LONDON \u2014 Five to 10 years from now, a far greater proportion of military training will be provided by immersive solutions \u2014 training systems that use advanced software and hardware combinations to fully engage individuals in virtual and constructive simulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Such has been the prediction stemming from workshops, colloquia and conferences such as ITEC and I\/ITSEC in recent years. The reality of budget constraints coupled with the capabilities for highly realistic simulations, brought about, in part, by the accelerating development of pace at which <\/span>visualization technologies, are developing, <\/span>have created an environment in which immersive training is solutions are <\/span>already being provided ing<\/span>s<\/span>uperior effect <\/span>across a broad swath of nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to statements from NATO’s own e-learning portal, the Virtual Battlespace (VBS) immersive training package from Bohemia Interactive Simulations “is the world’s most widely used military tactical training and mission rehearsal simulation software.” The alliance further states that “more than 19 NATO nations and nine partner nations as well as three NATO entities” are current users of VBS. Because of the and that as a <\/span>resulting of the <\/span>synergies and <\/span>efficiencies, to be achieved, <\/span>NATO has negotiated an agreement with Bohemia for alliance-wide use of the latest iteration, VBS3, demonstrating the increasingly common employment use <\/span>of It is apparent, therefore, that <\/span>immersive training. is becoming almost commonplace.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n This widespread use also explains why immersive training environments are a key development priority for NATO’s Smart Defence effort, which is aimed at promoting and encouraging <\/span>collaboration among between <\/span>members and partner nations to strengthen ensure<\/span> stronger <\/span>European defense, leverage the capabilities of developing technology, and make more effective use of increasingly scarce financial and equipment resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After a meeting hosted at the NATO Modelling & Simulation Centre of Excellence in Rome, Paul Thurkettle, from Allied Command Transformation Joint Education Training & Exercises division, stated, “Immersive Training Environments was selected as a Tier 1 Smart Defence program, and as this technology develops, it is an ideal subject which fits the NATO secretary general’s idea for nations to work both together and with industry.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Industry has been swift to take advantage of these capabilities, and equally swift to recognize the almost ideal fit between innovative technology and evolving customer requirements. San Diego-based Cubic, for example, has bought heavily into the immersive issue, in <\/span>enhancing the capabilities of its several small arms engagement skills trainers, which combine improved high fidelity visuals with a greater sense of personal involvement for trainees. An industry source close to the company indicated during I\/ITSEC in Orlando, Florida, last year that Cubic is focused on bringing immersive technologies to the fore across in <\/span>a wide range of its existing and developmental solutions for <\/span>small unit training systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, <\/span>The company also is offering systems for individual soldiers, including the COMBATREDI system, which that <\/span>instantly brings a soldier into a highly realistic, and <\/span>fully immersive training environment through a helmet-mounted display.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recognizing how the distinctions in training requirements between the pure military and security service worlds are blurring, the Further, recognising the increasing blurring of the distinctions between ‘pure military’ and security service training requirements, <\/span>Cubic’s Mission Rehearsal and Planning System (MRPS) <\/span>offers immersion for homeland security and law enforcement trainees as well as their counterparts in the armed forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Immersion is not just about technology; it is also <\/span>about an intimate understanding of the training environment and the sweeping changes that have taken place therein since the end of the Cold War. These changes and <\/span>continue to make their effects felt as the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan has forced causes <\/span>military planners to debate the kind of nature of the <\/span>training best suited needed <\/span>for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Given that so-called traditional set-piece warfare has given way to expeditionary warfare, peace support operations and low-intensity conflicts, operations, <\/span>the capabilities brought to training regimes by <\/span>total immersion training <\/span>provides for <\/span>far better and more cost effective training for small infantry and combined arms units, officials say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It also has the potential to improve provide greatly enhanced <\/span>training for a wide variety of other battlefield and support functions. Take, for example, the issue of training <\/span>forward air controllers (FACs) and joint terminal attack coordinators (JTACs). Routinely operating in isolation as individuals or two-person man<\/span> teams, their training requires the accurate portrayal of requirement is shaped by the need to <\/span>accurately portray <\/span>a highly complex very high degree of complexity in the <\/span>battlespace as well as a wide portfolio of weapons, platforms and kinetic effect requirements. All <\/span>This has to be done in an environment in which this complexity is hidden from the trainee, but in which the stresses and ambient factors that affect have a significant effect on <\/span>the speed and accuracy of the individual’s <\/span>decision-making process are accurately replicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Close Air Solutions, a very <\/span>small British company based in Yorkshire, is the brainchild of two former Tornado pilots, both of whom spent time before leaving the Royal Air Force as instructors at the UK’s Joint Forward Air Control Training and Standardisation Unit (JFACTSU).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having developed their own simulator to provide for third party training for FAC and JTAC candidates, the company teamed with Selex ES in 2014 to provide JFACTSU with a fully immersive simulator for training operators. The result, the Immersive Close Air Support Simulator (iCASS), was delivered to the customer within four months from contract award \u2014 an example of how the way in which <\/span>small, innovative companies can bring immediate effect to customer requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The key for the customer was ensuring that the solution was developed on the back of an intimate understanding of the cockpit environment,” said Mike Squires, the company’s business director. “Immersive training was the secret and not only facilitated a considerable uptick in training capability but also lays the groundwork for future enhancements and improvements.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The <\/span>Close Air Solutions answer for the customer <\/span>brought together a mix of immersive technologies and a familiarity with the requirements of the users, not only on the ground but in the air \u2014 . Which is <\/span>a pretty fair definition of total immersion. ,’ whichever way you look at it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Close Air Solutions’ approach More than this, however, it <\/span>recognizes the fundamentally<\/span> all-embracing nature of successful immersive training: \u2013 the fact that it is <\/span>a mix of technological advancements and experience-based understanding of the trainee’s needs. After a presentation delivered late last year to the NATO Immersive Workshop in London, Tom Ball, the <\/span>company‘s<\/span> chief technical officer, stated that one conclusion reached among the conclusions arrived at <\/span>was that “technology alone cannot achieve immersion, the facilitator plays a vital role.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is <\/span>Innovative solutions delivered by the right team is what creates successful that provide for successful implementation of <\/span>immersion in military training, experts say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It would seem, then, that <\/span>A consensus is coalescing around the issue of immersive training and a recognition that herein lies a powerful dynamic for the future of military training. It captures the imagination and enthusiasm of traditionalists and innovators in military planning, leverages technology and meets the ever present requirement for armed forces to “do more with less.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the training community gathers for the most important conference in Europe \u2014 ITEC 2015, in Prague, Czech Republic, from April 28-30 \u2014,<\/span> April \u2013<\/span> the expression “immersive training” will feature high on the list of well-used phrases in the conference rooms and exhibition booths. And so it should.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Five to 10 years from now, a far greater proportion of military training will be provided by immersive solutions \u2014 training systems that use advanced software and hardware combinations to fully engage individuals in virtual and constructive simulations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":114025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":26,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[33,26],"tags":[],"coauthors":[700],"class_list":["post-53019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-training-sim"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"LKP3XQOKU5BM7EPUGGRI7GOXFY","arc_canonical_url":"\/training-sim\/2015\/04\/23\/immersive-training-spreading-across-nato\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n