weapon system review process.
Because it is vitally important that our training and testing en-ablers mirror our weapon systems, we will emphasize concurrency so that training stands up to the scrutiny of a battle-hardened force.
The process will also enable the science and technology effort to influ-ence current programs of record or shape new ones.
We are seeing an increased focus on the Army’s cyber-defense and cyber-training requirements. PEO STRI will continue to play a key role in securing the U.S. network from adversarial threats.
Q: What do you see as some of the key recent success stories for PEO STRI?
A: Over the past year, we’ve courageously and optimistically marched through dynamic periods of change and fiscal uncertain-ty during a time where the velocity of instability across the globe is ever-increasing. Our soldiers continue to answer the nation’s call largely in part because of the work being done in the training, simulation and testing community.
The Army’s steadfast focus on training, which precisely enables readiness, is a true testament to the importance of the work that we perform. In the fiscal year 2014 Congressional bipartisan budget agree-ment, the Army was able to increase readiness by refocusing on home station training and increasing multi-echelon and multicomponent training at our combat training centers. As a result, we have been able to continue to provide realistic training environments, thus increasing the readiness of U.S. forces.
As the Army invests in new and growing domains such as cyber, PEO STRI stands out as a key contributor. The Army is the leader with-in the cyber realm—defending our networks and denying the enemy freedom of movement in cyberspace—and PEO STRI has played a part to make that happen.
These are only a few of the many contributions that our team has made on behalf of the U.S. Army. Across our entire portfolio, we can find gleaming examples of success. That success is directly attributed to the top-notch, driven and dedicated professionals that proudly wear the PEO STRI badge.
Q: You have also outlined plans for PEO STRI to phase out most of its customer-funded services contracts and instead focus its efforts on STRI programs of record. What benefits do you expect to see from this?
A: The Department of Defense—and the Army in particular—is up against a challenging set of circumstances: an uncertain budget, unpredictable future threats, a reduced force structure and a na-tion that immensely depends on us.
Although at PEO STRI we cannot change the circumstances, we can ensure our troops remain the best trained fighting force that our world will ever know. It is a monumental task, but one that we’re clear-ly chartered to perform. As a result, we’re tuning in to our core mission and handing over the outliers, like customer-funded service contracts, to our partners across the force who are well-positioned to handle the responsibility. It’s the right thing to do for our soldiers, the right thing to do for our taxpayers and the right thing for our nation.
Q: What changes would you like to see from industry in how it works with PEO STRI?
A: For many years, PEO STRI participated in the Training and Sim-ulation Industry Symposium (TSIS), where our project managers and contracting officers updated industry members on near-term business opportunities. Although it was a largely successful event,
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we are looking to expand the depth and breadth of this session to include input from industry.
For the upcoming and future TSIS sessions, we’re planning to gain insight from our requirements owners to understand the capability gaps for the current and future force in preparation for Force 2025 and Beyond. We will also get the perspective of our research and develop-ment science and technology partners to address where the govern-ment is going to address those gaps.
To augment this collaboration, we’re interested in gaining our industry partners’ perspectives, to the most reasonable extent pos-sible, on where they are investing their independent research and development dollars.
The dialogue that will occur through this multipronged approach will assist the modeling and simulation community in meeting the te-nets of Force 2025 and Beyond.
Q: What are some of the key areas of technological advancements that you are looking for from industry in the next couple of years?
A: We’re seeking a number of modernized and affordable capabili-ties from industry to enhance our soldiers’ training experience and the test environment in an era of fiscal constraint.
We see an importance in enhanced individual, squad and scout training capabilities in the immersive and live training environments to achieve squad overmatch and optimize soldier performance in both physical and mental skills. We foresee that this enhancement will occur
by leveraging virtual humans, intelligent avatars and agent technolo-gies to increase the realism of the immersive training environment.
Other top technology areas that we believe will enhance the Army’s future training environment include: advancing “big data” analytics, delivering training at the point of need, leveraging artificial intel-ligence, developing a “one world” terrain, augmenting the synthetic environment and depending more on intelligent tutoring capabilities.
We’re also seeking enhanced cyber-warfare capabilities in the test and training environments to include both offensive threat and de-fensive operations. We’re specifically honed in on the following areas: remote mission command of multiple cyber offensive and defensive platforms; modeling and execution of offensive and defensive cyber activities providing force multiplier effects; virtualization of offensive threat and defensive networks; and offensive and defensive cyber tools developed as software services available in secure cloud environments.
In addition to these areas of concentration, we are looking for im-proved gaming solutions and blended or augmented-reality technolo-gies. We’re also seeking more realistic pairing of shooter and target en-gagements in live test and training environments, as well as enhanced weapon tracking/orientation in test and training domains. We’d like to see an integrated aviation capability at the combat training centers, home stations and test ranges.
We realize that the Army’s test and training technology is only as sound as the industry stakeholders who have the capability to create it, so we’re dedicated to communicating with and working alongside our industry partners to provide the best for the best! O
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Simulation Drives Air Traffic Control Training
unique Challenges and requiremenTs have led To inCreased use of simulaTion for Training miliTary air TraffiC ConTrollers. By henry Canaday, mT2 CorrespondenT
Counting fixed-wing, rotary-wing and remotely piloted aircraft, the Department of Defense operates nearly 14,000 aircraft, far more than the mainline fleets of all the major U.S. airlines. Whether for missions or training, this huge fleet of aircraft flies frequently, if not quite as constantly as the commercial sector. That means takeoffs, cruises and landings must be as carefully controlled from the ground as they are precisely flown in the air.
Air traffic control (ATC) of defense aircraft is similar to its civilian counterpart in some ways, but different in others. Military aircraft may fly under somewhat different rules and in some very different environ-ments. ATC staff in the military have shorter careers and much higher turnover than civilian controllers. In deployments, military control-lers must quickly learn the challenges and requirements of completely novel airfields and locations.
All this makes training ATC personnel in the military especially challenging. Furthermore, budget pressures mean this training must be done economically while being as safe as possible.
Unique challenges and tough requirements have led to increased use of simulation for training ATC staff in the military. The trend to-ward better and more realistic simulation with more decentralized functions and scenarios is likely to continue.
Adacel, for example, develops and maintains a wide range of tower, radar and precision approach radar (PAR) simulators that are used by all branches of the military for ATC training, said Tom Evers, market-ing director.
The company’s simulators include mobile systems that can be easily transported to field locations. Adacel’s mobile system is capable of operating in tower, radar or PAR modes, all on a single system. Individual workstations can be networked together to enable combined training.
Adacel has also developed speech recognition systems for military applications that can be used both in Adacel systems and by other ATC simulation systems. This speech recognition technology is used in Ada-cel ATC platforms to enable students to communicate directly with the computer simulation without the need of a human to play the role of a pseudo-pilot.
The benefits of this speech recognition technology are twofold, accord-ing to Evers. “It reduces overhead for a supporting cast of characters, and it allows instructors to focus on instructing rather than role-playing.”
CommuniCaTion sKills
Adacel’s speech technology is also an integral part of the company’s Intelligent Communications Environment (ICE), a training device for
teaching aviation phraseology and communication procedures. Lack of fundamental skills in phrasing and communication can distract stu-dents and seriously degrade their performance in advanced simulators.
ICE is designed to help students gain the necessary language pro-ficiency to make maximum use of their time in the more advanced simulators. The company’s latest development in speech technology is an advanced, dialogue-based speech recognition system called LEXIX that is designed specifically for the simulation.
Adacel’s primary U.S. military clients are the Air Force, Army and Army Reserve. The Air Force, which has more than 90 Adacel systems, recently selected Adacel in open competition for a system-sustainment and technology-refresh contract.
The Army has selected Adacel for its ATC Common Simulator (ACS) program for all Army units. Internationally, the Royal Cana-dian and Royal Australian Air Forces also use Adacel systems for ATC training.
Adacel believes in a soup-to-nuts approach to ATC training. “High-fidelity simulators are wonderful tools, but they are not always the best answer to particular training needs,” Evers said.
For example, learning fundamen-tal skills such as phraseology and com-munication techniques can be accom-plished by tools less sophisticated and less costly than advanced simulators. So Adacel offers a wide range of simu-lators and tools to fit specific training regimens, rather than offering a one-size-fits-all approach.
Military ATC shares many com-mon rules and characteristics with its civilian counterpart. But, as Evers not-ed, there are also many military-spe-cific flight patterns, regulations and
operational requirements that must be accommodated for in military training. Adacel has a long history of developing simulators specifically for military use, and the devices thus have features in their software unique to U.S. military flight procedures, and often to particular unit requirements.
Adacel has spent 12 years developing speech recognition systems aimed specifically at aviation and the phrases, stress and noises associ-ated with it. “The experience gained over the years enables Adacel to continually improve speech capabilities within its systems,” Evers said.
The size of the company’s customer base enables it to have a support network whose size and quality is second to none in ATC simulation, he
Tom Evers
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argued. In addition to annual site visits and call-center troubleshoot-ing, Adacel offers frequent training courses, which can be especially useful to the military because personnel turn over so frequently.
Evers also emphasized that the effectiveness of ATC simula-tion depends on the quality of training scenarios. “Training cours-es and subject-matter expertise supplied by Adacel maximize the benefits of our system features and are frequently used by the military,” he said.
For the future, Evers sees military training increasingly shifting to automated, individual-based learning and more decentralized lessons on mobile systems. “Speech recognition is key to accomplishing this efficiently, particularly in ATC training.”
As speech recognition tools continue penetrating our daily lives, with interactive voice systems and automated answering services in cell phones and other devices, speech recognition will be pushed to-ward true conversational capabilities, he predicted, and “interactive speech-enabled systems will become increasingly mandatory in mili-tary training systems.”
Evers added that the Air Force was well ahead of this trend in 2002 when it made speech recognition a mandatory requirement of its ATC Tower Simulation System, which Adacel won.
Training goals
One specialist in ATC simulation and voice recognition is UFA, which has both U.S. and international customers and covers all facets of ATC simulation. It has recently seen an increase in the demand for ATC training from the military, according to Amy Parish, project man-ager, who added, “With more flight simulation and training for pilots, there is a similar need for ATC simulation training.”
UFA currently provides a number of training solutions to the U.S. military, including the Navy, Marines, Army, Air Force and Army Na-tional Guard. In addition, UFA provides ATC simulation to internation-al military customers, such as the Belgian air force.
UFA training solutions range from small-footprint, standalone computers up to full-immersion configurations with multiple comput-ers. Some customers, such as the Army and Army National Guard, use UFA’s ATCoach Tactical Edition in combination with ATTower, UFA’s ATC tower simulation system. Other customers, such as the Air Force, use single computers that can be linked together to provide individual or collective training.
UFA’s military customers can also use one of several different pro-grams, each of which is designed to focus on key training goals. For example, some customers use UFA’s phraseology trainer, ATSpeak, to learn the basics of ATC phrasing and English. Once proficient in these phrases and English, customers can then transition to a specific plat-form, radar or tower.
Platform training can be done with UFA’s ATCoach Tactical Edition, which provides training on surveillance and precision-approach radar. There is also UFA’s ATCoach Global Edition, which provides simulation for approach and en-route training. In addition, ATTower provides train-ees with a photorealistic visual environment while supplying function-alities for all aspects of military, civilian and general aviation operations.
Simulation is a major portion of military ATC training and plays a significant role in allowing students to train as they fight, Parish said. “A deployment or change in duty station no longer means having to learn a new simulator or training platform in order to start or continue training,” she noted. “Instead, customers like the Navy use the same software and change only the content housed inside the software.”
As a result, when military personnel are transferred to another lo-cation, they can focus on learning the new airfield and its operations, instead of learning a new simulator and all its functionalities.
The ability to link simulators to create multi-user joint exercises is one powerful advantage of simulation-based ATC training. Another ad-vantage is that expensive equipment, pilots and other personnel need not be risked to train for dangerous situations. “Today’s military has embraced simulation as a cost-effective addition to its training tools, and this will no doubt continue to expand over time,” Parish observed.
Increased use of simulation for ATC training will exploit technol-ogy advances that produce even higher-fidelity simulators. UFA is
ATTower Desktop Tower Training Systems from UFA are used by Army National Guard sites around the country. [Image courtesy of UFA]
www.MT2-kmi.com MT2 19.8 | 27
planning to increase its ability to integrate with other simulation plat-forms, continue increasing the fidelity of current simulator functions and minimize simulator footprints to reduce costs. Size, weight and portability of deployable systems are key characteristics of simulators for the company’s military customers.
sofTware Tools
There are many sophisticated tools behind the best ATC simula-tors. For example, VT MÄK generally does not directly provide ATC train-ing systems to the military. “But we do provide software components that make up both radar and tower control simulators,” explained Peter Swan, the company’s business devel-opment director.
VR-Vantage is MÄK’s visualization toolkit. It provides a full mul-tichannel image-generation capability that can be used for giving the out-of-window view on a full or a desktop tower simulator. VR-Vantage also offers a two-dimensional map display that can be used as an ATC radar display. Further, it enables a stealth view display that lets the in-structor have flexible visualization capability at an instructor operation station. Finally, VR-Vantage has simulated sensor and camera views for training in a remote tower environment.
MÄK’s VR-Forces is a scenario generator. It simulates fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, either in the air or on the ground, and also shows tarmac traffic such as baggage carts, fuel trucks and emergency ve-hicles. VR-Forces simulates realistic ground personnel for marshalling aircraft and other duties and provides background traffic such as ve-hicles on the roads around an airport. The tool can generate realistic combat situations for training the combat control teams that perform ATC, fire support, communication, command and control. It also gen-erates realistic maritime environments and ship simulations for train-ing Navy air traffic controllers.
MÄK’s VR-TheWorld is a streaming terrain server. It stores a com-plete database of world terrain, including elevation, imagery, maps and features. It can store high-fidelity, 3-D images of specific airports and a world navigation database. “VR-The World streams terrain data directly into VR-Vantage, VR-Forces and any other compatible client system in real time,” Swan explained.
VR-Link is MÄK’s interoperability toolkit. It allows users to make their software compliant with Distributed Interactive Simulation, an IEEE standard for conducting real-time, platform-level war gaming across multiple computers, and High-Level Architecture, which en-ables users to become part of a larger simulation federation.
WebLVC is MÄK’s initiative to migrate traditional simulations to the web. “We are confident that a WebLVC-based, multi-user simula-tion environment could provide much of the training currently provid-ed by large simulators in fixed training centers,” Swan said. “We foresee a persistent online training environment for both air traffic controllers and pilots, particularly for practicing interactions between the two un-der normal and emergency situations.”
A persistent online training environment will become especially important, he predicted, as air traffic control becomes air traffic man-agement with the use of digital systems such as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) and other next-gen tools.
MÄK offers open toolkits so its customers, typically simulator de-velopers, can add their own functionalities, which Swan described as “the special sauce on top of our software.” User interfaces can be eas-ily modified for a particular application and localized for a particular country.
“Customers can continue to develop our products to meet new requirements, such as ATC automation,” he said, adding that MÄK’s networking products have been used by companies like UFA, Adacel and Micro Nav for military ATC training.
Further, MÄK emphasizes that its products are terrain-agile, so they support many different terrain formats, from source data to streaming terrain to highly detailed 3-D databases.
air supporT CenTers
Beyond its sophisticated simulation tools, MÄK provides a training solution, QuickStrike, for U.S. Air Force air support operations centers (ASOCs).
An ASOC’s mission is providing fast reaction to immediate requests from land forces for close air support. MÄK’s QuickStrike ASOC Battle-field Simulation fills a crucial gap in U.S. and U.K. close air support and airspace manager training, Swan said. QuickStrike now gives six squadrons the ability to conduct total-mission training events when-ever staff and time are available.
The tool started when the 111th ASOC returned from its first de-ployment to Afghanistan. “They realized training prior to deployment was inadequate,” Swan recalled.
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The 111th sought an organic training capability focused on ASOC missions that was low-cost, simple, adaptable and immediately avail-able. With MÄK’s assistance, the ASOC developed a complete training system based on MÄK’s QuickStrike HLA simulation. Seven years of spiral development, incorporating lessons learned, means the system can now realistically replicate a tactical operations center (TOC) in any theater and expand to support a conflict scenario.
QuickStrike provides a collaborative platform for both trainees and exercise controllers, with integrated software and workstations that easily adapt to new missions and TOC configurations. New capabilities have been incorporated to add realism and simplify scenario develop-ment. For example, the system can now import Theater Battle Manage-ment Core Systems tasking order air-mission data and provide air and ground tracks for a common operating picture.
QuickStrike’s ability to simulate team processes and rehearse mis-sions proved its value in the 111th’s next deployment, Swan reported. It enables squadrons to develop and share scenarios incorporating les-sons learned from every deployment. “These warfighters have filled the training gap and have the capability they need to train to win.”
Despite, or perhaps because of budget pressures, Swan said his company is seeing an uptick in the use of simulation for training. Vir-tual training solutions simply cost less than expensive live training.
Britain-based Micro Nav supplies ATC training to a wide variety of military and civilian customers around the world, although not yet in the United States. The company’s Beginning to End for Simulation and Training (BEST) product takes three forms: radar, supporting ap-proach and area training; radar and 2-D tower, supporting approach and area training; and radar and 3-D tower, supporting approach and area training.
The flexible BEST ATC simulator supports training from the begin-ning through rating and validation, as well as conversion and refresher training.
A BEST network can also be configured to run two or more simu-lation exercises at the same time, allowing users to perform different training operations concurrently. Each exercise can be tailored for spe-cific audiences such as one-on-one, classroom or full-scope operation rooms.
BEST also offers aids that assist training. An instructor can occupy a dedicated position or sit alongside a student, monitoring communi-cations and transmitting commands to pilots unheard by the student. A monitoring feature allows an instructor to see up to 12 controller displays as thumbnails and listen to communications.
Another feature reports significant events as they occur. Scripted commands determine which events are reported. Finally, a prompt at pilot position allows pilots to play the roles of adjacent controllers, re-ducing required staff. O
For more information, contact MT2 Editor Hank Donnelly at [email protected] or search our online archives
for related stories at www.mt2-kmi.com.
The ATSpeak phraseology trainer from UFA helps students learn the basics of air traffic control phrasing and English. [Image courtesy of UFA]
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www.MT2-kmi.com MT2 19.8 | 29
The Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith Simulation and Train-ing Technology Center (STTC) is embedded at the core of Team Or-lando’s modeling and simulation training corridor.
The STTC is a subordinate organization under the Army Re-search Laboratory’s Human Research and Engineering Director-ate (ARL-HRED). Its mission is to conduct simulation and training research and development to enhance warfighter effectiveness by engaging other services, academia and industry to research and ma-ture critical simulation and training technologies.
The center is a model of collaboration, housing STTC employees along with employees from Army Program Executive Office (PEO) for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation, and the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Simulation and Training. The STTC manages 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3 research-funding lines and leverages these resources by partnering with PEOs, other Research Development and Engineering Command organizations, Department of Defense agencies, federal agencies, academia, industry and international partners.
The goal is to develop technologies that demonstrate great appli-cation not only in the training domain, but also in the tactical or op-erational domain, and others as well. We want technologies that can transition to multiple program managers or PEOs.
It’s also a great plus when we develop technolo-gies that link to and advance other research efforts, achieving complementary research synergy. It’s all about training and simulation technology for today and the future—we want to satisfy current warfighter training requirements in addition to those five to 10 years down the road. The emphasis is enduring rel-evance and utility.
The STTC recently welcomed Colonel Gary Laase as the new commander. Laase brings with him a strong acquisition background, having previously served as director, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Forward Operations, Kabul, Afghanistan.
Associate Division Chief Ivan Martinez has more than 20 years of experience in the research and development of modeling, simula-tion and training technologies for the Army. He previously served as deputy director for the Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Direc-torate, Modeling and Simulation Division.
Dr. Robert Sottilare, who serves as chief technology officer, has nearly 30 years of experience in the modeling, simulation and train-ing domain as a researcher, engineer, program manager and science and technology manager. He also holds a patent for a high-resolu-tion, head-mounted projection display (U.S. Patent 7,525,735).
The organization is divided into five branches: Advanced Simula-tion, Blended Simulation Research, Creative Technologies, Ground
Simulation Environments and Medical Simulations Research. There is also a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) cell that provides research support in the modeling and simulation domain.
The STTC also provides program management for the Institute for Creative Technologies, an Army University Affiliated Research Center. Today, the STTC is actively pursuing research and develop-ment in the areas of intelligent tutors, immersive learning environ-ments, training effectiveness, dismounted soldier training, virtual world technologies, augmented reality and medical simulators and simulations.
sTraTegiC goals
The STTC accomplishes its mission through the implementa-tion of five strategic goals:
• Conduct quality research in support of learning, training, testing, mission planning and mission rehearsal in the following domains: real-time human-in-the-loop simulation technologies, behavioral representation and shared simulation environments.
• Promote learning and develop/maintain key competencies to make our people efficient and effective supporters of our warfighters’ learning, training, testing, mission planning and mission rehearsal needs.• Create/maintain a state-of-the-art facility to support the development, demonstration and transition of our research and technology to programs of record and programs of instruction.• Educate our stakeholders about our research program to facilitate opportunities for partnering and transition of our research and technology to
programs of record and programs of instruction.• Develop and maintain processes to support the most efficient
and effective use of our resources (people, funding, equipment and facilities).
We are constantly exploring, researching and attempting to create new training technologies that satisfy today’s requirements and maintain their value over time. Our funding—the color of our money—allows us to work basic, applied and advanced tech-nology development research. We work projects with DARPA as well as with program managers, and in some instances directly with an operational unit. The challenge is to find the right bal-ance within that research spectrum as we determine our future investments.
By miChelle milliner
commanD ProFile
Col. Gary Laase
Simulation and Training Technology Centerarmy faCiliTy ConduCTs researCh and developmenT To enhanCe warfighTer effeCTiveness. SFC
PAUL
RAY
SMIT
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MU
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TECH
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CENTER
SIM
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UNITED STATES ARMY
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The STTC has a very educated and knowledgeable workforce with years of experience. In terms of early research, they have an excellent view on what areas of research we should pursue in a spe-cific technology. They understand where research in a specific area is or is not going. We also have a great relationship with our Training and Doctrine Command and acquisition partners who clearly under-stand the needs of the Army and their current programs.
A significant portion of current research is addressing the Fu-ture Holistic Training Environment-Live/Synthetic (FHTE-L/S). Ul-timately, FHTE-LS will create a system of systems that connects key training enablers in a persistent manner to enable collective multi-echelon training in an integrated and seamless live, virtual, con-structive and gaming environment. It will meet the commander’s training objectives under realistic operational conditions.
To attain the Army goal of a leaner, more lethal, expeditionary and agile force, the STTC is focusing on a distributed synthetic train-ing environment that includes augmented reality, one-world terrain, artificial intelligence and intelligent tutoring systems.
researCh porTfolio
Distributed simulation is one part of our diverse research port-folio. Continuously improving existing models and simulations to interoperate towards an end, such as analysis, experimentation, test-ing or training, is a requirement that will not go away.
In turn, we are focusing research on how we can better provide interfaces to complex simulations. Our goal is an interface that is intuitive to a diverse set of users, while providing a robust methodol-ogy for turning models and simulations into configurable building blocks. This is linked to our research in cloud computing and virtu-alization technologies, systems engineering and human systems in-tegration. The concept is to understand the functionalities required by our users, and then develop those models and simulations and their associated interfaces that perform those functions.
Distributed simulations operating in real time generate extreme-ly large amounts of data traffic. One can argue that as simulations become more complex, their associated challenges—including data management and the ability to provide services—increase in com-plexity as well. We are researching ways to meet these challenges.
Utilizing the capabilities of the cloud, as is done in the emerging commercial infrastructure, may enable us to eliminate or at least reduce the use of expensive computing facilities. Through the use of virtualization and resource time-sharing, clouds can serve as a single set of physical resources to accommodate analysis and experi-mentation needs. They have the potential to provide the benefits of economy of scale, and at the same time become an alternative for scientists to solve challenges through the use of clusters, grids and parallel environments.
This concept presents its own set of issues, however. The systems must be secure, while at the same time allowing large numbers of participants from virtually any location. In addition, efficiency of the management of the data sent and received is critical to ensuring acceptable levels of service. Finally, preservation of the “real-time” facade to maintain the coherence of the simulation is critical.
In addition to cloud computing, the simulation community is moving to leverage multiprocessor systems as well as adopting the
new general-purpose programming of graphics processors. The pro-liferation of virtualization and cloud-based approaches to software services will allow for an exponential expansion of capability.
The STTC’s goal is to be recognized as the preeminent world leader in research, development and engineering of next-generation systems whose hallmark is transitioning the right technology at the right time to soldiers.
In Central Florida, as part of Team Orlando and working with its sister services, academia and industry, STTC engineers are mak-ing a difference in the way soldiers learn by developing simulation and training technology that provides critical capabilities to increase warfighter battlefield readiness and performance. The STTC will continue to develop innovative technology and apply sound engi-neering solutions in order to provide unsurpassed modeling, simu-lation, testing and training devices to our warfighters. O
Michelle Milliner is a public affairs specialist for ARL-HRED STTC.
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For more information, contact MT2 Editor Hank Donnelly at [email protected] or search our online archives
for related stories at www.mt2-kmi.com.
www.MT2-kmi.com MT2 19.8 | 31
From virtual reality scenarios to very real jets of burning propane, simulation technologies are playing an important role in preparing Department of Defense person-nel to respond to fires and other disasters.
With its global array of equipment and facilities, which run the gamut from advanced weapons platforms powered by volatile fuels to family housing, the depart-ment must be prepared to contend with fires, earthquakes, hurricanes and every other sort of natural and man-made crisis scenario, apart from and in addition to the risks of military or terrorist attacks.
To do that requires a corps of firefighters and emergency responders trained to cope with both common and military-unique threats, while at the same time being able to pick up their weapons when needed. The centerpiece of DoD fire training is the Louis F. Garland DoD Fire Academy located at Goodfellow AFB, Texas. (See accompanying story.)
While fighting a fire in a military struc-ture is pretty much the same as in a civilian building, the academy’s mission is a global one, explained Rodney G. Born of the 312th Training Squadron.
“The DoD fire academy ensures that every firefighter is trained the same,” Born said. “In a deployed environment, it is not
uncommon to see firefighters from differ-ent branches of the service crewing the same truck. Be-cause these firefighters re-ceived the same training, it is reasonable to expect that within minutes of landing at an austere overseas loca-tion, DoD firefighters will be ready to support military operations that enable the U.S. military to achieve our national security objectives.
“These firefighters are fully capable of fighting fires at their home station from modern fire stations or from dispersal sites in a combat location. They are prepared for a more diverse range of operations than their civilian counterparts because of the numerous types of military aircraft. The requirement is to perform in the United States as well as abroad, with the possibility of having to bear arms and directly engage with our enemies in defense of our nation,” he continued.
The fire academy recently contracted with Environmental Tectonics Corps’ (ETC) Simulation Division to expand their Ad-vanced Disaster Management Simulator (ADMS), a virtual reality system for training emergency management, disaster response,
homeland security and emergency vehicle operation.
In addition to practicing good decision-making and emergency tactics, firefight-ers must also learn to wield axes and hoses amid the heat and smoke of actual fires. For those needs, trainers can turn to companies such as Kidde Fire Trainers, which has provided advanced fire training simulators to major
world military forces, as well as other types of customers, for more than 30 years.
immersive sCenarios
The ADMS system, which has been in use at the DoD fire academy since 2011, provides a wide range of incidents and lo-cations for trainees to work together to de-velop emergency response skills.
The recently ordered expansion, which adds four structural emergency scenarios, illustrates the types of challenges presented to trainees to help prepare them for what-ever happens. The new scenarios include a hospital, prison, theater and sports hall.
At the hospital, for example, train-ees will face a helicopter crash into the
By harrison donnelly, mT2 ediTor
Rodney G. Born
The miliTary Trains a Corps of firefighTers and emergenCy responders To Cope wiTh BoTh Common and miliTary-unique ThreaTs.
Simulations Aid Fire Fight
www.MT2-kmi.com32 | MT2 19.8
building, a bomb exploding in a parked am-bulance and additional threats. The hospital will have different levels of ambulatory pa-tients, some of whom will be in wheelchairs or on gurneys located on a higher floor. That will help students learn how to evacu-ate buildings, taking into consideration both ambulatory patients and those in need of transport assistance.
In the prison, trainees will not only have to respond to a fire or other threat, but also mitigate the threat, evacuate prisoners and consider the threat of escape.
The movie theater scenario presents future responders arriving on scene with a crowd stampeding out of the building, resulting in multiple patients with trau-matic injuries. There is a search and res-cue component involving both a movie theater employee and an unaccounted-for fire officer, as well as situations involving
an inadequate water supply or neighboring structures.
At the sports center, a fire causes panic and a mass egress, causing confusion and trapped people, and the building is at risk of collapse. Students are presented with the fundamental question: What would you do?
ADMS is also used at Ramstein AFB, Germany, as well as by the Netherlands military and the International Fire Training Center in the United Kingdom. In addition, the U.S. Air Force Civil Engineering Center recently contracted with ETC Simulation to modify its ADMS-Airbase system to en-able training in airfield damage repair.
ETC Simulation has a new product called ADMS-Fire, an augmented reality firefighter training simulator that offers a high level of realism due to its combina-tion of motion-based sensor technology
and high-fidelity virtual reality simulation. The sensor technology replicates the user’s actions and movements in a simulated en-vironment, with trainees using a real fire hose with branch pipe to practice opening and closing the nozzle, for example.
heaT and smoKe
Kidde’s training systems provide live-fire simulations of firefighting scenarios that are likely to be encountered by various military organizations. These fire simula-tors are designed to realistically resemble the vessels on which these fire scenarios are likely to occur, and to enable trainees to use the actual firefighting equipment. The company’s mockups include military plat-forms such as the UH-60 Black Hawk, F-16 and CH-47 Chinook, as well as the latest in commercial aircraft, such as the A-380.
With four military services operating in an increasingly joint fashion at hundreds of facilities around the world, the Depart-ment of Defense needs a common approach to fighting fires and dealing with other disasters in a wide range of environments. Achieving that requires unified training, which is the mission of the Louis F. Garland Department of Defense Fire Academy.
Located at Goodfellow AFB, Texas, the acade-my provides apprentice and advanced fire protec-tion training to some 2,500 students. Apprentice students receive 68 days of training, and graduate with certifications in firefighting, hazardous materi-als, emergency medicine and related areas.
While computer technology plays a limited role in teaching the foundational skills of using the tools and equipment of the trade, a wide range of simulation techniques are used throughout the course, according to Rodney G. Born of the 312th Training Squadron, who serves as the instructor supervisor for the airport firefighting portion of the apprentice course.
CPR is performed on mannequins to practice the correct com-pressions and respirations, for example, while search and rescue is taught in a zero-visibility environment in a trainer designed to simulate the interior of a burning building. Structural and aircraft fire training is conducted in facilities equipped with clean-burning propane, which also allows the fire to be extinguished immedi-ately in case of actual danger to students or teachers.
One area where digital technology has been useful, how-ever, has been in training noncommissioned officers to be-come incident commanders capable of responding to large-scale emergencies. In that case, virtual reality is well-suited to
teaching the strategic and decision-making skills needed to man-age in a crisis.
The roots of this program go back to the 1970s, when the academy created a tabletop model of a notional Norma Brown AFB as a training aid. That tabletop trainer is now morphing into a digital rep-lica with the help of the latest in gaming technol-ogy. Using ETC Simulation’s disaster management simulator, developers have created a virtual world where students must operate as they would in a real-life emergency.
“The gaming solution has dramatically in-creased the rigor and fidelity of firefighters’ train-ing,” explained Air Force Master Sergeant Stephen
S. Thompson. “The entire world is now completely physics-based, taking away any perceived artificialities in training scenarios and adding real-time application to the entire evolution.
“This enhancement to the training environment allows the in-structor cadre to focus more on the strategic decisions made by their students, allowing the trainer to provide realistic consequenc-es and reactions based on fire modeling and medical algorithms to choices made by the students,” he continued.
Students also have the responsibility of successfully navigat-ing and traversing the streets of Norma Brown using a driving module for their command vehicle while taking incoming emergen-cy updates and inputs. “Once on scene, the students will be faced with an actual Type III emergency fire-related incident playing out from a first-person aspect,” Thompson said. “This critical response aspect has not been able to be taught until now, and this new way of training incident commanders has taken academic training as close to the real thing as currently possible.”
MSgt. Stephen S. Thompson
Fire Academy Offers Unified Training
MT2 19.8 | 33 www.MT2-kmi.com
For more information, contact MT2 Editor Hank Donnelly at [email protected] or search our online archives for related stories at www.mt2-kmi.com.
Designing a fire training system able to withstand fire stress and corrosion for an av-erage life of 15 years is a challenge, explained Steve Williamson, director of customer ap-plications. They must produce more than 100,000 fire events, operate at a wide range of temperatures and conditions, and, if it’s a mobile unit, be able to travel. A mobile air-craft firefighting trainer developed for NA-VAIR, for example, has foldable wings to make it compliant with federal rules on road transportation.
Gas-driven, live-fire training can go hand in hand with computerized simulation, Wil-liamson suggested. “Both technologies have their pros and cons and can perfectly supple-ment each other to minimize their individual downsides. Computerized simulation tech-nology can be easily used to train the theory on how to correctly approach certain types of fire, the correct choice of a suitable nozzle or the handling of hoses. But it still lacks the re-alism and threatening atmosphere a live-fire simulator will create.
“One of the things we frequently hear from our customers is that the introduction of live-fire training systems made them real-ize that they had firefighters in their squad who weren’t able to handle the highly threat-ening atmosphere of a real fire. Therefore, Kidde Fire Trainers believes that firefighting training should be conducted on live-fire training systems in order for students to train and practice in an environment typical of a live-fire emergency situation. Experienc-ing firsthand the true narrowness of rooms with obscured vision, radiant heat, fire in-tensity and fire growth and the anxiety of a real-life emergency situation can enhance a trainee’s learning experience to a new level,” he said.
In the future, Williamson foresees current training techniques expanding into new areas and changing with the spread of new tech-nologies, such as hydrogen-powered vehicles. “The third main development we see is the formation of multidisciplinary fire training centers around the globe,” he noted. “These training centers differentiate themselves by providing many different training types at one facility. They offer not only a vast variety of fire training scenarios, like aircraft, struc-tural or outdoor-industrial training systems, but also training on many other areas, such as wild water rescue, cabin crew training or disaster management. These training centers will become training hotspots for emergency responders all around the globe.”
ETC Simulation, meanwhile, sees virtual reality fire training growing in the United States as a result of fiscal pressures. “Because ADMS can help balance the decreasing bud-gets and increasing training requirements that we have today, I see it becoming a stan-dard component in all training programs,” observed Lori Bozenbury, the company’s di-rector of business development.
“Training priorities change as threats evolve, and we make sure that the capabili-ties within ADMS are relevant to their needs,” Bozenbury added. “Over the last 20 years we have seen many new developments, but right now we see a high interest in augmented re-ality—the ability to use real-world tools and have them interact within the virtual reality. This new level of realism adds to the training value, so I expect that we will see more of this in the future.” O
The ADMS system from ETC Simulation provides a wide range of virtual incidents and locations for trainees to work together to develop emergency response skills. [Image courtesy of ETC Simulation]
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providers see inCreased use of simulaTion TeChnology in The year ahead.
The simulation industry offers a compelling value proposition that simply cannot be ignored in today’s constrained budget environment. The fact is that simulation-based training is less expensive than live training, and the increased cost of fuel, environmental impacts and significant wear and tear on weapon sys-tems all point to the greater use of simulation.
The U.S. military services are not just paying lip service to increasing their use of simulation-based training; we are seeing all the U.S. services move in this direction. For example, on new platforms such as the P-8A and F-35, and on planned future platforms such as T-X, you can see how training curricula are changing to incorporate an increasing amount of synthetic training. It’s clear that the bal-ance of live and virtual training is shifting to more virtual.
That’s not to say, however, that all military train-ing should be done in simulators. This would not be practical or desirable, especially when you are asking men and women to go into difficult and dangerous situations to accomplish the missions they are asked to perform. But CAE does believe today’s simulation technology allows militaries to shift more training to simulation, which saves money without sacrificing ca-pability or readiness.
There are two aspects of training we believe the Department of Defense should increasingly focus on during 2015 and beyond, and CAE offers solutions and capabilities to address each. One is the continuing desire for realism—in other words, to make the vir-tual world look and feel just like the real world. There are lots of pieces to this puzzle, some of which are in CAE’s control and some where we are leveraging the
technology curve of other industries, such as gaming technologies or display technologies.
One of the emerging technologies that we see impacting the future of simulation is something we call a “dynamic synthetic environment.” CAE has had an internal research and development program over the past few years aimed at making synthetic environ-ments dynamic, persistent, open and scalable.
Defense and security customers are telling us they want a fully correlated, interoperable and persistent dynamic synthetic environment. What they desire is the ability to plan for missions using “what if” analysis and decision-support tools, rehearse for missions in real time, and then execute missions that will leave less room for surprise outcomes—and be able to do this in real time and in simulation. In other worlds, the synthetic environment needs to be more like the real world, which is constantly changing.
This leads to the second aspect of training we be-lieve DoD is focusing on, which is the networking and interoperability of training systems. They understand that it is becoming increasingly important and cost-ef-fective to have integrated, interoperable and networked training systems so that collective, joint and even co-alition training can be done in a virtual environment.
Integration, interoperability and networkability are much more difficult without open industry stan-dards, so we believe DoD should be continuing to de-mand non-proprietary systems moving forward. CAE is a strong proponent of standards, such as the Com-mon Database, which can help accelerate the use of simulation and synthetic environments not only for training, but also for areas such as mission rehearsal and decision support.
Ray DuquettePresident and General ManagerCae [email protected]
(Editor’s Note: Military Training Technology recently asked representatives of leading companies in the field to consider this ques-tion: “What aspects of training do you think our armed forces need to focus on in 2015, and what does your company have to offer in those areas?” Following are their responses.)
www.MT2-kmi.com MT2 19.8 | 35
Considering the varied challenges they face, our armed forces must be able to respond flexibly, adjust-ing to situations and missions that vary one to the next, from urban combat in one corner of the world to rendering humanitarian aid in response to a virus in another. The underlying theme is that the adaptive warfighter must possess intangibles like critical think-ing, problem solving, teamwork and collaboration. These 21st-century soldier competencies were identi-fied by the Army learning model, along with attributes such as character, accountability and initiative.
Shaping soldiers for the 21st century doesn’t ar-gue against inculcating basic military skills, but rath-er requires leading and managing the entire training experience so that soldiers can understand and apply their technical and tactical skills to new and differ-ent challenges they’ll encounter in the operational environment. Because nearly any training has the po-tential to strengthen or weaken desired competencies and behaviors, the focus shouldn’t be merely on the newest facilities and simulators, but rather on how
these training tools are used to develop tangible and intangible skills. This begins with the design of the instruction itself and continues through the feedback soldiers receive to guide their learning.
Aptima, in its work with partner Sophia Speira Limited, develops services and tools to support this adaptive learning. Our instructional design tech-niques stimulate students to problem-solve in ambig-uous situations by design while they simultaneously learn and understand principles of basic skills such as marksmanship or land navigation. Soldiers may be technically trained to use their rifles effectively, but equally important is to use critical thinking, initia-tive and teamwork when engaging an adversary that might be hidden amongst the general population.
To grow these competencies, Aptima’s measure-ment tools provide feedback across these dimensions for both learner and leadership. The Scenario-based Performance Observation Tool for Learning in Team Environments (SPOTLITE), for example, is a mobile (handheld) assessment tool used by instructors to
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have proven that when American forces are equipped and trained, the U.S. Army is the best, most professional army in the world. The Army has the ability to win against any foe.
However, over that last decade plus, training dollars were plentiful, and training plans were tailored for units. Mid- and low-level leaders have not been accustomed to understanding how far a training dollar might stretch. Times have changed; defense budgets are shrinking. While there are still training dollars, each one will have to be used efficiently and effectively. All leaders will have to plan training, as decreasing budgets force more in-novation in achieving combat-ready soldiers and units.
Whenever any country, military unit or company experiences less funding, innovation, efficiency and invention start leading the way over cultural ways of the past. Enter Raydon Corp., with a new business model for reducing time to market, increasing ef-ficiency in cost per soldier training hour and provid-ing an opportunity for all military leaders to more efficiently plan their training. The business model is rental of training enablers—called “event-based virtual training services” (EBVTS).
With EBVTS, unit leaders plan their entire training cycle, and consult with Raydon to plan “virtual training gates” prior to live training periods. Since live training is the most expensive training dollars spent, units have to be wise in the allocation. Virtual is safe, but also ef-fective, in preparing soldiers to perform well live and qualify the first time. This model saves money, but it also saves time—a commodity very important to lead-ers at all levels.
For example, Raydon recently trained a company-sized unit in Florida on unstabilized gunnery (crew-served weapons in turrets of HMMWVs). Over a period of two days, the crews shot 180,000 virtual rounds on
an advanced simulator. That would have cost almost $750,000 if that training was done live. The cost was around $20,000 in a virtual environment. In addition, because of the training, those crews will retain their knowledge longer than traditional methods of training.
Another example is Raydon’s new Stryker Trainer. Raydon used internal research and development funds, not government dollars, on a multimillion-dollar devel-opment project to make a trainer for the Stryker. With immediate, direct soldier and leader feedback, the pro-cess of improvement is mere months versus the three to four years of previous acquisition models. The results are spectacular. The leaders have an investment in the type of training and when their training is to take place. Raydon’s veterans on staff can help ensure no gaps are remaining.
Raydon recently proved the concept at Fort Bliss, Texas, training a Stryker brigade on short notice. The cost per soldier-training hour for virtual is less than $100 per hour, compared with $750 per hour for live training. The units use their OMA funds, and because of the model, there are no long-term commitments and zero sustainment costs. In addition, the training can be tailored to be mission-specific.
Raydon offers this rental model with almost all of its capabilities for virtual training, including un-stabilized gunnery training (50 cal., MK-19, M-240), convoy operations and M1A1 tank training; addition-ally, it can comply with the latest information assur-ance standards. We are constantly seeking upgrades in hardware and software capabilities to include allowing third-party software, like VBS2, to operate in conjunc-tion with our hardware. If you have a difficult training mission approaching your unit fast, you should call on Raydon to see if we can provide a win-win capability to your unit.
Greg Reckervice President, director of training and supportraydon [email protected]
Frederick J. DiedrichPresidentaptima [email protected]
www.MT2-kmi.com36 | MT2 19.8
As many have said, war is a human endeavor won through hearts and minds as much as steel and phys-ics. When you think about the task of transforming a civilian volunteer into a soldier, the idea that war is a human endeavor drives core curricula for basic mili-tary training beyond the baseline tactical knowledge and skills required.
Increasingly, fielding an effective military re-quires arming our servicemen and women with the psychological armor and mental strength needed in today’s operational environment.
Creating “soldier athletes” during basic training calls for mental skills training of military personnel, who operate in high-stress environments and must demonstrate specific mental and emotional skills that underlie optimal human performance when it matters most. That can be in conflict, in healing after an injury, or in managing work and home life when the servicemember returns to his/her family and community.
SAIC has been working in this area for many years and is investing research and development funds to develop novel approaches for training and assessment in the human dimension. We are looking at the life cycle of recruiting, assessment and train-ing, as well as methods and technologies to close gaps between phases.
Another aspect of the human dimension is the collective. We aim to go beyond maximizing individual performance, and develop more effective training methodologies and approaches to improve team performance and social interaction. Continued challenges with suicide, sexual assault, post-traumat-ic stress and cheating scandals point to a renewed em-phasis on the human dimension, which can include
cognitive performance, ethics, interpersonal commu-nications, team dynamics and leadership.
We also have to adjust training to the demo-graphic entering the armed services today—mul-titasking, highly stimulated, technology-immersed individuals. This generation of warfighters does not learn the way we did. They are more technologically savvy and accustomed to learning in small chunks, focused on what they need to solve the near-term or immediate problem.
With a better understanding of psychology, so-ciology, education science applied through gaming, and simulation-based immersive environments, we can force recruits to grapple with the tactical, moral and ethical dilemmas they may face on the battlefield. Formal training time is limited with our new recruits, so we have to view it as a continuum of learning.
We need to leverage technology to reach them in the barracks after basic training, and to maximize the limited facilities we may have to engage them. We also need to get training to the point of need, where the warfighter is, and complement the formal train-ing they get at actual facilities such as simulation facilities and live training ranges. In addition, more iterations and further immersion will help with re-tention of the material they learn in basic training.
Separately, SAIC is investigating more effective ways to transform traditional simulation environ-ments to cloud-based simulations and blended learn-ing environments accessible on mobile devices. O
For more information, contact MT2 Editor Hank Donnelly at [email protected] or search our online archives
for related stories at www.mt2-kmi.com.
Our armed forces’ view of the battlefield has evolved. Traditional optics are being replaced by mul-tispectral sensor visual feeds from UAVs and other ISTAR assets. This has not changed the core skills required of our military—the ability to correctly dis-tinguish friend from foe—but it has changed the per-spective and the complexity of the task.
A modern warfighter needs to rapidly identify ve-hicles or military hardware from a variety of sensors operating in different visual spectrums, such as elec-tro-optical or infrared, and understand the constraints or drawbacks of a particular observation method or
tool, such as the effect of heat, wind or weather. The same way that previous generations would study out-lines of enemy vehicles to aid identification, today’s generation needs to quickly and accurately interpret sensor vehicle signatures for the digital battlespace.
Simthetiq continues to develop the largest mili-tary 3-D simulation content library to ensure that the newest vehicles in production are ready for virtual training. Our armed forces can exploit this content on all major simulators and serious gaming platforms to train the vehicle recognition skills required in today’s battlefield.
Vincent CloutierCeosimthetiq [email protected]
Josh Jackson vice President of training and simulationsaiC [email protected]
capture their observations in a live setting or exer-cise. Our performance measurement software, the PM Engine, automatically analyzes data from simu-lator streams, including physiological and behavioral sensors, to provide a complete real-time picture of performance, workload and stressors.
Collectively, these tools measure student perfor-mance in both live and virtual settings, addressing
not only technical competence, such as oper-ating a UAV platform, but also development of attributes such as collaboration and perseverance. By combining this feedback with sound instruc-tional design, our toolsets guide students to achieve basic military skills along with the complemen-tary higher-order skills needed for tomorrow’s missions.
www.MT2-kmi.com MT2 19.8 | 37
At the Modern Day Marine expo at Quan-tico, Va., in September, there was a lot of buzz about an Augmented Reality Sand Table (ARES) being developed by the Army Research Laboratory Simulation Training and Technology Center (STTC), a division of the Human Research and Engineering Directorate. But what may have seemed odd for some—the Army showcasing a po-tential new technology at a Marines gather-ing—was nothing more than a day’s work for Team Orlando.
Team Orlando is the coalition of Central Florida-based military, federal government, industry and academia united around a com-mon cause: improving human performance through modeling, simulation and training. Many of the military services work with each other on a daily basis, sharing ideas and re-sources and, in many cases, even having of-fices in the same buildings. They regularly attend meetings, have briefings and attend demonstrations across the services.
That’s how ARES ended up at Modern Day Marine. Martin Bushika, assistant pro-gram manager for program management and director of operations for Marine Corps Systems Command’s Program Manager Training Systems (PM TRASYS), learned about ARES through the tight-knit Team Orlando community.
Chuck Amburn, senior instructional sys-tems specialist at the center, said STTC fre-quently holds briefings for service partners, industry and other agencies like the Depart-ment of Homeland Security. That was how Bushika and PM TRASYS initially learned about ARES.
“The Office of Naval Research (ONR) heard about ARES, too, around the same time, and came down to see it because of their work with the Basic School at Quan-tico. They are looking to identify new tech-nologies that might help with officer train-ing there,” Amburn said. “Both PM TRASYS and ONR immediately saw the value of the research and became vocal advocates. ONR even funded the development of a second ta-ble, which we took to Quantico in September for evaluation.”
ARES combines readily available and relatively inexpensive COTS technology to upgrade one of the battlefield’s oldest tools to a modern-day, techy version. Current sand tables serve as a miniature 3-D map-ping system used for military planning and war games, where notecards and string rep-resent vehicles, roads or streams. The ARES technology projects images onto a tabletop box of sand, using a laptop connected to a projector and Microsoft Kinect, a combined microphone and camera device used with video game systems.
“We’ve seen this sand table, and our Marines were impressed by this capability,” Bushika said. “It provides a faster and more robust capability to visualize those candidate areas of operation. ARES can give more de-tail and a more precise replication of a given area. It’s something we’re leveraging because we have the opportunity to learn and gain in-sight into what everyone is doing.”
Bushika refers to the insights which come from the partnerships and collabo-ration that exist within Team Orlando. The level of productivity and success stem from pooling the accomplishments of each Team Orlando member for a greater impact on the whole.
Seeing the possibilities for ARES, Bushika became part of a Marine Corps Sys-tems Command effort to bring ARES from a potential technology to a reality. Part of that effort is conducting limited-user evaluations, which Bushika explained are planned to take place at the Basic School on Quantico.
PM TRASYS also plans to take another table developed by STTC to this year’s In-terservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference in December to be part of the Joint Live-Virtual-Constructive story there. There will also be a table in the Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation booth.
But before ARES transitions from a proof of concept, Bushika and Amburn have to be sure the Augmented Reality Sand Ta-ble is necessary. “We have to determine if this is worthwhile or not,” Bushika said. “We know Marines build these sand tables to
collaborate during planning, but we don’t know if it’s going to be worthwhile. We hope to help STTC in this effort by letting Marines get their hands on it.”
The ARES team, which also includes Dignitas, Design Interactive and the Uni-versity of Central Florida (UCF) Institute for Simulation and Training, is conducting user needs analysis at Quantico and Fort Benning, Ga., which will feed in design recommendations.
“We are organizing the first experiment with UCF ROTC to determine the efficacy of ARES as a platform for visualization of 3-D terrain,” Amburn said. “Additionally, we are partnering with the U.S. Military Acad-emy at West Point to bring a table there for evaluation as a collaborative scenario generation tool.
“This project, in addition to its research and relevant value to the military, tells a great story of synergy—academia, industry and two service partners working together,” Amburn said. “The bottom line is that we are fortunate that we have so many collaboration opportunities right across the street.” O
By dolly rairigh glass
Modern Day Marine attendees look down at the contour map projected onto the sand of the Augmented Reality Sand Table. [U.S. Marine Corps photo by Carden Hedelt]
Army and Marines Research Sand Table Technology
For more information, contact MT2 Editor Hank Donnelly at [email protected] or search our online archives for related stories at www.mt2-kmi.com.
www.MT2-kmi.com38 | MT2 19.8
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Adacel Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 27www.adacel.comAechelon Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4www.aechelon.comAEgis Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10www.aegistg.comAero Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15www.aerosimulation.comAptima . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39www.aptima.comAgustaWestland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7www.agustawestland.comBihrle Applied Research Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14www.stallbox.comBohemia Interactive Simulations . . . . . . . . . . 25www.bisimulations.comCAE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19www.cae.comChristie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16www.christiedigital.com/true120
Concurrent Real-Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29www.real-time.ccur.comDigimation Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39www.digimation.comDiSTI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31www.disti.com/GL5Havelsan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1www.havelsan.com.trKrauss-Maffei Wegmann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9www.kmwsim.comL-3 Link Simulation & Training . . . . . . . . . . . . 11www.link.comLockheed Martin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17www.lockheedmartin.com/trainingMeggitt Training Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3www.meggitttrainingsystems.com MetaVR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C2 Gatefoldwww.metavr.comNorthrup Grumman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22www.northropgrumman.com/ts
Polhemus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28www.polhemus.comRaydon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5www.raydon.comResponder Training Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34http://rtsglobal.coSaab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13www.saabgroup.com/iitsec2014SAIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3www.saic.com Simthetiq Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39www.simthetiq.comThe Tatitlek Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39www.tatitlek.comTriangraphics GmbH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39www.triangraphics.com
Learn more about Aptima’s advanced training solutions in this edition of Military Training Technology:
Looking Ahead to 2015Page 36
Boston ▪ DC ▪ Dayton ▪ Orlando | www.aptima.com
Human-Centered Engineering
www.tatitlek.com
Tatitlek proudly supports USMC Family of Combat Convoy Trainers ODS/CLS/COMS
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Larry RainesVice President, Virtual Systems
Meggitt Training Systems
Q: Can you describe Meggitt Training Systems’ history and evolution?
A: In 2003, Meggitt acquired live fire train-ing systems company Caswell International, the manufacturer of the patented first pro-duction bullet trap and first production tar-get system. In 2006, Meggitt acquired Fire-arms Training Systems Inc. (FATS), and two years later merged Caswell and FATS to cre-ate Meggitt Training Systems. This merger sought to capitalize on synergies resulting from combining the operations of Caswell and FATS to provide both live fire and simu-lation training as an integrated product offering. Since 2008, Meggitt Training Sys-tems has continued with innovation at the forefront of its mission, and as a result was awarded the largest global simulation con-tract by the U.S. Army in June 2014.
Q: What are some of Meggitt Training Systems’ key products in the DoD training and simulation industry?
A: Meggitt Training Systems specializes in integrating COTS hardware and software products into realistic training systems for marksmanship, crew and collective mis-sions, engagement skills, mission rehearsal, gunnery, convoy and armored vehicles, and more. To date, Meggitt has fielded more than 5,100 small arms trainers and more than 40,000 laser-based weapon simula-tors (with more than 300 weapon varia-tions), and is deployed in more than 130 countries.
Meggitt Training Systems’ innovations have set the standard for simulation train-ing. They include the enhanced realism of BlueFire wireless “smart” weapons and the intelligent integration of enhanced visual game engines, 3-D graphics and the FATS M100 flexible systems architecture, pro-viding customized training and combat readiness solutions in a flexible, immersive environment.
Q: What are some of the new training/simulation technologies Meggitt Training Systems is developing for 2014 and planning for 2015?
A: Meggitt Training Systems is continuously looking beyond today’s defense require-ments and researching ways to improve upon its existing solutions with evolving technology. Much of what Meggitt devel-ops now and in the future will be possible due to a very robust open architecture in-ternally developed in 2011/2012 that maxi-mizes the flexibility to replace/enhance, modify or add to improved components and new technology.
With increasing demand for mobile devices and operator-guided instruction, significant focus will be on the intelligent training benefits afforded by iOS and An-droid handheld devices. This flexibility al-lows operators and coaches (instructors) to engage in a one-to-one mentoring environ-ment. “Automatic Coaching Mode” takes the burden off the coach by putting instruction-al tools in the hands of the soldier. Real-time feedback from the smart weapon and the FATS M100 system notifies the instructor in real time if the soldier’s marksmanship skills are not within standards for cant, trig-ger pull and butt pressure. Meggitt’s FATS M100 is then able to pull training support pamphlets and field manual sections or pre-pared videos for the instructor and soldier directly on the handheld device, providing immediate and consistent instruction.
Q: How are you positioned for the future within the U.S. military?
A: Meggitt Training Systems has long been the training system of record for numer-ous U.S. and allied nation defense forc-es. With the recent confirmation of the U.S. Army’s Engagement Skills Trainer (EST II) contract, Meggitt truly is the leading
manufacturer of advanced simulation sys-tems to support joint training and provide combat readiness solutions in the virtual, live and constructive domains. The EST II system is the most innovative system devel-oped to date. But as quickly as these systems are installed worldwide, requirements may change, and Meggitt Training Systems will be ready with an innovative solution.
Q: What is Meggitt Training Systems’ connection with the defense community?
A: Meggitt’s FATS simulators are the select-ed systems of record for the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. National Guard, U.S. Air Force, U.K. Ministry of Defence, Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Air Force, Australia Defence Forces, Italian Army, Singapore Army and Singapore Police Coast Guard. Most of these are long-term relationships that have existed for more than 20 years with continuous engagement, resulting in multiple upgrades and train-ing enhancements delivered to meet their evolving training requirements.
Q: What is an example of your success in the military, and what are some of your goals in the training/simulation industry over the next year?
A: Meggitt Training Systems enjoyed much success over the last year and anticipates several other big announcements in the coming months. The biggest announcement in 2014 has been the previously mentioned EST II program, a $99 million IDIQ contract solely awarded to Meggitt based on “best val-ue.” Meggitt is especially proud of the “best value” recognition, which shows its commit-ment to a high-quality, comprehensive solu-tion. Meggitt Training Systems is developing and incorporating advanced technology to meet the defense industry’s current require-ments, creating these solutions to allow the system to evolve and scale to meet future re-quirements. This kind of intelligent design minimizes costs associated with full system replacement, gaps in training due to system upgrades and much more. O
inDUStry interVieW military training technology
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The U.S. Army’s Engagement Skills Training (EST II) required a realistic, virtual small arms training system for marksmanship, collective and judgmental scenarios to meet current and future needs. Meggitt Training Systems delivered the Best Value solution that met the Army’s requirements, providing intelligent training and innovative products.
Innovation is key: 3-D marksmanship with moving eye-point perspective, an intelligent coaching application and fl exible systems architecture, featuring a wireless mobile tablet that allows instructors to control the system during training. Being chosen as the Army’s EST II system of record solidifi es Meggitt Training Systems as the global leader in virtual simulation training. Meggitt ensures training consistency and supports uniform instruction, with realistic simulation systems and live fi re range components at home and around the world.
Visit us at I/ITSEC in Orlando, Florida, December 1-4 in Booth 1712
meggitttrainingsystems.com
INNOVATION IS A POWERFUL WEAPON.MEGGITT IS THE SYSTEM OF CHOICE.
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