MS&T Magazine - Issue 6/2012 by Halldale Group

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Responding to a New Strategic Environment Living History

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ISSUE 6.2012

Editorial comment

Right Person, Right Job Over the past several years, a significant portion of MS&T’s editorial focus has been the exploration of the leadership attributes of today’s generation of military personnel. The last decade of military and security operations in Afghanistan and Iraq took place largely in parallel with the all-encompassing Training Transformation (T2) initiative, which can now boast of having essentially achieved one of its fundamental goals – the creation of persistent training and education networks. MS&T has repeatedly commented on the current high quality of the leadership cadre that has resulted from these realities. Military units are filled with junior officers and NCO’s well-versed in adaptive and innovative leadership skills, with demonstrated ability to operate in environments of ambiguity and complexity. MS&T has further written of the critical need to preserve the skills of these adaptive leaders. A few years ago, former US Defense Secretary Robert Gates commented that there will continue to be a need for leadership capable of operating in complex and uncertain environments, and to win what he called “messy wars.” He touted the need to respond to an “extraordinary diverse range of missions,” and the immense challenge of finding and keeping the kind of people that can achieve these missions. In fact, the new defense priorities underscore Gates’ comments. A new emphasis on operating with allies, increased levels of forward deployments, joint operations and training with other agencies, and increasingly sophisticated cyber and intelligence operations, are central components of the strategy. Maintenance of conventional and core capabilities must also be on-going Chris Lehman and to no one’s surprise, all this must Editor-in-Chief be achieved within an environment of financial restraint and accountability. The consequent impact to the recruitment and development of personnel cannot be overstated. The US Army’s Human Dimension Task Force has been studying the issue and trying to determine how to move beyond a “one size fits all” approach. Getting the right people and putting them in the right places has a new urgency, and there is concern that the iconic Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test is inadequate. “The ASVAB was created in the 1950’s...

" The Army is looking at how it can

best match new soldiers with the right military

occupation, how to measure leadership potential..."

and it doesn’t measure a recruit’s potential”, says Col. Steve Chandler, chief of the Human Dimension Task Force. The Army is looking at how it can best match new soldiers with the right military occupation, how to measure leadership potential, and how to assess for special skills such as language, cultural affinity, even the ability to handle asymmetric combat environments. For officers, the Army will need to develop human resource processes that specifically attract and screen for the versatility, adaptability and agility traits needed today. It needs to move beyond the culture of slowly percolating its leadership through the hierarchy, and a culture that believes any officer with the appropriate rank can do most any job. Such a process is at odds with ensuring the correct skills are in place in critical positions, and frustrates those achievers who actually possess the ideal skill-set. Proper job analysis will yield robust job descriptions that outline the tasks, duties and responsibilities of a position, which can then be matched with the knowledge, skills and abilities of the candidates. This process is routine in civilian industry and it needs to be adapted to the military context in order to ensure “right person, right job.” Some commentators have noted that military personnel systems can be “numb to individual performance.” And about the need to combat the “risk-adverse, zero-defect culture,” that can impede the exchange of ideas needed in today’s military. Moreover, it’s clear that more value needs to be placed on non-traditional career paths, particularly for officers who may not have standard “cookie-cutter backgrounds,” yet have the competencies the organization urgently needs. Many believe that current military Officer Evaluation Reports do not do enough to highlight officers who possess or lack the competencies needed for the military of the future. Unless the appropriate information is collected and measured, there is little chance that officers who possess these critical competencies will be steered to assignments where they are most suited and have the largest impact. The times demand that we do better. Chris Lehman MS&T Editor-in-Chief

e chris@halldale.com MS&T MAGAZINE 6.2012

Contents

ISSUE 6.2012

MS&T Magazine Military Simulation & Training Magazine Editorial Editor in Chief Chris Lehman e. chris@halldale.com Managing Editor Jeff Loube e. jeff@halldale.com Group Editor Marty Kauchak e. marty@halldale.com Europe Editor Walter F. Ullrich e. walter@halldale.com Procurement Chuck Weirauch e. chuck@halldale.com US News Editor Lori Ponoroff e. lori@halldale.com RoW News Editor Fiona Greenyer e. fiona@halldale.com Advertising Director of Sales Jeremy Humphreys & Marketing t. +44 (0)1252 532009 e. jeremy@halldale.com S ales Representative Pat Walker USA (West) t. 415 387 7593 e. pat@halldale.com Sales Representative Justin Grooms USA (East) & Canada t. 407 322 5605 e. justin@halldale.com Sales & Marketing Karen Kettle Co-ordinator t. +44 (0)1252 532002 e. karen@halldale.com Marketing Manager Ian Macholl t. +44 (0)1252 532008 e. ian@halldale.com

Operations Design & David Malley

Production t. +44 (0)1252 532005 e. david@halldale.com

Distribution & Stephen Hatcher

Circulation t. +44 (0)1252 532010 e. stephen@halldale.com

05 Fighting the System. Editor-in-Chief Chris Lehman ponders the systemic challenges of managing human capital; of getting the right person in the right job. 08 New Strategic Environment, New Training Environment. As the US reshapes its defense strategy, so too is the training environment being reshaped. Group Editor Marty Kauchak writes. 18 Ballistic Missile Defense. Fleet Synthetic Training is a 100% solution to Aegis BMD training. MS&T’s Chuck Weirauch reports. 24 Training for Internet Speed. People and technology are equally important in the defense against cyber attacks. MS&T Group Editor reports on an evolving stage. 30 CAE’s Gene Colabatistto. MS&T’s Marty Kauchak speaks with CAE’s incoming Group President, Military Products, Training & Services.

On the cover: USS Lake Erie (CG 70) successfully intercepting a sub-scale shortrange ballistic missile. Image credit: U.S. Navy.

Halldale Media Group Publisher & Andy Smith CEO e. andy@halldale.com UK Office Halldale Media Ltd. Pembroke House 8 St. Christopher’s Place Farnborough Hampshire, GU14 0NH UK t. +44 (0)1252 532000 f. +44 (0)1252 512714 US Office Halldale Media, Inc. 115 Timberlachen Circle Ste 2009 Lake Mary, FL 32746 USA t. +1 407 322 5605 f. +1 407 322 5604 Subscriptions 6 issues per year at US$185 t. +44 (0)1252 532000 e. mst@halldale.com

34 On a Budget. Low cost flight training devices are stretching the budget dollar. MS&T’s Chuck Weirauch reports. www.halldale.com/mst

38 Precedent Setting Contract. Rheinmetall’s contract to build a high tech combat training centre for the Russian Army was precedent setting and controversial. Europe Editor Walter F. Ullrich writes. 42 Back to the Basics. Game engines are the heart of game development. Perry McDowell presents a primer on the basics. 46 The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Heritage is important: the BBMF aircraft are heritage and memorial. MS&T’s Dim Jones describes a unique historical asset. 50 Seen & Heard Updates from the training and simulation community. Compiled and edited by Fiona Greenyer.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – especially translating into other languages - without prior written permission of the publisher. All rights also reserved for restitution in lectures, broadcasts, televisions, magnetic tape and methods of similar means. Each copy produced by a commercial enterprise serves a commercial purpose and is thus subject to remuneration. MS&T (ISSN 1471-1052) is published six times per year in February, May, June, August, September, November by Halldale Media and distributed in the USA by SPP, 75 Aberdeen Road, Emigsville PA 17318. Periodicals postage paid at Emigsville, PA. POSTMASTER: send address changes to MS&T, Halldale Media Inc, 115 Timberlachen Circle, Ste 2009, Lake Mary, FL 32746. Circulation audited by:

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Training Technology

Responding to a New Strategic Env

The U.S. DoD is adjusting its training programs to support the post-Iraq and Afghanistan strategic environment, reports

new defense strategy is reshaping the environment in which the Pentagonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s airmen, sailors, soldiers and Marines are trained, educated and enabled on their jobs. As the U.S. military moves beyond supporting 11 years of combat missions in Afghanistan and 10 years of operations in Iraq, it is rapidly responding to the January 5, 2012 strategic guidance, Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense. The new strategy calls for expanding the U.S. naval presence in the Pacific, deepening military engagement with partners and allies in the Pacific and Middle East, and establishing rotational troop deployments in areas throughout the Asia-Pacific. While the services are quickening their pace to forward deploy units and make other force structure adjustments, other policy documents of interest to the training community are being developed. As this issue was being published the department was distributing the Capstone Concept for Joint Operations: Joint Force 2020, the first underpinning for the January strategy. The document, released under the signature of Chairman of the Joint Staff Army General Martin Dempsey, provides a framework of operations to address the new security environment. The concept proposes an approach called globally integrated operations. In this concept, joint force elements, globally positioned, combine quickly with each other and mission partners to integrate their capabilities across the warfare domains, echelons,

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geographic affiliations and organizational affiliations. While much of the Joint Staff strategy remains to be developed, it emphasizes Joint missions â&#x20AC;&#x201C; beyond the other services, with other U.S. and international agencies, and allies and partner nations â&#x20AC;&#x201C; as the new operational norm. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. George J. Flynn, the director of Joint Force Development on the Joint Staff, said during a Pentagon media event, the Capstone concept will permeate the military from professional military education to training, and other aspects of service life. Beyond specifying geographic areas of interest, the new strategy is crystal clear on forces and hardware envisioned for increased use throughout the warfare domains, and those marked for robust investment. In particular, the Pentagon will increase its special operations force structure, and strengthen its cyber, space, unmanned vehicles and other mission capabilities. Lt. Col. Martha Despain, a press desk

Marine Rotational Force - Darwin, enhancing interoperability between U.S. and Australian forces. Image credit: US Marine Corps/ Cpl. Jacob D. Barber.

Environment

nt, reports Group Editor Marty Kauchak.

officer in the Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs Office, noted her service is quickly integrating training in these areas of interest. “The addition of new cyber, space and 5th generation weapon systems is generating significant reliance on integrated, interoperable simulator and simulation capabilities to provide warfighters sufficient training in full spectrum combat operations. The training of these capabilities is specific to assigned missions and theaters of operation. We continue to adjust training methods and environments to meet strategic guidance and incorporate associated weapon systems and their tactics, techniques and procedures into Major Command training programs and exercise events, as they are implemented within each theater of operations.”

Training-enabled Service Strategies The staffs, units and individuals deployed to support the new defense strategy, and those on other missions or at home station, will maintain readiness using all the training domains - Live, Virtual, Constructive (LVC) and Gaming. The Marine Corps’ Marine Rotational Force - Darwin is one of the new units designed to support the January defense strategy. The force is deploying to Darwin and northern Australia for approximately six months at a time, where it will conduct training with the

Australian Defence Force as well as multilateral exercises with regional partners. The deployment is planned to grow in scale over the next several years, eventually leading up to a 2,500-person Marine Air-Ground Task Force. Chuck Little, the deputy director of public affairs at U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific, told MS&T this rotational deployment is significant because the proximity of the Northern Territory to Southeast Asia will enable Marines to more effectively train and operate with partners, and respond more rapidly to natural disasters and crises throughout the region. The rotational force will sustain its readiness levels, in part, through live training. “The Northern Territory possesses four major training areas that collectively are designed to support training through a range of military operations scenarios,” Little said. While in Australia, rotating forces could benefit by utilizing pre-existing training facilities to contribute to their readiness. Little pointed out that such facilities as the Weapon Training Simulation System provides training for inservice weapon systems in Australia, as well as providing the ability to configure training to meet the Marines' needs. “When it comes to the use of [other] virtual and constructive training systems, current training areas from the Big Island of Hawaii, Camp Pendleton and 29 Palms, to Camp Lejeune and Quantico,

M S & T M AGA Z INE 6 . 2 0 1 2

Training Technology all provide facilities to meet the demand of our training and help Marines deploying around the world stay ready.” Little emphasized that while Marine Rotational Force - Darwin will conduct training events with other nations in the region, “the primary focus of that force remains training with our partners in the Australian Army in order to enhance interoperability between our two forces. Plans to expand the scope of this training during future rotations have not yet been finalized.” An increased Asia-Pacific forward presence is also on the horizon for the Corps’ sister service. In one new employment plan, USS Freedom (LCS 1) will deploy to Singapore for eight months in spring 2013, marking the platform's first operational deployment to the Asia-Pacific. The mission will be the bow wave of a theatre presence plan that will eventually have up to four LCSs forward deployed to Singapore on a rotational basis The service is tailoring its LCS training plan to the class concept of operations, under which the SeaFrame/Mission Package (hardware) is forward deployed, and the crews rotate in and out of theater every four months. Joe Shifflett, the director of the Littoral Combat Ship Training Facility, pointed out that during their off hull rotation, LCS crews go through a Rapid Refresh that includes time in the Shore Based Trainers. “Rapid Refresh training scenarios are not developed for specific mission rehearsal; instead they are designed around current real world geo-political events and incorporate current Fleet/Strike Group directives for the theater the crew will be operating in. The simulators allow crews to experiment with tactics while training to, and through, failure. The desired outcome is a crew that is able to think itself through any mission as opposed to a specific mission rehearsal.” Shifflett added that staff training capability incorporating LCS will be developed using the Navy Continuous Training Environment (NCTE). “The LCS Training Facility will host a Tier Three NCTE node that is scheduled to be installed and tested in FY13,” he revealed, and continued, “NCTE provides a conduit for Fleet Synthetic Training that allows commanders to manage any combination of strike group, joint, and coalition assets in a common, synthetic battle space.” The Army is faced with the major challenge of maintaining training readiness for its units redeployed from shuttered bases in Europe, and those returning home after serving an assignment in Afghanistan. The redeployment to home station of at least 68,000 more service members from Afghanistan continues. The U.S. plans to withdraw all combat forces by the middle of 2013 and almost all remaining military personnel from that nation by the end of 2014. As deployments reduce and soldiers return to training to maintain readiness, the capabilities that enable training at home station become paramount. The Army’s Hall noted his colleagues in the G-3/5/and 7 Army Staff directorates are providing policy oversight of the service’s efforts to update unit-level training strategies to generate forces for decisive action across a broad range of missions. “Decisive action training strategies do not seek a return to pre-9/11training strategies (major combat operations against a conventional enemy),” Hall emphasized. “Rather they prepare forces for: Army 21st Century core competencies (application of combined arms maneuver and wide area security); hybrid threats (mix of conventional forces, irregular forces, terrorists, 10

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and criminals); operating in complex operating environment (among populations, sensitive to cultural, ethnic, religious nuances, leveraging information technologies, etc.); and operating as part of an interdependent joint/ interagency/intergovernmental/multinational force, within whole of government campaigns (Phases 0 - 5) that transition back to civilian control.” Hall added that while maintaining proficiency in wartime fundamentals, designated units will develop a regional alignment based on Combatant Commander guidance to add focus, relevance, and complexity to the conditions of training, and enhance core competencies of combined arms maneuver and wide area security. These designated units will also possess a regional mission and training focus that includes an understanding of the languages, cultures, geography and militaries of the countries where they are most likely to be employed. “Continued Army participation in joint training exercises and engagement activities in support of Combatant Commander priorities will contribute to support of nationallevel strategic priorities, readiness, and building partnership capacity,” he concluded. A spokesperson for the Army Training Support Center-Training Support Analysis and Integration Division at Fort Eustis, Virginia, noted that his service is also engaged in an intensive effort to breathe new life into home station training. “This includes re-examining our policy, doctrine, and the training capabilities, which will enable home station training to provide soldiers, leaders, and units the ability to attain and sustain proficiency in their approved missions. Ultimately, the Army is focusing on a return to commander-driven training conducted in a realistic operational setting.” This training is supported by an Integrated Training Environment (ITE) that brings together LVC and Gaming training aids, simulations, and simulators, as well as access to an array of knowledge tools that allow leaders to plan, prepare, execute, and assess training and education. “This vision for home station training relies on a persistent network that links multiple home stations to provide for individual and collective distributed training and education. These capabilities enable the most rigorous, relevant, and complex conditions units and leaders may encounter if deployed,” the division spokesperson pointed out.

Up to four US Navy LCSs will support the service's increased presence in Asia-Pacific. Off hull rotation, LCS crews will go through a Rapid Refresh that includes time in Shore Based Trainers. Image credit: U.S. Navy/ Daniel J. Taylor.

Building Ties through Training Events The fundamentals of engagement contained in the new DoD military strategy have the potential to help improve relations between the U.S. and other nations, including China, and none too soon. This January’s strategy is viewed as assertive by some Pacific region nations. Combined training events – with other nations – may smooth the document’s perceived rough edges and soften its posture.

This approach was emphasized during Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s three day visit this September to China. Panetta noted after his speech at the People’s Liberation Army’s Armored Forces Engineering Academy, that increasing training exercises between U.S. and Chinese armies, navies and air forces could improve the capabilities of both nations’ forces. “It gives us lessons about how we can improve in our operations,” the secretary added, noting that as Pacific powers, both the United States

and China share concerns about terrorism, nuclear proliferation, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, countering piracy and other issues. The untapped potential for cooperation that combined training may provide the two nations was demonstrated during the secretary’s visit. Guided-missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81) and other U.S. Navy assets participated in a counter-piracy exercise with elements of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (Navy) PLA(N) near the Horn of Africa. The exercise, the first bilateral counter-piracy exercise ever conducted between the U.S. and China, paired Winston S. Churchill with PLA(N) frigate Yi Yang (FF 548) to complete a combined visit, board, search, and seizure boarding. The focus was on bilateral interoperability in detecting, boarding and searching suspected vessels, as well as the ability of both Chinese and American naval assets to respond to pirated vessels. A follow on query to the secretary’s public affairs office at the Pentagon disclosed that no significant, new combined training initiatives are currently on the two nations’ security horizons.

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TraininG Technology Three facets of the response to the new strategic imperative are included in the following Addenda prepared by Group Editor Marty Kauchak: Excercise Vibrant Response, LVC-ITE and LVC-IA. 1. Excercise Vibrant Response – Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction The January 2012 Strategic Guidance provides the president’s direction to shape the Joint Force for the future after a decade of war. One of the document’s primary missions for the U.S. Armed Forces is the ability to counter weapons of mass destruction. This summer’s Vibrant Response (VR) 13, an annual U.S. Northern Command field training exercise, led by U.S. Army North, allowed the federal response force, part of the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) Response Enterprise to provide lifesaving and life-sustaining care after a simulated10-kiloton nuclear detonation in a major Midwestern city. More than 9,000 service members and civilians took part in the largest confirmation exercise to date for the Department of Defense's specialized response forces. Units from 25 states and territories participated in more than 200 live events at 50 venues throughout southern Indiana and northern Kentucky. The exercise placed the services on a trajectory to better meet the expectations of the nation’s senior leaders in the post-Iraq and Afghanistan environment. Lieutenant Colonel Tom Bright, Army North’s G-7 (Chief of Training and Education), told MS&T, that this was the first time units from all three major elements of the federal response force participated in the VR event. These elements included the Defense CBRN Response Force (DCRF), Command and Control CBRN Consequence Response Elements A and B-teams, and portions of Title 32 (National Guard) programs (two Homeland Response Force (HRF) units and three Civil Support Teams). VR 13’s whole of government training audience included members of a National Incident Management Assistance Team (from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)). “We replicated the state response with Joint Task Force 38 (Indiana National Guard),” Bright pointed out.

Simulation Enabler and Beyond The VR exercise again put the Unified Environment Toolkit (UET) through its paces. Bright said the constructive simulation “helps simulate the effects of the disaster and simulate the demand on the system for support as part of the response.” The exercise had an increased simulation response in both parts of the event – generated by two state HRFs and the National Guard Bureau. “In Vibrant Response proper, in the area we were in, essentially the southern half of Indiana, we couldn’t truly replicate everything going on in an environment like Chicago in the event of a 10-kiloton nuclear device being detonated. So in simulation we replicate some of those other missions that will happen and expand on the ones we are doing on the ground,” Bright explained. One of many tasks simulated through the UET was the conduct of health and wellness checks – knocking on residents’ doors to inquire they are well and find who needs help. “We used the UET to conduct the wellness checks and that forces the DCRF leadership to organize elements in simulation [medi12

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cal, logistics] to provide a response in those neighborhoods,” he added. While no state and local governmentlevel representatives participated in VR13 a contractor portrayed those entities. Bright revealed that next year [VR 14] a state management agency will participate. If steps are taken to address VR 13’s lessons learned, the actions will take this training event to a much higher plateau in terms of achieving improved training readiness in a whole of government context. At the top of Bright’s list of lessons learned was more effective coordination with FEMA in order to achieve their participants’ training objectives. “When we exercise with FEMA, we in DoD learn about how to better support the requirements and expectations of the lead federal agency,’ he said. “Inviting FEMA to our Joint Exercise Life Cycle Planning Events helps us script the exercise to meet their training requirements, creating a more positive event for both of us.” Bright also reiterated the value of training with the National Guard in live and simulation events. “Next year we may see a whole Homeland Response Force play for an entire cycle of the exercise. Instead of three or four days on the ground we may see one participate for six or seven days – the extent of one phase of the exercise.” The Pentagon’s investment in the VR exercise series has yielded a number of returns on investment. Most significantly, as of this October 1, the CBRN Response Enterprise was declared fully operational.

The military's Defense Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Response Force assumes the mission from state response forces August 18, 2011 as a rehearsal. Within hours of arriving, the DCRF was performing search and extraction missions at Muscatatuck Urban Training Complex. Image credit: U.S. Army/ Keith Anderson.

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TraininG Technology 2. LVC-IA Update The U.S. Army’s Live, Virtual, Constructive-Integrating Architecture (LVC-IA) program is ready to deliver the foundational structure and framework for integrating live, virtual and constructive systems, as well as joint and Army Mission Command Systems, into the soldier’s integrated training environment (ITE). This August, PEO STRI’s project office for LVC-IA, the Project Manager Constructive Simulation (PM ConSim), verified the first version of the program’s capabilities at Fort Hood, Texas, which confirmed the initial fielding on August 10, 2012. The industry vendor for the program, Cole Engineering Services, Inc., has teamed with other industry partners: Accenture, which is responsible for the LVC-IA’s agile development processes; Camber, which has oversight on information assurance; IDSI (Intelligent Decision Systems, Inc.), which ensures C4I interoperability; and ECS (Engineering and Computer Simulations) which supports the after action review development.

CESI credits the initial success of the program to its collaboration with PEO STRI’s PM ConSim. Eric Root, CESI’s program manager for LVC-IA, told MS&T that LVC-IA Version 1 integrates a number of Army Training Aids, Devices, Simulators and Simulations. The Homestation Instrumentation Training System (HITS) is the Live training system, the Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainer (AVCATT) and the Close Combat Tactical Trainer (CCTT) are the Virtual systems and the Joint Land Component Constructive Training Capability (JLCCTC) Entity Resolution Federation (ERF) is the Constructive system. These capabilities integrated together by LVC-IA comprise the LVC-ITE environment envisioned in the Army training strategy. Bryan Cole, CESI’s CEO, emphasized that with LVC-IA, his Army customer now “has a persistent capability at home station that enables more complete training environment than they have had in the past.” He continued that while the units often have minimal or restricted live training areas at home station, “this allows them to readily train in a more complete training environment by putting a lot of their assets in the constructive domain, and have their soldiers and units in the live and virtual environments. The key is they have a higher headquarters understand what is going on in a battle, by looking at the Mission Command Systems, which provide situational awareness of the battle space.” And while the Army has previously achieved training in a “blended” LVC environment, the preparation for these events is very resource intensive – requiring several months of preparation

With LVC-IA, the Army customer now has a persistent capability at home station that enables a more complete training environment than it had in the past. Image credit: U.S. DoD.

Yo u r Pa r t n e r f o r S i m u l at i o n a n d

and thousands of man hours to set up and then disassemble the training infrastructure. Cole pointed out that the “stateof-the-art”, now available with LVC-IA provides the Army with “a very small physical footprint that gives them a huge, logical footprint, if you will, for training.” The LVC-IA program of record calls for establishing this integrating architecture at sites across the service with field-

Tr a i n i n g

ing to the first three sites starting this August. LVC-IA’s interoperability among simulation systems is achieved through utilization of an array of modeling and simulation standards, and Mission Command System message protocols in use across the DoD. “The system makes heavy use of open modeling and simulation standards,” Cole pointed out. Dis-

tributed Interactive Simulation, HighLevel Architecture and other standards and protocols are utilized to move data throughout LVC-IA. “Any system that utilizes one of those protocols could be integrated and interoperate with the rest of the core systems in LVC-IA,” the Orlando-based CEO remarked. One of the other capabilities delivered in Version 1 was a cross-domain solution that allows secure/classified devices at the Secret level to be on the same network with unclassified devices. Cole emphasized that the cross-domain solution ensures no classified content migrates to the unclassified networks. He added that while cross-domain solutions exist in the DoD, “the part that is unique about LVC-IA is we have actually pioneered a repeatable, cross-domain solution accreditation process. What that allows is a strict configuration management, we don’t have to go through the entire process for cross-domain solution accreditation at each of the fielding sites – this much abbreviated and streamlined process will save the Army millions of dollars over the life of the program.”

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TraininG Technology 3. U.S. Army ITE Update The Army is closing in on achieving its decades-old vision of delivering a high fidelity, rigorous Integrated Training Environment (ITE) for its staffs, units and soldiers. The environment links live, virtual and constructive training enablers to provide commanders with a common operating picture to drive decision making. Harnessing technology, the ITE is the backbone of the current Army Training Concept. The ITE uses innovative computer software to link Army training systems with communication systems to give commanders a realistic picture of the training battlefield. The latest waypoint on the service’s ITE journey involved the Army's National Simulation Center from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, evaluating the Army's new ITE to see if it is ready for other Army posts. More than 600 soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 1st Cavalry Division participated in the field test exercise that started Sept. 10 and ended Sept. 28. On Sept. 25 the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center – Training, hosted a telephone conference to discuss the service’s efforts to establish an Integrated Training Environment and this latest waypoint. Colonel John Janiszewski, the director of the Army National Simulation Center and TRADOC’s capability manager for ITE, pointed out the “glue” that integrates the training domains and supported systems is the Live, Virtual, Constructive-Integrating Architecture (LVCIA). “The LVC-IA is the software package that will reduce the time and preparation required to complete a training event.”

The Army leader also pointed out his service is looking to increase realism from the evolving ITE. “That’s very difficult to do in the live environment alone,” Janiszewski emphasized, and continued, “so when you bring together the virtual simulators and constructive simulations it allows us to replicate the battle space more accurately, and more coincide with what the unit was to deploy.” Janiszewski added the LVC-IA also permits the ITE to be scaled. Whereas simulators support crew training and live training devices enable small and largescale unit training, constructive simulation is focused on training staffs for brigade and higher echelons. Lt. Col Shane Cipolla, who is evaluating the new training system and is a project office lead for integrating architecture at the National Simulation Center, noted his office spends “about $8 million a year in research, development, test and evaluation funding,” for the LVC-IA. Colonel Robert Whittle, the commander of the 2nd BCT, the ITE’s training audience, gave high marks for the training event to date. In particular he cited training “firsts” the BCT has never experienced. “One was a virtual unmanned aerial feed that we have with avatars, that really enables our staff in the tactical operational center to look at intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and make decisions – all without actually flying a UAV. You can see how this will save the Army a significant amount of money. And our aviation element is able to see simulated tracks for all ISR aircraft. This provides them a great training environment.”

Cipolla noted the current ITE event demonstrated the failure of many legacy systems to be interoperable. “These systems we are integrating were all built separately and never designed to talk to one another. When you do plug them in all together, there are going to be limitations and we’re finding some with the first version of LVC-IA. One limitation is emplacing a minefield in the virtual environment. The constructive environment doesn’t necessarily ‘see’, doesn’t react, to that minefield appropriately. That’s some work we need to do internally to the program.” Janiszewski noted one of the capabilities the service is considering adding to the ITE is Army games for training. “We’re looking at that. But I don’t want to underestimate the challenges that there are when you integrate multiple software programs that were not designed to interact together.” And while the Army has trained in an LVC construct with its sister services for decades, the bar is being raised to increase the rigor and fidelity of joint training in the ITE. “We’re looking at bringing in joint enablers. So right now in a training scenario we have Air Force assets replicated – that’s not challenging. Using constructive simulation you can replicate A-10s and other platforms. But to really do the training between an aircrew and soldiers on the ground for air integration, you need joint enablers with either a virtual enabler, an aircraft simulator, or a surrogate aircraft with actual crews. We want to look across the joint spectrum to see where there are potential benefits.” mst

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Training Technology

Training for Ballistic Missile Defense Demands for BMD are increasing, as has the demand for training. Chuck Weirauch writes.

here is an ongoing worldwide proliferation of ballistic missile threats and US Navy BMD capable ships are part of initiatives to dull those threats. One of these initiatives, the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) for Ballistic Missile Defense of the European theater, is taking shape. Now that the US 2012 presidential elections are over, the EPAA, announced by the Obama Administration in 2009, seems more likely to proceed to the next step. The EPAA is an element of the US response to Russia's protest of the placement of US-provided groundbased BMD interceptor systems in European countries. At the NATO Summit held in May 2012, it was announced that the first EPAA phase would begin that month. The first phase of the EPAA calls for US Aegis BMD ships to be deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and other at-sea geo-

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graphic locations in the region. The ships are also to continue their role throughout the second phase and perhaps later to support Aegis Ashore ground-based installations once these facilities are established. Once space-based surveillance systems detect the launch of an aggressor medium-range ballistic missile, an alert would be sent to the Aegis ships, followed by ground-based radar tracking data. The Aegis ships combat centers would then acquire the target, shooting down the missile with an SM-3 Standard interceptor missile. Later EPAA phases are designed to increase capability as a part of the layered European missile defense shield, with a ground-based variant of the Aegis launch system dubbed the Aegis Ashore program as a part of the second phase. The Aegis Ashore unit will be comprised of the Aegis Ship Combat System and Missile System.

Navy BMDEX And that's but one aspect of the strategic setting for the pierside Fleet Synthetic Training (FST)-based BMD Exercise (BMDEX) program conducted by both the Navy's Tactical Training Group Atlantic (TTGL) located at Dam Neck, VA and Tactical Training Group Pacific (TTGP) in San Diego, CA. The West Coast organization began providing BMDEX for the Navy in April 2012, and the East Coast facility conducted its first multi-ship BMDEX in June 2012. The Tactical Training groups can conduct joint BMDEX exercises with Aegis ships on both coasts simultaneously, or separately for their respective ships. The first TTGL-led BMDEX was conducted simultaneously with two Aegis ships located in Norfolk, VA, one in San Diego and one in Pearl Harbor, HA. In addition to the BMDEX, the two groups develop and conduct other FST-

based training exercises, along with other training programs. The TTGL recently conducted a Fleet Synthetic TrainingJoint Exercise (FST-J) with the Eisenhower Strike Group and certified it. A FST exercise for the Navy's amphibious forces, dubbed Bold Alligator, was also recently conducted, and earlier FST-J exercises have included Coalition forces.

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Aegis-class destroyer USS Hopper (DDG 70) successfully intercepting a sub-scale short range ballistic missile. Image credit: U.S. Navy.

The BMDEXs are made possible through the Navy Continuous Training Environment (NCTE) distributed training network that links all of the Aegis ships and the training groups together. The scenarios employed in the exercises are developed by the training groups using the Joint Semi-Automated Forces (JSAF) computer model. During the BMDEX, pierside ships receive the scenarios through the NCTE network. With the ships in training mode, their onboard Battle Force Tactical Training (BFTT) systems employ the joint scenario to stimulate the ships' sensors to provide a realistic portrayal of an actual missile attack. According to Bill Kovac, TTGL's BMDEX Team Lead, the training groups plan to hold a Fleet BMDEX each month by 2013. Each five-day BMDEX features three days of training, with the first two devoted to testing. Four 75-minute exercises are conducted during each day of training. Each exercise features a different scenario that represents a different Fleet geographic Area of Responsibility (AOR). During each BMDEX, a total of more than 400 simulated missiles are launched and intercepted, although the missiles are launched one at a time, Kovac said. The purpose of the BMDEX is to train and certify Aegis BMD ships prior to their deployment, according to the TTGL's Doug Warner. Ships' crews receive Navy basic BMD training that is a part of other combat systems training, such as that for the Tomahawk cruise missile system, before they come to the TTGL for advanced training, he explained. Then they must successfully complete two BMDEXs to become certified, with the second exercise considered to be the certification phase, Warner said.

Accurate Scenarios Critical A key element of the training value of the BMDEXs is the variety of scenarios that are provided during the events, said the TTGL's Lt. Commander Roy Evans. That's because each of the four daily scenarios depicts the ship being in a different AOR This is important, because rather than always being attached to a particular Fleet or Fleet strike force, Aegis BMD ships have been authorized to operate independently in any AOR, Evans pointed out. As a member of the BMDEX team, he evaluates ship performance during the last three days of the exercise. "This training is priceless, and it is just focused on the shipboard BMD team, not the whole crew," Evans said. "The scenarios enhance the capability of the BMDEX and allow it to shift from AOR to AOR in a synthetic environment. Ships don't always to go to the originally planned AOR. With this variation of AOR, ships will have the minimum capability to deploy and conduct ballistic missile defense in any AOR that they would be sent to because they are trained, evaluated and certified to do it."

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Training Technology The scenarios are also designed to be as realistic as possible. By employing the JSAF model, all of the multi-service elements of the layered US and European BMD systems can be included to provide real-world depictions of the BMD battlefield environment. Included in the scenarios are representations of the US Strategic Command (STRATCOM) space and radar-based surveillance elements as well as US Army Patriot missile units in Germany, for example. This is bringing training "as real as we can make it" to sailors while saving money at the same time, Evans said. According to Warner, "the entire joint kill chain" is represented in the BMDEX scenarios. Once the Aegis BMD ships have been certified for deployment to their AORs, the onboard crews can rehearse singleship BMD exercises by stimulating their ship's combat center via the onboard BFTT system to keep their proficiency up while deployed under the Aegis at Sea initiative, Evans said. Part of the BMDEX is geared to help them learn to do this, he said. Currently an experimental phase of the Aegis at Sea effort to link ships to the NCTE via satellite for networked BMD exercises while underway is being developed, Evans added.

BMD Training Courseware But even before Aegis BMD ships can begin participating in the TTGL BMDEXs, all shipboard BMD personnel

are required to take the introductory BMD course at Dam Neck that was developed by the TTGL staff. The course, called the Maritime Ballistic Missile Defense Flag/Staff Officer Course, includes not only the basics of Aegis BMD operations, but provides an overview of all US missile defense systems and how the Aegis system is integrated with them, Warner said. The three-day course, held four to six times a year at Dam Neck, has also been exported for use by the Fleet, he added.

Radar system control console during a ballistic missile defense exercise pierside aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG 73) in San Diego. Image credit: U.S. Navy/ Phillip Pavlovich.

Aegis Ashore Training As well as for the surface Fleet BMDEX, the TTGL will also provide training for the Aegis Ashore program once that is in operation. According to Evans, the Aegis Ashore training facility will be located near Dam Neck and will be like the one that is intended in Europe.

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Training Technology At the June 2012 Training and Simulation Industry Symposium in Orlando, the Navy's Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD) announced a $44.1 million sole-source contract for Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors division to "design, develop, integrate, test and deliver the Aegis Ashore Team Trainer (AATT) to support the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System (AAMDS) watchteam qualification and certification." The RFP for the AATT was released in the third quarter of fiscal year 2012, and the contract award was scheduled for the first quarter of FY 2013. When queried, NAWCTSD would not discuss the contract further with MS&T because of budget uncertainties. "We have taken on Europe as our big deal," Warner said. "We are working with our European defense partners, the German Patriot units and the German Navy, for example, to accurately replicate our scenarios in the region and make sure that they are fully

integrated with the European missile defense system." According to the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA), Aegis Ashore will use the same components (AN/ SPY-1 Radar, Fire Control System, Vertical Launch System, computer processors, display system, power supplies and water coolers) that will be used onboard the Navy’s new-construction Aegis BMD Destroyers. The agency also states that current plans call for the installation of an Aegis Ashore facility in Romania as part of the EPAA Phase II. This deployed capability will provide ballistic missile coverage of Southern Europe. In 2018, Aegis Ashore will install a system in Poland as part of the EPAA Phase III. This system will support the defense of Northern Europe.

Cost Savings With the Secretary of the US Navy Ray Mabus calling for more simulation-based training in light of tightening defense budgets and the need for more efficient and effective training for the service, it

would seem that the future looks promising for FST-based exercises. According to Warner, while 95 percent of Navy tactical engagements can be accomplished in a synthetic environment, a full 100 percent of BMD training can be and is done in that environment. When asked if there is now more demand for such training than before, Evans answered with an emphatic "Yes!" But even more relevant is whether such training could even be carried out in live training exercises. According to all three TTGL staff members, it actually would be impossible to do so. "The cost-avoidance of conducting BMD training synthetically as opposed to doing it live is considerable," Kovac said. "The cost for the fuel alone for a live exercise as opposed to a FST would be in the tens of millions of dollars, and from 30 to 40 million for the overall exercise. A FST costs from between 500 to 700 thousand dollars, and you get the same level of training based on those same tasks in a synthetic environment”. mst

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Training Technology

Cyber Defense: an Evolving Strategy A cyber attack on the U.S. could be as disruptive as the terrorist attack of 9/11. Training is an important part of the Pentagon’s strategy to defend its networks against cyber attacks and, when necessary, take decisive actions in the cyber domain, reports Group Editor Marty Kauchak.

oreign cyberspace operations against U.S. public and private sector systems are increasing in number and sophistication. DoD networks are probed millions of times every day, and successful penetrations have led to the loss of thousands of files from U.S. networks and those of allies and industry partners. This threat continues to evolve as evidence grows of adversaries focusing on the development of increasingly sophisticated and potentially dangerous capabilities. This trend has not gone unnoticed by the department’s leadership. This October, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta made an unequivocal statement in a public forum that “A cyber attack perpetrated by nation states or violent extremist groups could be as destructive as the terrorist attack of 9/11. Such a destructive cyber terrorist attack could paralyze the nation.” 24

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Expanding Mission In a whole-of-government context, DoD presently has a supporting role in cyber defense, deferring to the Department of Homeland Security as the lead federal agency, and the FBI as the lead on law enforcement. These protocols and relationships may soon change. Recognizing the vulnerability of the nation’s utilities, and other private sector and public sector concerns to cyber attacks, DoD is finalizing a comprehensive change to rules of engagement in cyberspace, Panetta also disclosed in October. “The new rules will make clear that the Department has a responsibility not only to defend DoD’s networks, but also to be prepared to defend the nation and our national interests against an attack in or through cyberspace,” he said. “These new rules will make the department more agile and provide us with the ability to confront major threats quickly.” From an international perspective, DoD’s cyber missions will continue to include operating with friends and allies through NATO and other partnerships.

Tailoring Training to Evolving Requirements The department’s training programs are evolving to produce a cadre of competent, agile and adaptive cyber warriors to operate

The department's training programs are evolving to produce a cadre of competent, agile and adaptive cyber warriors who can operate in the fastpaced tempo of events in the cyber domain, and support the Pentagon's expanding mission. Image credit: U.S. Navy/ Joshua J. Wahl.

in the increasingly fast-paced tempo of events in the cyber domain and to support the Pentagon’s expanding mission as previously described. Of special note, the military’s senior leaders are calling for efforts to increase the fidelity and rigor of training in the domain. Two high-level perspectives on more effective training were conveyed at a September 2012 cyber security conference in Washington, D.C. In one instance, Air Force Lt. Gen. Ronnie Hawkins Jr., the Defense Information Systems Agency’s director, emphasized that aside from the hardware and software innovations necessary to maintain cyber superiority, the people who will be implementing these strategies and methods are equally important. “We’ve got to look at standing up the right academic setting,” Hawkins said. “We are trying to build that capability from a joint perspective within the cyber workforce.” In training, the overall goal is to teach people to react in what Robert J. Carey, DoD’s principal deputy chief information officer, called “internet speed” with a sharper focus on skill sets rather than rank or professional origin. “We’re moving toward proficiencybased training,” Carey said. “Training a defender like an attacker and an attacker like a defender is a really important skill set. It works in [U.S.] football and it’ll work in this game too.” Degraded cyberspace operations for extended periods may be a reality and disruption may occur in the midst of a mission. As a result, DoD is stepping up its efforts to integrate a complete spectrum of cyberspace scenarios into exercises and training to prepare U.S. Armed Forces for a wide variety of contingencies. A cornerstone of this activity will be the inclusion of more cyber red teams throughout war games and exercises. Operating with a presumption of breach will require DoD to be agile and resilient, focusing its efforts on mission assurance and the preservation of critical operating capability. In July 2012 testimony to the U.S. Congress, Lt. Gen. Rhett Hernandez, the commander of 2nd Army, said “We will integrate cyberspace operations into 13

joint and Army exercises this fiscal year, and will double that number next year.” The Army also is using cyber specialists to play opposing forces in exercises at the National Training Center and at combatant command exercises.

Industry Developments Industry, of course, is paralleling the evolution of training intent with evolving technology in the Live, Virtual and Constructive (LVC) domains to help deliver cyber training solutions. In one effort, Scalable Network Technologies is taking training on a tra-

ditional hardware cyber range to a new plateau. The firm’s Virtual Cyber Range focuses on the military’s need to simulate and provide training for cyber warfare in a high fidelity controlled environment. Using software, it emulates how complex networks will behave under battlefield conditions and respond to cyber warfare. Lloyd Wihl, Scalable Network Technologies’ director of technical sales, explained the key technical benefits the Virtual Cyber Range has over the legacy hardware cyber range include scalability to thousands of nodes, the ability

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Training Technology to accurately train for defense of both wired (GIG (Global Information Grid)) and wireless (tactical) environments, and the ability to integrate with existing trainers to enable assessment of overall mission effects of cyber warfare. The company’s strategy for fielding the product to its military customers includes enabling interoperability with the LVC environment, providing assessment of human-in-the-loop performance, and stimulating physical networked systems with simulated cyber threats for real-time testing. Off-the-shelf interfaces to battlefield simulations including OneSAF, VT MÄK’s VR-Forces, and Presagis’ STAGE allow easy integration into training systems that incorporate any of these. “Our accurate modeling of the network provides high fidelity responses to real cyber attacks and defenses. Training of network administrators to detect and react to threats as they occur, can take place in parallel with the training of command and staff to work around the cyber attacks and complete the mission,” he added. Wihl added the virtual cyber range “is tightly integrated with physical hardware, live applications, human operators, network monitoring tools, and constructive battlefield simulations, enabling accurate training for the effects of cyber defense and offense on entire mission outcome. Some users of this system will be highly knowledgeable network defenders and attackers. They will interact with the emulated network using many of the same tools they use on real networks.” The company’s commercial product EXata/Cyber emulates the battlefield network (tactical radios, enterprise networks, satellites, routers, and other network components) and contains cyber warfare models that are used to attack or defend the network as well as the connected equipment and applications. The product has been used by the U.S. DoD to create a global cyber infrastructure consisting of Blue, Red and Gray cyber terrain. Camber has developed a wide ranging portfolio to support its U.S. DoD customers’ cyber learning requirements. During this October’s AUSA in Washington, D.C., Bill Dunn, the company’s 26

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vice president for its cyber sector, demonstrated one capability, the CENTS (Cyberoperations Enhanced Network and Training Simulator) product line. “This allows us to work with the instructor to build curriculum and then provide the scenario and cyber effects within the simulator, to drive the curriculum, to drive the training.” When asked about the rigor of the cyber effects that CENTS delivers, Dunn responded the effects include viruses, worms, trojans – anything that fits into the rapidly expanding and evolving category of a cyber event. Camber collaborates with cyber exercise planners to ensure the correct cyber effect is provided in the simulator design prior to delivering a second corporate competency – supporting large scale exercises for combatant commanders, the National Guard Bureau and other commands. “The exercised organizations tell us what the threat is, where the threat vectors are coming from, what is happening with DoD and other topics,” Dunn explained. The company seems to also have its finger on the pulse of contemporary, broader cyber threats, as it remains updated on threats and trends to the nation as a whole. “And then we’ll put those broader threats in the simulator,” Dunn added. The cyber division delivers a third competency, providing formal classroom training, enabled by CENTS and other products, for the National Guard Bureau at Camp Robinson, Arkansas, the Air Force’s undergraduate cyber training course at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, and the 39th Information Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Florida. In one instance, Camber deploys 30 CENTS units to the Air Force undergraduate course to support net operations and defense course modules. Earlier this year, Elbit Systems announced it fielded its cyber simulator specifically for the training of government, military and critical civilian infrastructure cyber defense agencies.

Defense Secretary Panetta said, "A cyber attack perpetrated by nation states or violent extremist groups could be as destructive as the terrorist attack of 9/11. Such a destructive cyber terrorist attack could paralyze the nation." Image credit: U.S. Navy/ Jason Brun.

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Dana Tal, Assistant Head of Communications at Elbit Systems told MS&T the device was designed to enable personal and group training of the different users of detection, containment, mitigation and management of various cyber warfare events and attacks. “The simulator also offers training for prevention of cyber warfare events, by simulating network protection scenarios. It includes various network protection scenarios and allows debriefing and evaluation sessions in order to draw conclusions from the trainees’ training performance.” Asked to describe how this new product compares to legacy systems, Tal said the simulator is a unique system that provides capabilities that have never been offered before in previous simulators in this field, saying “This cutting edge system supports advanced training capabilities in simulation of detection, containment, mitigation and management, while enabling to perform a profound debriefing and evaluation of the trainees’ performance following the sessions”.

Elbit's cyber simulator. Image credit: Elbit Systems.

Elbit Systems’ cyber simulator is in operational use by an unspecified Israeli customer and various versions of the cyber simulator have already been supplied to an international customer.

Latest Developments When Wihl spoke with MS&T this September, he reported the release of the EXata/Cyber 4.1 upgrade. “This integrates an extensive new statistics data-

base that can be queried to assess what the detailed state of the network was under cyber attack at any time during the scenario. This greatly improves after action review,” he pointed out. Scalable Network Technologies is also developing a new GUI (graphical user interface) that will give a much richer and easier to comprehend view of the state of a network centric system as it is subject to cyber attack. For its part, Camber expects to field the Range Global Internet as this issue was being published. The product is essentially an Internet in a box. Dunn explained it provides his customers “real world routing and IPs [Internet Protocol addresses] – literally the world Internet in this box. We can then build out infrastructure.” So conceptually the training audience could build a nation, or even a state infrastructure – with hospital, cyber cafe, .gov, military and other domains. “So we put those into the simulator so it has all traffic flows, and the bits and pieces of a state infrastructure,” he concluded. mst

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Interview

CAE’s Gene Colabatistto: Insights & Strategies Group Editor Marty Kauchak spoke with Gene Colabatistto, CAE’s Group President, Military Products, Training & Services, on October 22, 2012 during the 2012 AUSA in Washington, D.C. The content has been edited to fit the space available. A full transcript is available at www.halldale.com. MS&T: Congratulations on assuming your new leadership position at CAE. We appreciate you taking time here at AUSA to speak with us. Do the current pressures on defense budgets in the U.S. and most other nations provide challenges to the M&S community or opportunities? Gene Colabatistto: The budgets are certainly tightening and the opportunities are much more distinct in some cases. No one is immune from what is going on in the world. That being said, it’s not “doom and gloom” for the simulation and training industry. In fact, there’s reason for optimism. We see a challenging yet bright future. The fact is that simulation offers a number of advantages – cost-effectiveness is one – that simply cannot be ignored in today’s constrained budget environment. What we are finding in our sector is the budget uncertainty and the leading edge of the cuts is resulting in delays, but not cancellations. We feel very strongly that we selected our pursuits well in the past, and we are well positioned in the market. The basic value proposition of maintaining or even increasing readiness with the use of virtual training is a very sound operational and economic proposition. 30

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We, as well as the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Government Accountability Office and others, have statistics that show the cost differential between live training and virtual training. You can never replace all live training with virtual training, especially when you talk about mission training. But we do see defense forces achieving more of a balance between live and synthetic training, and believe more interoperable, networked, joint and coalition training will be conducted in virtual simulation One of the things that distinguishes our business is what goes on in the classroom, cockpit or ground combat vehicle cab is only part of what we do. We like to think of ourselves as much broader than that – our core is helping prepare forces for the missions they are asked to do. The cockpit is only part of that. So it’s not just about saving gas, or replacing live flight hours – we are focused on providing training for the entire mission crew in what we hope to be a much more immersive, integrated training environment. MS&T: Some military planners have indicated an intention to blunt the impact of budget constraints by largely focusing on "the business of defense" – the institutional and corporate support

and services. Do you see a role for M&S here? What about in other areas such as acquisition, system development and risk management? GC: When you look at a system throughout its whole life cycle, from concept development through the acquisition program, it’s pretty well established in all those different facets of the acquisition and life cycle processes that there’s a role for modeling and simulation. However, it’s not institutionalized where all of the programs do it and they all do it the same way. In the space systems business where I came from, M&S is used extensively because there is simply no other way to get anything done. When we were flying satellites, before anyone did an on-orbit maneuver, it was simulated multiple times. So culturally that’s a community that is already there. The technology is already there. The processes are there. But not every culture has adopted modeling and simulation to the same level. The good news is there’s a lot of data to show how effective it is. The U.S. DoD has all the tools. And so perhaps it’s only a cultural change needed to embed this more into concept development, acquisition and, here’s a great one, into

sustainment and operational logistics. One of the things CAE has done recently is establish an Integrated Enterprise Solutions business unit that is charged with helping clients leverage simulation in areas such as analysis, experimentation, concept exploration, and decision support. In other words, we think modeling and simulation is the perfect tool for helping make the future more predictable, which will help drive efficiencies and cost reduction for acquisition, system development and more. MS&T: It sounds like it may take a huge cultural shift to embed M&S more fully into a product’s or system’s life cycle. GC: Yes, but there are things working in our favor. One is demographic shift where our customers are increasingly digital natives” as opposed to “digital immigrants” like people from my generation. And there are also other imperatives of cost and security. MS&T: CAE's presence at the 2012 AUSA conveys an obvious interest in the land warfare domain. Tell us about CAE's evolving portfolio in this mission area. GC: What we’d like for the defense market globally to know is that CAE is really an expert at applying modeling and simulation to help our customers save money, become more efficient, maintain readiness, and solve challenging problems, no matter the market segment. Because of our strong brand and position related to flight simulation, the defense market at large is perhaps not as aware that CAE offers a range of simulation-based solutions for land forces. In fact, when I look at what we do around the world for the land segment, it is quite an extensive portfolio. We offer training solutions such as driver and crew gunnery trainers for armored vehicles, artillery and forward air control trainers, and constructive simulation systems for command and staff training. You hear me mention the global nature of our business quite often because when I think of our business one of the distinguishing characteristics is geography and geographic diversity. There are certainly parts of the world that are making increased investments in defense. At the same time they have a vested interest in increasing their level of dependence in technology. And in this case dependence isn’t a bad thing. MS&T: So let’s jump ahead and ask about the geographic areas on your professional interest list.

GC: One thing people might not realize about CAE is just how truly global the company is – we are really the only “pure play” simulation and training company with a global footprint. We have operations and training centers in more than 20 countries, and almost 8,000 employees worldwide. This global footprint is important for a number of reasons. It gives us balance and geographic diversification which helps with the inevitable ebbs and flows of defense budgets globally. And this established global footprint will be increasingly important moving forward. As others in the industry are looking outside of the U.S. and Europe, they will face challenges that we’ve already been through. Two markets of particular interest are Asia and the Middle East. Geopolitically the reasons are different. But in both cases there are internal or external threats that are causing nations in those regions to increase their capacity and capability. The joint venture we established with the Government of Brunei to build a multi-purpose training center is a great example. At the same time, North America and Europe will continue to be important markets to CAE. Here, it’s about the ability to recapitalize and look at their next generation requirements. And that’s where the economic imperative drives modeling and simulation – and where we have to show a distinct value proposition. MS&T: Share with us your business plan for the CAE military business sector for 2013. GC: We look at ourselves as applying modeling and simulation to work in all the major domains: air, land, sea and critical infrastructure. All of these have requirements related to efficiency, safety, readiness, and preparedness. For example, I find the requirements and what we can bring to the market in critical infrastructure as closely adjacent to the military market: building integrated modeling and simulation centers, decision support centers and operations centers are all very closely matched. We will continue to build simulators and simulation-based systems. We have both virtual and constructive simulation systems. We don’t do a lot in the live domain, but I can see us partnering – something we are very good at and very experienced. We definitely believe there will be more integration of the livevirtual-constructive domains. The magic

is tying these domains together, and we have some of the underlying technologies and capabilities to make that happen, such as the dynamic synthetic environment. During a recent visit to our facility in Germany, ground forces from the German Army were operating in real time in a command post exercise, using our GESI constructive simulation system, and others on-site were using our simulators as part of an integrated exercise. That’s where we want to be – in the center of that triangle – integrated and immersive, live virtual and constructive. An advantage we have is the flexibility and willingness to use all potential business models – whether they are government-owned and governmentoperated; or government-owned and contractor-operated; or company-owned and company-operated. We routinely apply commercial business practices in the defense environment. That’s quite a discriminator. And when you integrate systems you have to offer a network operations-type capability. That’s the domain of what we call a systems integrator. CAE does that. It’s just not the way CAE has traditionally described itself. This is a much broader market than what we have typically been branded in. The general plan to leverage that is to create these integrated, immersive training capabilities. If that’s a critical infrastructure operations facility, a disaster relief center, or a flight training center, our vision is to leverage our simulation technologies and integration capabilities to help our customers plan, prepare, train and respond. MS&T: Any concluding thoughts? GC: Yes. Some people may ask how you pull this off in a down market. If you anticipate the market coming down, you try to position yourself in segments that hedge against that. Fortunately, we’re a company focused on modeling and simulation, so we’re already in a good segment for a challenging market. We’re going to find and create the opportunities in the addressable global market, and intend to show our customers how they can leverage simulation to meet budget challenges while maintaining preparedness and readiness. Everyone will see some excellent examples of our technologies and capabilities at I/ITSEC. mst M S & T M A G A Z I NE 6 . 2 0 1 2

Empowering Maintenance Training for the NH90 by simulated hardware

hen armies are ramping up the operations on a new helicopter system, there usually is well prepared education and training in place for the future pilots. However, for sustained operations an additional group of staff is of key importance: the maintenance crews. As both pilots and maintenance crew need to use the same scarce specimen of a new system at the same time for training there is usually an issue with sufficient availability for training of the ground crews. Facing this situation for NH90 both the German and French armed forces decided to cut this Gordian knot by procuring Training Rigs for the education of NH90 ground crews. The intention of the initiators of the programme was to make sure that there would be a set of training media dedicated solely to the training of the maintenance crews, without the possibility that they would be salvaged or recruited for operational demands. Additionally cost efficiency and lifecycle cost were of key

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priority. These requirements led to an innovative and so far unique approach for the envisioned training media â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the sole utilisation of replicas. This ensures cost efficiency as the training devices do not require compliance with aviation standards and this fact will prevent their components from being utilised for any other purpose. Full fletched replication of a system as sophisticated as the NH90 for training purposes has never been implemented before, however. Thus feasibility of the programme was of key concern. A preliminary design study was implemented during the definition phase of the programme. Objective was proof of concept as well as identification of training needs which should be covered by the training rigs. It was executed by a joint team from German Procurement Agency, German Armed Forces and industry. The study confirmed feasibility of the programme and established the basis for a specification for the NH90 Maintenance Training Rigs. More than1200 maintenance

Above. The Engine Replica fits into the Original NH90 on first try.

tasks were selected for replication after a thorough training needs analysis. To ensure cost effectiveness the Rigs were focused on the practical training of maintenance tasks, i.e. the removal, repair and installation of user serviceable parts of the helicopter while replication of functions (e.g. functional tests of equipment) were consistently banned from the training rigs. Due to its experience in big scale replication of weapon systems for training for the German Air Force, Reiser Systemtechnik GmbH was contracted by NAHEMA in December 2010 to execute this innovative and unique programme. Objective of the contract is development and provisioning of the NH90 Maintenance Training Rigs to both France and Germany. The contract calls for delivery of five Training Rigs until third quarter of 2015. Key challenge during development

original helicopter using state of the art technologies.

of the rigs is to ensure that the training rigs fully avoid negative training, i.e. the training rig and all its parts need to provide identical “hands-on-the-job” training to the trainees when dismantled and installed during maintenance training. In order to achieve this goal the data required for a realistic replication had to be gathered directly from the original helicopter which is rendered possible by the future users of the training rigs. To ensure minimum possible impact on the on-going usage of original equipment, state-of-the art technology such as 3D scanning devices and specifically designed processes for preparation of data gathering and processing of the data gathered are employed. By now the programme is on schedule, and is heading towards production phase after a successful Critical Design Review which had been accomplished only recently. First replicas produced, such as the NH90 Engine, have been thoroughly inspected and tested by the future users from both French Army and Navy as well as German Air Force - Feedback from both trainers and trainees on quality, usability for training and fidelity being excellent. The suitability of the engi-

neering approach could be validated in 2012 by integrating the replica on the Aircraft Ground Equipment (AGE) for the original engine and into the NH90 Prototype PT 5. Both tests were fully successful on first try. Economical evaluation had proven that the envisaged cost reduction was achieved: The use of replicas for maintenance training allows to cut cost for training equipment by 50% to 70% when compared to the use of original equipment. Currently the fuselage of the 1st Training Rig is being integrated in one of Reiser Systemtechnik´s divisions in Wolfratshausen, Germany. It will receive painting by the end of the year in order to be subsequently equipped with replicas of different systems such as FLIR, Nose Landing gear, Main Landing Gear, Pilot Seat, Pedal Unit, Sliding Door, Ramp and Hatch. It will be delivered to Germany’s Technical Air Force School No. 3 located at Fassberg by August 2013. Subsequent deliveries are scheduled for 2014 and 2015. As the Training Rigs are designed to provide identical installation space as the original helicopter, updates and adaptions as well as reconfigurations for additional users may be achieved easily. Additionally the technology and Know-How developed at Reiser Systemtechnik for the programme may be applied to other military or civil systems and platforms that require training for maintenance, repair or assembly.

SIMULATION & TRAINING

REISER SYSTEMTECHNIK GMBH | OBERER LUESSBACH 31 | 82335 BERG / HOEHENR AIN, GERMANY | PHONE + 49 8171 4373 - 0 | W W W.REISER- SYSTEMTECHNIK.DE

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Training Technology

Low Cost, High Quality Low cost flight training devices are being used to improve training system efficiency â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an important goal in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s environment. Chuck Weirauch reports.

s military flight training budgets are expected to experience cutbacks, service training commands both in the US and internationally are increasingly looking toward lower cost simulation-based flight training devices, traditionally referred to as part-task or mission trainers, to not only help save money but also to help fill training gaps and increase training throughput without completely depending on full-flight simulators. While the function of such simulation devices fits the part-task trainer description, some developers say that because advancing technology provides the newer devices with much more capability than older ones, the traditional term for them is outdated. "As customers see the winding down of optempo and the reduction of operational hours, they want to maximize their training domestically and ask â&#x20AC;&#x201C; how do I augment my FFS and get a training multiplier that can increase student throughput without the large expense of a full fidelity device, "said Frank Casano, L-3 Link VP of Navy and Marine Corps Programs. 34

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According to Thierry Le Gall, Director of Sales for Presagis Europe, his company has seen increasing interest for all types of flight training solutions from the international military community. The trend is much more towards entry-level and lower-cost mission training rather than those for much more expensive fullflight simulators, he noted.

F/A-18 L-3 recently provided its PC-based F/A-18 SimuStrike low-cost, low-footprint simulator system to the US Navy, with two units to be delivered to Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Md. The SimuStrike is equipped with a touch-screen cockpit instrumentation panel and employs the same software package employed by the L-3 developed F/A-18 Tactical Operational Flight Trainer (TOFT). According to Casano, the F/A-18 SimuStrike system is ten per cent of the cost of the full-fidelity trainer and virtually eliminates life-cycle costs to maintain aircraft concurrency by using the same software. Casano also said that the SimuStrike system delivers the same sensor fidelity as the full-fidelity trainer. That's important, because pilot and weapons systems training in the US domestic services is more sensor-based than actually out-the-window because of the range of standoff weapons, he pointed out. So it's now more heads-down in the sensors than being in the outdoor world, Casano concluded, although the less expensive system also can provide a dense urban footprint for close air support, forward air control and refresher training as well. "With low-cost devices you can maximize the time in a fullfidelity trainer, so the cost of the small footprint device goes well

L-3's PC-based F/A-18 SimuStrike low-cost, low-footprint simulator system. Image credit: L-3 Link Simulation & Training.

beyond its cost," Casano summed up. " Students will also get more out of their full flight training hours."

C-130 Lockheed Martin Global Training and Logistics has provided the US Air Force with the Multi-Function Training Aid (MFTA), a reconfigurable lower cost simulator that looks like a commercial aviation flat panel trainer. The MFTA features integrated overhead touch screen panels, switches, dials and simulated controls to provide familiarization and procedures training. The system also incorporates the company's Prepar3D flight simulation software. With this software, students can train in virtually any kind of aircraft, loading aircraft models in a matter of minutes, according to Lockheed Martin. The Air Force MFTA currently models the Lockheed C-130J aircraft and is used for cockpit familiarization and procedures training to aircrews before they enter full-fidelity simulators for missionbased training. It is now being used to train pilots at Cannon and Little Rock Air Force Bases. Next up for delivery is Kirtland AFB, where a Combat Systems Operator station will be added to the system. According to Martile Allen, Lockheed Martin Prepar3D Program Manager, the Air Force saw a need to provide C-130J familiarization and procedures training at a level that did not involve real aircraft or a full-flight simulator for pilots transitioning from an analog instrumented C130E aircraft to the C-130J all-glass cockpit. So the MFTA covers a training gap that allows pilots and crew who understand how to operate an analog cockpit to learn the differences between a C-130E and a much more complex C-130J cockpit, she explained. Chester Kennedy, Lockheed Martin's Vice President of Engineering, said that a full-motion flight simulator for the C-130 transport aircraft would cost more than $10 million. But Lockheed's MFTA is less than $1 million. In addition, employing the MFTA reduces the amount of training time that pilots would otherwise spend in the much more expensive fullflight simulator and the actual aircraft, he added.

Kennedy pointed out that Prepar3D is fully compatible with Microsoft Flight Simulator software and that a multichannel capability has been added to Prepar3D. The software also allows the ability to handle various sensor views so that users can expand the nature of the application the MFTA product. Work is also underway to incorporate physics effects necessary for weapons implementation for training, he said. "The weapons capability will open up a new block of training assets that can be implemented on this level of MFTA device," Kennedy said. "This is so you can understand as to when you can deploy weapons. This opens up training to a much wider audience. So we can reduce the hours in the FFS by putting more tasks into what was traditionally thought of as a part-task trainer. We are working towards the 3rd quarter of 2013 to deploy the weapons effects capability."

Army RC-12X Trainer The US Army has been employing the military version of the King Air turboprop aircraft, the RC-12X, for reconnaissance missions in Afghanistan. Late last year, Fidelity Flight Simulation was awarded a subcontract through prime STOC II contractor SAIC to provide the service with two RC-12X Cockpit Procedural Trainers (CPT) based on Fidelity's civilian King Air training device. According to Fidelity, the CPT was conceived of as an avionics trainer only, without actual flight controls or external visual display. However, it was then modified to be equipped not only with a simulated Universal 890R flight deck but also with physical flight controls and a highresolution external visual display. The integration of advanced avionics, flight controls, and an external display allows for a more effective training environment for US Army crews, the flight simulation company said. According to Graham Hodgetts, President of Fidelity Flight Simulation, the Army did not have a simulator for the Universal 890R flight deck, which is the avionics suite for the RC-12X King Air aircraft. Because of this situation, the Army had to go to a training provider and was spending lots of money doing so, M S & T M AGA Z INE 6 . 2 0 1 2

Training Technology Hodgetts said. This third-party arrangement was also taking crews away from their duties to train in a very expensive simulator just to get that part task training done, he explained. "Overall, we are putting more emphasis on avionics, because it has become a very important aspect of aviation, and that's why we got this Army contract," Graham said. "And this is also what is happening in simulation. Now we are able to build smaller, faster and more capable simulation at a lot less expense."

In Distributed Mission Operations Exercises According to Ed Bryan, Vice President of the Advanced Technologies Division of SDS International. Inc., the company's LiteFlite A-10, F-16, F-18 reconfigurable flight simulators are being employed in Air Force networked Distributed Mission Operations (DMO) exercises. The company's products consist of PC-based high fidelity, low-cost simulators that employ commercial-off the-shelf (COTS) products that allow crews to train and practice in individual and networked team training environments. For example, a laptop-based LiteFlite F-16 simulator has been used in a man-in-the-loop aggressor role in DMO exercises. "In the DMO environment, it has to fly like an airplane and weapons have to work like those in the aircraft," Bryan said."Whatever you do has to be in highenough fidelity so that whatever that simulator does, it has to do it as well as the full-flight simulator aero model, weapons packages and other content. That's why the DMOC asked us to be a mission participant in distributed exercises."

In UAS training SDS also provides LiteFlite technologybased MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper UAS Remotely Operated Adaptable Training/Tracking Systems (ROVATTS) for National Guard UAS pilot and sensor operator training. According to Bryan, the ROVATTS provides full sensor and mission training capabilities for onetenth of the cost of a Predator Mission Aircrew Training System (PMATS). The Air Force Air Education and 36

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Training Command (AETC) is also employing lower cost flight training devices for both manned and unmanned aerial system (UAS) undergraduate pilot training. On the UAS front, Jeff Wiseman, Branch Chief of the AETC's Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) Training Branch, cited two examples of how the Command has integrated such devices into its curricula. "We have pretty much gone in that direction," Wiseman pointed out. According to Wiseman, AETC had been employing existing T-6 Operational Flight Trainers (OFTs) for undergraduate RPA pilots in basic and instrument procedures to qualify them to fly in the US National Airspace System (NAS). According to the Air Force, a new innovative RPA training solution enhances training and saves millions of dollars. "But we knew that we were going to run out of that capacity in the T-6 OFT soon," Wiseman said. "That's why we procured the relatively low-cost T-6 Texan II simulator that we have been using since July of this year. The existing T-6 OFTs run about $3 million apiece. So for less than that amount, we got ten of these new devices. And they are PC-driven with a sit-in cockpit that looks much like a T-6, has a 180-degree half-dome visual system and uses the actual parts that the OFT uses. It has all of the functionality of the T-6 OFT, minus a few things that we did not need, like the oxygen system and the ejection seat. By not having to use such actual

Lockheed Martin's Prepar3D simulation platform. Image credit: Lockheed Martin.

aircraft parts, we could really bring the cost down." Another, newer RPA solution that Wiseman considers to be a part-task trainer is the Predator/Reaper Integrated Mission Environment (PRIME) for the next phase of undergraduate training. "We needed a lot of such low-cost devices for RPA student pilots and sensor operators in our training squadron," Wiseman said. "The Predator Mission Aircrew Training System (PMATS) is about $2 million apiece. We were able to procure the PRIME devices for a whole lot less than that. The PRIME is kind of a surface-level Reaper trainer. It doesn't have the deep-level menu that students will learn when they get to the final training unit. But it covers a lot of the procedures at this level of undergraduate training, along with what we call Combat 101. This includes such things as airspace, weapons delivery and rules of engagement â&#x20AC;&#x201C; basic stuff that learners will need to know before they show up at final training." Intific, Inc., provides PRIME for the AETC, and was recently awarded a $3.9 million contract for upgrades to the system. According to Intific Program Director Carl Norman, PRIME allows the Air Force to train UAS crews at a much lower cost. mst

Procurement

A Contract Like No Other Not many years ago a contract of this kind would have been unthinkable. How times have changed! Europe Editor Walter F. Ullrich explains.

n 17 June 2011, then Russian Minister of Defence Anatoliy Serdyukov signed a contract worth well over €100m with Klaus Eberhardt, Chairman of the Executive Board of the German Rheinmetall AG, to build a high-tech combat training centre for the Russian Army in Mulino near Nizhniy Novgorod on the Volga. However, only the contract partners showed any real enthusiasm for the deal; commentators were quite irritated, at best surprised. US and UK observers opined that the transfer of modern military technology to Russia, as in this case, risks posing a serious internal challenge for the Alliance. It is not only Germany that is exporting newest technology to Russia: France has sold four amphibious assault Mistral-class warships, and Italy is setting up a joint enterprise for the serial production of Lynx light multi-purpose armoured vehicles. Poland and the Baltic states in particular see a potential threat to their national security in such armament upgrading. Back in January 2012, Senator Richard G. Lugar commissioned the US Congressional Research Service (CRS) with reviewing the sale to Russia 38

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of military equipment and technology by NATO allies. One of his questions was: “What, if any, operational risks are posed to the NATO Alliance as a result of such sales?” The resulting memorandum published by the CRS in April 2012 came to the conclusion that most allies do not believe that the specific military capabilities transferred to Russia pose a direct threat to the Alliance. However, selling technology without first consulting NATO allies to discuss security implications, they argue, could set a bad precedent and ultimately lead to a deterioration of regional security. Vice versa, it was argued, the deals could promote broader efforts to develop a strategic partnership with Russia and the principle set out in NATO’s 2010 Strategic Concept that a “strong and constructive partnership with Russia based on mutual confidence, transparency and predictability can best serve NATO’s security.” These allies also argue that defence cooperation with Russia provides an important means by which to influence the country’s military modernisation process, adding that the “constructive partnership” could benefit from more modern and interoperable Russian military forces. The Rheinmetall contract met with particular disapproval in Russia. Supporters of the Russian S&T industry, who would have preferred the contract to have gone to a Russian enterprise, falsely claimed that the German company might sell 10-year-old, outdated technology to the Russian Army.

Long-standing Bilateral Relations Germany has a deep and long-standing mutual relationship with Russia that dates back to the post-First World War period. Today, Germany is Russia’s largest trading partner: Russia supplies Germany with raw materials and natural resources, mainly

Signing the contract. Left to right: Ulrich Sasse, President Simulation & Training at Rheinmetall Defence Electronics; Klaus Eberhardt, Chairman of the Executive Board of Rheinmetall AG; Anatoliy Serdyukov, Defence Minister of the Russian Federation; Sergey Khursevitch, General Director of Oboronservice. Image credit: Rheinmetall.

gas – which it needs all the more since its recent move away from nuclear energy. In return, Germany delivers high-tech products that are not built in Russia. However, it would be oversimplifying the situation to say that the deal meant “know-how for gas”. The two nations agreed in 2008 at the highest governmental level to create a “Partnership for Modernisation”, allowing the transfer of German technologies to Russia, but also the promotion of reforms of economic and administrative law, the judiciary and copyright protection. Now, as part of a “partnership for resources”, Germany supplements strategic efforts to increase imports of rare earth elements, including possible joint German–Russian investments in Russia in the exploitation and processing of these resources. Military cooperation also has a long tradition in German–Russian relations. After all, it was Soviet Russia that after the First World War allowed Germany to secretly build up its military, contrary to restrictions imposed by the Versailles Treaty. These days, German defence

manufacturers see the modernisation of the Russian armed forces as an opportunity to sell their products and services to Russia. Order values are still moderate and variable (€144.3m in 2009 and only €18.6m in 2010). Nevertheless, the Rheinmetall deal could prove to be the door opener. German armament technology has always been highly regarded in Russia. Russian experts generally first compare the quality of their own military equipment with their German counterparts and, if none is available, with a USmade or Israeli product. Russia’s import activities are occurring at a time when the Russian armed forces are undergoing the most radical reforms in decades. The 2008 Russian– Georgian War, despite Russia’s rapid victory, revealed notable tactical and operational shortcomings and deficiencies. As a result, the Russian political and military leadership accelerated the process of modernisation of the armed forces, explicitly including the option of buying foreign military equipment that Russian industry does not manufacture

and will be unable to produce in the near future. Some experts say that the Russian government also started buying materiel abroad to put domestic industry under pressure to finally build better and less expensive products.

A Centre for Comprehensive Training The state-of-the-art Russian army training centre the Düsseldorf-based Rheinmetall Group is building is situated in Mulino near Nizhniy Novgorod on the Volga, directly adjacent to Russia’s main artillery training range. Covering an area of more than 500 square kilometres, it will allow training of units up to reinforced mechanised infantry or armoured brigade, a total of 30,000 troops a year. Rheinmetall is one of the world’s most experienced live training providers. The Group already operates the German Army’s GÜZ, a high-tech army training centre located in the Altmark in central Germany. The GÜZ, on which the new facility in Russia will be modelled, was long regarded as the benchmark for all

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2nd Annual

Cultural & Linguistic Advancement for Mission Success (CLAMS) February 20-22, 2013 Washington, DC / VA Hear From: Rear Admiral Stephen R. Loeffler, U.S. Navy (Ret) Senior Lecturer and Director, Regional Security Education Program Naval Postgraduate School Roberto "BJ" Sanchez Senior Strategist for Foreign Language & Area Office Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Ambassador John Herbst Director, Center for Complex Operations Institute for National Strategic Studies Charles W. Beadling, MD, Colonel (Ret), MC, USAF Principal Investigator, Defense Medical Language Initiative Director, Center for Disaster and Humanitarian Assistance Medicine (CDHAM) Dr. Peter Siska Chair of Regional Studies Center for Language, Cultures, and Regional Studies U.S. Military Academy, West Point Ambassador Alberto M. Fernandez Coordinator, Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications U.S. Department of State Major Jonathan Brown, USMC International Affairs Program Coordinator (PLU-8) FAO / RAO / PEP International Affairs Branch

Please Contact: David Drey T: 416-800-2481 E: ddrey@marcusevansch.com

things in live training centres. The new training centre will enable the Russian military leadership to train and test under realistic battlefield conditions the combat readiness of ground forces for practically all types of modern warfare, including combined arms operations. Rheinmetallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s buyer and business partner is the Russian company JSCo Oboronservice, a Federal State Unitary Enterprise subordinated to the Russian Ministry of Defence. Under the contract Rheinmetall is tasked with developing and supplying the live combat simulation system and with technical implementation of all aspects of the project, including commissioning and quality assurance. An innovative rotation principle, which will be employed in Mulino for the first time, allows training to take place simultaneously at a variety of stations. A training system tracks and records the activities of each participant via an electronic identification badge throughout the training course until successful completion. Russian military experts do not expect participants, who hail from all parts of the Russian Federation and the most different social classes, to share the same level of education and skills. Therefore, prior to getting into the actual rotation cycle, the level of qualification of the individual soldiers is checked in an introductory qualification phase by means of CBT modules. Participants will not be allowed to proceed until they meet theoretical and practical minimum requirements. After that, they move on to other training stations, including live combat simulation, marksmanship on modern firing ranges, commander training by state-of-the-art constructive simulation, as well as other practical training components. Another new feature is the networking of live, virtual and constructive simulation elements in an LVC. Operational training will be performed within a zone covering approximately 200 square kilometres, using laser simulators and cutting-edge communication technology mounted onto the original equipment. Eye-safe laser simulators will simulate live fire for all weapons. At the end of the Mulino training cycle, each brigade will have a meaningful and comparable certified level of proficiency.

State-of-the-art Technology The technology and equipment used to realise the centre is the 40

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The Russian Army CTC covers an area of more than 500 square kilometres. Image credit: Rheinmetall.

very latest in Rheinmetall’s portfolio. More specifically, it encompasses a Training Management & Information System; a Laser Engagement System for 1,000 actors; an Exercise Control Centre; a Data Communication System (TETRA); Instrumentation of three MOUT Facilities; and a Warehouse & Fitting Facility. Furthermore, a service hall will be built where the wheeled and tracked vehicles of the OPFOR are maintained that will be stationed permanently in Mulino. During live training operations, each entity participating in the exercise, from individual soldiers to main battle tanks will be equipped with laser sensors and compact data transmission devices. These wireless devices feature a GPS satellite receiver and constantly transmit the position and status of each participant to the exercise control cell. When exercising in urban terrain, special sensors even track the position of soldiers inside buildings. The effects of heavy weapons fire on buildings and the troops inside can also be simulated. Mobile video teams accompany the participating units, transmitting imagery back to headquarters in real time, where the complete range of data including voice transmissions is available. The position and status of all exercise participants are shown on workstation computer monitors and large screens on a 2D/3D situation map. All events taking place during the exercise are electronically recorded and processed for subsequent after-action review, which can be presented to exercise participants out in the field or in the lecture theatre. Turnkey delivery of the CTC is scheduled for June 2014.

A Fundamental Change in the Training Environment The Russian Army Training Centre will be the first armament project to be outsourced by the Russian Ministry of Defence. JSCo Oboronservice, created in 2008 by presidential decree with the aim of providing specific services to the military, will operate the facility on behalf of the Russian armed forces. Oboronservice is also the general contractor in the strategic partnership with the non-Russian company Rheinmetall, also a first for Russia.

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General Werner Freers, former Chief of Staff of the German Army; Anatoliy Serdyukov, the then Defence Minister of the Russian Federation; and former General of the Army Nikolaj Makarov, Chief of Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, at the GüZ for a detailed briefing on the German Army Training Centre. Image credit: Bundeswehr/Klaus Schneider.

Changes the troops and unit commanders will be facing are even more drastic. The use of enemy forces is uncommon in the Russian Army. In the past, during large manoeuvres, regiments lined up on a kilometre wide departure line, advancing and employing – and firing – if it was on a firing range. For the first time, now, an objective verification system will allow the assessment of individual soldiers, staff performance and complete units to an extent as yet unknown in the Russian Army. The untouchable system highlights strengths, but mercilessly lays bare the shortcomings of superiors. Within the training environment that is based on the German training doctrine, personal initiative and responsibility will also be required at the lower end of the military hierarchy – an element that will change the relationship between leaders and those being led. The Russian Army will need to take a critical look at its basic training methods and education, as well as at the often-reported degrading treatment of subordinates. Russian users will very soon realise that state-of-the-art technology alone is not enough for sustainable advancement: you have to take the people with you. mst

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Training Technology

A Military Game Engine Primer Not your average game; not your average engine. Perry McDowell presents a primer on game engines for military training.

ames and gaming technology are becoming a more important part of the military’s landscape. As the military moves to integrate live, virtual and constructive (LVC) training, it is increasingly using game technology to fill the virtual portion of those systems. Developers are even building many aircraft and ship simulators using these systems, and experts only expect this to increase. John Brooks, CEO of Real Time Immersive, says, “As we get more digital natives in leadership, there will be more adaption, and these visual media will be embraced more.” In order to grasp the possibilities these systems bring, one must first understand the technology that serves as their basis. “Game engines” is the term used to describe the software that developers use to build games and gamebased systems. This article will give the reader a basic description of what a game engine is, the common engines currently in use within the military, and a brief idea of where this technology is going in the next five to ten years. 42

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Game Engines Description A game engine is a software system designed for the development of video games. Game engines serve as a framework upon which developers create games for electronic media such as video game consoles, personal computers, or mobile devices. Originally, game engines provided capabilities in only a few areas, such as rendering, physics (including collision detection and projectile pathing), sound, memory management, networking and windowing. As games have increased in complexity, engines have expanded to provide support in a wide range of other areas required to build games: scripting, animation, artificial intelligence, thread management and even support for massively multiplayer online gaming. They also have graphical components, such as level editors, designed to make the task of building games easier for the development team. Although developers use game engines for almost all types of video games, currently the military is mainly using first person shooter (FPS) games for training. FPS games are those where the player’s main means of interacting with the game world is via a first person perspective, whether or not they actually “shoot.” In the early days of game engines, the biggest discriminator between engines was how “fast” each engine was, that is, how quickly it could render complex scenes, perform physics calculations and the like. While this is still an important consideration, today the biggest factor is how easy the engine makes it to build the game.

America's Army has provided unique insight into the life of a Soldier through a virtual environment. Image credit: America's Army.

The AAR review capability in VBS2 not only shows the events, but also statistics on the trainee's actions. Image credit: Bohemia Interactive Simulations.

Interactive Simulation (DIS) or High Level Architecture (HLA) or display geospecific terrain from formats like Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED). These training systems have evolved to provide these capabilities that are unique to the military. Even though these solutions provide much more than game engines, they are still often referred to as such. The majority of those building game-based applications for the military do not interact directly with the game engine. Instead, they build applications using a “game-based training solution” that sits atop multiple pieces of software, one of which is a game engine. Although in some cases these training solutions sit atop the same game engines used to build some of the most successful games on the commercial market, the solutions provide much more functionality than those game engines. Military training systems require additional functionality, such as the ability to perform after action reviews (AARs) or record and transmit trainees’ results to learning management systems (LMSs). Similarly, military games may be required to interface with live or constructive simulations using protocols such as Distributed

Engines in Use by the Military There is not a single gaming system in use by the military. Instead, different groups within the military that require gaming systems and have the resources to procure them are free to do so. While the military uses many more systems than those listed here, and there is no estimate of all systems in use with their share of the military market, experts consider the four discussed below to be the major players in the field.

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Training Technology Virtual Battlespace Systems 2 (VBS2) – Both the U.S. Army and Marine Corps currently use VBS 2 as their primary game based training system; the Army refers to VBS2 as its “flagship game first person shooter.” It is produced by Bohemia Interactive and traces its roots back to Operation Flashpoint, a game that was modified for the USMC and Australian Defense Forces, becoming VBS1 in the process. VBS2 has been deployed as a training solution more than any other gaming system. The Army is currently in the process of choosing a follow-on to this system, which will be discussed in more detail later. Virtual Heroes – Virtual Heroes, now part of Applied Research Associates, Inc., originally created content for the U.S. Army game America’s Army. It uses the UNREAL family of game engines, and will begin using the UNREAL 4 engine when it is released. Virtual Heroes has since expanded to build content for NASA and law enforcement as well as the military. In addition to building solutions, Virtual Heroes also licenses the UNREAL engine to any company wishing to use it to build games for the military. Real Time Immersive (RTI) – RTI is a subsidiary of the German company CryTek GmbH, which produces the CryENGINE 3®. This engine is well known for producing some of the most visually stunning scenes in gaming. CryTek built the Crysis® series of games atop this engine. Like Virtual Heroes, RTI both produces content for the military and licenses their solution to others wishing to use it to build content. Although neither the Navy nor RTI have announced a licensing deal between them, the Navy has posted solicitations on the Federal Business Opportunities web site www.fedbizops.gov indicating that such a deal is in the works. These solicitations, for training course development for the new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and worth $300 million, require the winning contract to deliver level 3 and 4 content objects in a format compatible with Crytek Cryengine 3. Unity – Unity is unique among these companies in that they merely produce tools and do not deliver applications. Davey Jackson, Regional Sales Representative for Unity, says, “There is still a 44

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misperception about where Unity fits. Many people think Unity is an end-to-end developer, but really we just produce a tool that allows anyone to build applications. Unity is in a great position, as we can allow several companies to share its technology.” Unity is greatly appreciated by developers for its ease of use as well as its simple and cheap licensing. Additionally, the DoD has awarded Unity a certificate of networthiness, which allows Unity applications to run on classified networks.

U.S. Army Re-compete The Army’s Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO-STRI) is re-competing the contract for its “Flagship First Person Shooter (FPS)” as a follow-on to VBS2. This demonstrates how quickly technology moves in the gaming world; the original contract for VBS2 was signed in 2008, and in just four years, technology has advanced so significantly that a follow-on is required. Some of the requirements for the new flagship product is that it provide all the features of VBS2 and shall use industry standards for model, terrain and other content imported into the game. Additionally, it shall be capable of importing and exporting Synthetic Environment Core (SE Core) simulation terrain and Common Moving Models as well as One Semi-Automated Forces (OneSAF) behavioral models. This new capability is important as the military moves to integrate LVC training. Peter Morrison, CEO of Bohemia Interactive, maker of VBS2 says, “The re-compete is interesting in how few of the requirements (and therefore desired capabilities) are common in the entertainment space. This shows that the US Army understands the important differences between typical computer games and what is needed in a game for training. This is very encouraging!” This also shows why most of the game engine manufacturers discussed above add significant capability to their engines to allow them to compete in the military space.

Above. A checkpoint built by IPKeyes using the UNREAL 3 engine for use in a game for the Joint IED Defeat Organization. Image credit: IPKeyes. Opposite. Warrior vehicle rendered in Unity. Image credit: Unity Pro MS&T image courtesy of Real Visual.

The Future: Mobile and Browser Delivery Most experts, although not all, agree that game engines are heading towards mobile gaming. For quite some time, mobile devices lacked the computing capability to run significant games, especially those that were graphically intensive. In the past few years, however, they have reached the capability where they can run challenging and visually complex games. One of the first of these is the Infinity Blade series, released in December 2010 by Chair Entertainment and Epic Games. They created it for the iPhone using the Unreal 3 engine and it was incredibly successful – generating $1.6M in sales in the first four days. Most of the major game engine manufacturers have modified their engines to enable creation of mobile content. The military has long been interested in using mobile devices for learning and now wants to exploit this trend in mobile gaming. Earlier this year, the Joint Co-Lab of the DoD’s Advanced Distance Learning (ADL) initiative put out a Broad Agency Announcement looking for ideas for new learning concepts for a Portable Assistant for Learning (PAL). As part of this program, the ADL wants “to incorporate an open source virtual environment that facilitates plug-and-play capability for realistic, immersive training and assessment. The long-term goal is to move the PAL and virtual environments together into a synthesized mixed reality environment wherein the learner(s) may operate in the virtual world, the real world or an amalgam of both as appropriate.” Johnson, of Unity, says that mobile training games will be in some ways similar to mobile games across a wide range of platforms. “You won’t see the exact same game on PC as mobile, but it will be the same brand and same experience. Nintendo did this with very well with the many games, such as Mario, across consoles and handhelds: the games are different, but same feeling. You may initially train on more complex versions of the game and the mobile version becomes the rehearsal or refresher.” Morrison of Bohemia agrees that mobile games will have to be significantly different than traditional games. “There are also big constraints and very different gameplay styles. For example, one of my favorite mobile games, Horn, would be absolutely boring on the PC… There is rarely a 1:1 match across all platforms from a gameplay perspective.” Another delivery mechanism that deserves mentioning, but is not in common use yet, is delivery via a web browser, such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Internet Explorer. This capability is exceptionally useful in the military space as one of the most difficult parts of the process of delivering an application to the military is getting approval to run it on the network. However, this is not required for content running in browsers.

Conclusion Although this short article cannot serve as a full education on engines, hopefully it provided the reader with the basics of game engines. All of the engines mentioned in this article are being shown at I/ITSEC 2012, and visiting their booths is a great step to learn more about each of them. mst About the Author Perry McDowell is a Research Associate at the US Naval Postgraduate School and the Executive Director, Delta 3D game engine. M S & T M AGA Z INE 6 . 2 0 1 2

Living History

Lest We Forget To anyone with an interest in aviation, there can be few sounds more evocative than that of a Merlin engine – unless, perchance, it is four of them in close formation. One place where these sounds can be heard on a regular basis is RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, home of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. MS&T’s Dim Jones provides a thoughtful insight.

iven the multitudes of aircraft in the RAF’s inventory in 1945, it is amazing to record that, by 1957, only 3 Spitfires and one Hurricane remained airworthy. Thanks to the efforts of some former wartime pilots, and in particular Wing Commander Peter Thompson, the Historic Aircraft Flight (HAF) was formed at RAF Biggin Hill on 11 July 1957 (with voluntary manpower and no public funding.... where have we heard that since?); it was renamed the Battle of Britain Flight on 21 February 1958. The closure of Biggin Hill forced the Flight into a nomadic existence, and successive moves to the former Battle of Britain bases at North Weald, Martlesham Heath, Horsham St Faith and Coltishall, before arriving at Coningsby in 1976. By this time, the Spit46

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fires and Hurricanes (of which there are 6 and 2 respectively) had been joined by the last flying Lancaster in Europe and, in 1993, by a DC3 Dakota. These aircraft are, to quote the current Chief of the Air Staff “very much part of both the RAF’s and the Nation’s heritage” and are “kept in the air as a living memorial to those who have gone before.” They are crewed and maintained by serving personnel, but the contrast between these and the aircraft which the RAF is now operating is as stark as that between the roar of the Merlin and the somewhat more contemporary thunder of the Typhoon, of which Coningsby is also home to 4 squadrons. When I first had contact with BBMF – at Coltishall in 1970 – it appeared something of a ‘cottage industry’ – a small specialist unit, hosted by an operational station but performing a role which set it apart, manned by long-serving personnel who had almost opted out of the mainstream RAF. I recall being at air shows at which BBMF engineers ‘did the rounds’ of anyone displaying WWII fighters, exchanging information and horsetrading for spares. Forty years on, and the technology ‘displacement’ has widened considerably; however, I found that

P7350 is the oldest airworthy Spitfire in the world and the only Spitfire still flying to have actually fought in the Battle of Britain, and LF363 was the last Hurricane to enter service with the RAF. Image credit: Crown Copyright.

Aircrew

today’s BBMF – although still a specialist unit – is very much more aligned with the mainstream in everything it does. The aircrew – pilots, navigators, flight engineers and air loadmasters – are all volunteers and, with the exception of the Officer Commanding, part-timers with permanent appointments elsewhere; two such ‘day jobs’ are Station Commander and OC Operations Wing at Coningsby, and successive incumbents of those posts have flown with BBMF. Selection for other slots is by a mixture of availability, suitability and recommendation. Home stations should be close to Coningsby; fortunately, Lincolnshire remains an area of significant RAF presence. Deployment commitments in primary role must also be compatible with the BBMF training and display schedule.

The aircrew are all experienced and rated above average. For fighter pilots, the minimum is 2500 hours, which is not so easy to come by in days of short sorties and reduced monthly flying. They all have a fast-jet background, although few of them will have flown a tailwheel aircraft, or a piston engine with the sort of torque generated by Merlins and Griffons. When a vacancy arises on the flight, a ‘trawl for volunteers’ is initiated. The size of today’s Royal Air Force means that it is likely that the applicants will already be known to some or all of the panel and the current pilots. The field is whittled down to a short-list, and the chosen few invited to visit for an interview with a panel comprising the Station Commander, OC Ops Wg and OC BBMF. For the successful candidate, training starts immediately on the Flight’s Chipmunk trainer. Although this venerable aircraft bears little resemblance to Spitfires and Hurricanes in terms of performance, it does have 2 important characteristics: you can’t see much out of the front on take-off and landing, especially from the back seat; and the rudder bar – unlike on modern fast-jets – is most emphatically not a footrest. Moreover, the Chipmunk can reward lack of awareness or respect with a firm bite of the backside, as many of my generation will testify; it is also, curiously, quite similar to the Spitfire in pitch, both being more responsive in this axis than the Hurricane. New pilots complete 20 hours in the front of the Chipmunk and up to 10 hours in the back. The next step is 2 hours - one in the front and one in the back – of a Harvard, borrowed from Boscombe Down or elsewhere. The Harvard is bigger, heavier and more powerful, has been described as ‘a shopping trolley with wings’, and requires ‘fast feet’, ie quick responses to deviations from the desired flight path, and can be flown using the techniques required for the WWII aircraft. There being no 2-seat version of either Spitfire or Hurricane on BBMF, the next stage is both first trip and first solo in the Hurricane – but before that comes groundschool! No two aircraft in the BBMF fleet are exactly alike, so detailed systems knowledge is vital. The consequences of not knowing one’s stuff

could be dire, but BBMF aircrew are, by definition, motivated to learn. Instruction is provided by the Flight Training & Standards organisation (of which more later), followed by a check of understanding. Throughout their BBMF careers, all aircrew will take part in regular ground training days, divided into a crew-room quiz using relevant scenarios, followed by practical application in the hangar. At last the great day arrives. All new pilots will complete at least 10 hours in the Hurricane, before graduating to the early-Mark Spitfires, which are less powerful than their bigger brothers but, because they have a lower-geared rudder system, still require ‘fast feet’, and have a 10-knot rather than a 15-knot crosswind limit. The aircraft have been maintained in as close to original condition as regulations will allow, and the pilots like it that way. Limitations of ancient flight instruments mean that they are VFR only; the only concessions to progress and the law are a transponder, a better VHF radio, and a GPS which provides accurate track and groundspeed but no moving map. At all times, the pilots are conscious that they are flying priceless aircraft, but not to the point of not enjoying it! Nevertheless, ‘what-if’ is always in the back of the mind, and emergency procedures – especially engine failure and forced landing options – constantly considered. Practice forced landings are carried out when limited flying hours allow, and the Chipmunk can be set up to give a reasonable representation of the forced landing characteristics of the fighters. There is an element of self-preservation here – there being, of course, no Martin-Baker letdown option! The raison d’être of BBMF is display flying, and the new pilot will start practising this discipline from his first trip, starting with a base height of 1500’ and progressing down through 500’ to 100’. However, it will be 2 years before the displays include vertical manoeuvres, and he will not be part of a synchro display (2 or more aircraft) until his second year. At all stages, the work-ups are monitored by OC BBMF, and Public Display Approval is given by the Air Officer Commanding No 1 Group. The detailed planning of a display comes with experience (of which he may already have some), and information folders of regular display sites are held on M S & T M A G A Z IN E 6 . 2 0 1 2

Living History the Flight; the aircrew also have access to the Typhoon flight planning system. In terms of flying and display currency, each pilot can expect to fly about 70 hours in a display season, which makes the additional flying he achieves in his ‘day job’ extremely important.

Heavies The ‘heavies’ aircrew are selected through a similar process of volunteer, trawl, short-list and interview. The Dakota carries a crew of pilot, navigator and air loadmaster, and the Lancaster pilot, co-pilot, navigator and flight engineer. Again, geography and availability are key and, paradoxically, weigh against personnel from Brize Norton, where the majority of multi-engine aircrew are stationed. Previous experience is an important factor, and the preference is for pilots who have flown at least 2 front-line types, since they will be flying both Dakota and Lancaster on a regular basis. The Dakota was originally intended for multi-engined training, but has now become a star in its own right. All the ‘bomber-pilots’ start off in that aircraft, on which they will qualify as captain, there being only one set of controls! Once this is achieved, they will start flying as co-pilot on the Lancaster; the BBMF Lancaster has dual controls, as did the early WWII variants, until the demand for pilots necessitated a reduction to a single pilot. They will remain in this role for 2 or 3 years before qualifying as Lancaster captains. Even then, the first 50 hours as captain will be with a 10-knot crosswind limit, which can be quite restrictive, since the Dakota and the Lancaster operate only from paved surfaces, whereas the fighters can fly from prepared grass strips. One unusual aspect of the job for the heavies captains is formation leading, of which they will have had varying experience depending on their previous roles. In transit and during displays, the heavy will lead the fighters. This, given the vagaries of British weather and the VFR-only limitation (for icing as well as instrumentation considerations), can be quite a taxing business, the more so with limited communications and the fact that the heavies like to transit at low level to stay clear of general air traffic, and the fighters prefer to stay at a height and speed where they can maintain a forced48

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they have no controls, they assist with starting, throttles, flaps, landing gear and emergency procedures. All aircrew are subject to regular supervisory checks, including certification by the Central Flying School. Both Dakota and Lancaster carry groundcrew and support personnel for operations away from base.

Groundcrew

landing option. For this reason, flight over built-up areas is kept to a minimum. Whereas flight engineers and air loadmasters perform essentially orthodox specialist roles, albeit in a time-warp, the role of the BBMF navigators is peculiar, in that they are flying in a multi-crew aircraft, but the low-level nature of transit, time-on-target requirements, formation leading and display flying is arguably more suited to fast-jet navigators, from whose ranks the majority of BBMF navigators have hitherto been drawn; once again, the distance between Coningsby and the front-line Tornado bases poses a problem. Dakota navigators also act a quasi-copilots/flight engineers; although

This brings me neatly to the groundcrew. In stark contrast to the ‘cottage industry’ of past years, which I described earlier, the BBMF Engineering Flight is structured, organised and run like any similar RAF unit, in terms of trade, rank, supervision and experience, and is subject to the same quality assurance and standardisation. The only concession to the specialised nature of the task is that there are no first-tourists, and all tradesmen are technician-qualified. The Flight numbers 30 personnel, all full-time, comprising 25 regulars and 5 Full-Time Reservists (who are mostly ex-BBMF regulars). The regulars are on standard 5-year tours, and postings in and out occur throughout the year, not just in the off-season. The manning branch hold a list of volunteers for BBMF and, when a vacancy arises, they send BBMF the names of suitably-qualified personnel, from whom those selected for the short-list are invited to Coningsby for interview, and the posting of the preferred candidate then agreed with HQ Air

Above. PA474 is one of only two remaining airworthy Lancaster aircraft of the 7,377 which were built. Opposite. A fly-past over The Mall and Buckingham Palace. Both images: Crown Copyright. Right. The groundcrew get to work on the Dakota. Image credit: Author.

Command. BBMF is regarded as a career tour, with strong promotion prospects. The role is unlike anything a new engineer will have seen before but, as for the aircrew, motivation is not an issue. The volunteers will include a good proportion of ‘petrolheads’, classic car enthusiasts, bikers and the like, but not exclusively; there has been a demographic shift from the days when the Motor Club was the busiest building on base! The aspiration is qualification across the board – not least for flexibility of planning – but a new engineer will cut his or her teeth on the Hurricane and Merlin-engined Spitfires, before graduating to the Griffon. The Lancaster and Dakota are generally restricted to the more experienced personnel. Personnel can expect to be deployed in support of displays 5 weekends out of 6 during the season, as well as during the week. Initial trade training is aimed at formal RAF qualification and, although the subject matter might be dated, the training staff teach 1940s technology using 2012 IT. The courses are modular, with emphasis on systems; certain subjects, such as piston engines and the Health and Safety aspects of operating with AvGas, propellers, tailwheels and magnetos, are no longer taught in the RAF, since servicing for the associated aircraft has been out-sourced. The Flight has its own specialist bays – hydraulics, tyres, batteries etc – which work in conjunction with the equivalent Station bays. Spares support is run along conventional lines, except that the spares are usually provided by civilian contractors. Components require Certification of Airworthi-

ness, and sometimes have to be rebuilt, or manufactured from scratch using an unserviceable item as a template. For both groundcrew and aircrew, BBMF is a labour of love. Each aircraft is different, and some are unique – of the Hurricane IICs, LF363 was the last Hurricane to enter RAF service, and PZ865 the last ever built. LF363 crashed and burned out at Wittering in September 1991, following a catastrophic engine failure (the pilot, although injured, fortunately survived); it was rebuilt by Historic Aircraft Ltd starting in 1994, and returned to service in 1998. PZ865, currently at Duxford for a rebuild, was flown by Group Captain Peter Townsend in the King’s Cup Air Race of 1950. Spitfire IIa P7350 is the oldest airworthy Spitfire in the world, and the only one still flying which actually flew in the Battle of Britain – with No 266 Squadron. It was subsequently sold for scrap for £25, reprieved and donated to the RAF Museum, restored to flying condition for the 1968 film ‘Battle of Britain’, and then bequeathed to BBMF. Spitfire Vb AB910 was the aircraft which notoriously took off with a female groundcrew person still hanging on to the tail; Spitfire, groundcrew person and somewhat surprised pilot subsequently landed safely. Lancaster PA474 is one of only 2 remaining airworthy out of the 7377 which were built. And so the tales – and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, which gives them substance – go on... hopefully for a very long time. Meanwhile, some 80 miles south of Coningsby, the Imperial War Museum airfield at Duxford has become the spiritual home of ‘warbirds’ in the UK. However, although the main aim – the safe operation of vintage aircraft – may be the same as for BBMF, their purpose, and the challenges they face – are subtly different. To be continued in MS&T Issue 1-2013. mst

M S & T M A G A Z IN E 6 . 2 0 1 2

World News & Analysis

Seen&Heard A compendium of current news from the military simulation and training industry, compiled and edited by news editor Fiona Greenyer and the MS&T editorial team. For the latest breaking news and in-depth reports go to www.halldale.com.

Army

Air Force

Immersive Training – Engineering & Computer Simulations (ECS) has delivered its Interactive Multimedia Instruction for Installation Status Report (ISR) courses to the Army National Guard’s Professional Education Center (PEC) in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Under the contract, ECS enhanced the traditional page-turner courseware with Level 3 interactivity, including problem solving of complex scenarios. The culmination of the courseware was the immersion of the learner into a Level 4 engaging, high fidelity 3D simulation where the student must assess and record findings in a Government installation. Future options of the contract link ISR procedures between the National Guard and the Active Army, as there are consistent procedures within Installation Management. Combat Vehicle Training – The US Army has awarded Lockheed Martin a $114 million, five-year contract to upgrade combat vehicle simulators for soldier training and to expand the training capability for the Marine Corps. Lockheed Martin will develop and install 13 upgrades for close combat tactical training systems at 19 Army installations. The new technologies will add integrated displays and replicate tactical vehicle capabilities identical to those now entering the field. The enhancements will be fielded starting in February 2013. Lockheed will also provide new training systems to the Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune, N.C., providing commonality across services.

Aircrew Pre-selection – Symbiotics Ltd. has been working with Défense Conseil International and the Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF), to develop and implement an aircrew pre-selection solution, aimed at helping stream potential pilots (fixed and rotary wing) into the QEAF elite flying training programme and at improving efficiency of assessment and recruitment programmes.

MS&T MAGAZINE 6.2012

Based around Symbiotics Ltd’s ADAPT (Assess Develop and Performance Training) suite of aircrew selection tools, the customized pilot aptitude solution blends an aviation context and performance psychology with psychometrics and simulation, to determine individual skills and assess the impact of behaviour, culture, personality and technology. Resulting reports give a complete understanding of a candidate in terms of skill, personality and situation.

Hawk Order – BAE Systems has received an RFP from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for a potential order to supply products and services for the manufacture of 20 Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer aircraft. The aircraft, to be built by HAL in Bengaluru, will fulfil the Indian Air Force’s requirement for its aerobatic team. This will be BAE Systems’ third contract to supply materials and equipment for the Hawk Mk132, building on previous orders of 66 aircraft in 2004 for 24 Hawk aircrafts in fly-away condition and 42 aircraft built under license by HAL and 57 aircraft in 2010. Under these contracts, BAE Systems worked closely with the Indian MOD and HAL to establish a production line in India where the aircraft are now assembled. The potential addition to the Indian fleet would bring the number of Hawk aircraft ordered worldwide to more than 1,000. Customers include Australia, Canada, South Africa, Bahrain, India, the Royal Saudi Air Force and the UK Royal Air Force.

B-52 Training System – ProActive Technologies, LLC has been awarded a contract for the US Air Force's B-52 Training System Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) program. The contract provides program management and on-site CLS to operate, maintain, sustain and upgrade training devices at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana and Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. ProActive is the prime contractor, with teammate The Boeing Company adding its expertise in developing training devices and in maintaining, modifying and upgrading the B-52 aircraft itself. The contract covers a base year with four one-year options.

Navy Carrier Training Facility – A £1m training facility to prepare Royal Navy sailors to man the first of the Queen Elizabeth Class carriers, due in 2016, has opened in Fareham, Hampshire at HMS Collingwood. Personnel will be trained on the new mission system which links all the combat, communications and visual surveillance systems together by a fibre-optic network, allowing for a much more integrated way of working. As the 'brain' of the ship, the mission system brings together air traffic control, navigation, tactical pictures compilation, communications and mission planning for the embarked F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and Merlin helicopters. It will also allow for engineering and logistic support. 44 Firms for ID/IQ Contract – The US Navy has selected 44 companies to supply training products under a potential $780 million indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract for the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD). The umbrella Training Data Products Contracts (TDPC) will cover contracts for design, production and sustainment for a wide variety of training. The 44 companies will compete for 52 subcontracts, 30 in the unrestricted group and 22 in the small business group. The contracts are expected to be released by August 2020, and must be completed by August 2023. The selected companies included a mix of larger contractors such as Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Rockwell Collins and Booz Allen Hamilton, and smaller firms such as Engineering and Computer Simulations Inc., Intelligent Decision Systems Inc., Dynamic Research Corp., and Sonalysts Inc. Submariners' School – DCI has reinforced its collaboration with the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) by participating in the creation and running of a training school for submariners and future submariners. The two RMN French-made SCORPENE submarines are alongside on the Kota Kinabalu base. Malaysia has recently announced that from early next year this base is to become the first training centre in the world for SCORPENE submarines. The training school is installed by DCI teams within the framework of this Malaysian submarine force development strategy. Since 2003, DCI-NAVFCO accompanies the RMN for the ab initio creation of a submarine force capable of operating SCORPENE type submarines. In only four years and with French Navy support, DCI has managed to form and train two complete submarine crews as well as a reserve crew and an embryonic staff.

Ship Simulator – The UK Royal Navy has installed its most advanced ship simulator at Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC) in Dartmouth, with photo-realistic recreations of key harbours such as Portsmouth and Plymouth. The simulator features the front section of a generic warship's bridge, plus giant display screens in a 180-degree arc to recreate the outside world and is powered by the equivalent of ten high-spec gaming computers. It can recreate almost all sea and weather conditions and a lookout's view through binoculars, while the 'ship handling' characteristics perfectly mirror most classes of ships in the fleet (the main exception presently being the new Type 45 destroyers).

MS&T MAGAZINE 6.2012

World News & Analysis Training Devices & Services Aircrew Procedures Trainer – The Marine Corps Reserve’s KC-130T aircrew procedures trainer at US Naval Air Station Fort Worth JRB is ready for training after undergoing upgrades to its visual system, reflective memory interface boards and night vision capabilities. The improvements, coordinated in conjunction with Naval Aviation Training Systems Program Office, Patuxent River; Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Florida; and prime contractor AVT Simulation, also added 70 new databases consisting of runways and geographical information from across the country, to include the Fort Worth area. The aircrew procedures trainer is one of two simulators available to Navy and Marine Corps Reserve students at NAS Fort Worth JRB. It is primarily used by the Marines but will be available to Navy Reserve students later this fall when their C/KC-130T operational flight trainer (OFT) undergoes major upgrades.

Linking Simulators – Boeing has linked one of its advanced fighter cockpit simulators in St. Louis with a simulator more than 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) away in Porto Alegre, Brazil, demonstrating the effectiveness of sharing advanced situational awareness and training technologies between the United States and Brazil. The demonstration, which also involved Elbit Systems' Brazilian subsidiary, AEL Sistemas S.A. is part of Boeing's efforts to strengthen ties with Brazilian companies. "During the demonstration, Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and Brazilian F-5 cockpit simulators saw each other and flew together in a virtual Brazilian airspace," said Jerry Berg, Boeing F/A18 Advanced Capabilities Team mission systems lead. "Both participants fired weapons at simulated threats and saw the results." "The distributed mission scenario simulation that linked the AEL simulator in Porto Alegre with the simulator in St. Louis holds the promise of future

networking and cockpit technology collaboration," said John Keeven, Boeing F/A-18 Advanced Capabilities Lab manager. "This includes more meaningful and efficient pilot training for the Brazilian Air Force and other potential customers." Disaster Management Simulator – Environmental Tectonics Corporation's (ETC) Simulation Division has been awarded a contract from the United States Air Force Europe (USAFE) to deliver an Advanced Disaster Management Simulator (ADMS™). The portable ADMS-Airbase training system will be delivered to USAFE at Ramstein Air Base in Germany for use in emergency management and disaster response training. ADMS-Airbase provides realistic training with an authentic military base environment that includes hangers, residential areas, runways and military specific aircraft including C-130, F-15, F-16, B-52, A-10 and Cougar. Simulator Sales – CAE has won contracts valued at approximately C$200 million. The company will design and

I3M in Vienna The 9th International Multidisciplinary Modelling & Simulation Multiconference or I3M in brief, was held 19-21 September 2012 in Vienna, Austria. Europe Editor Walter F. Ullrich reports. Renamed from ‘International Mediterranean & Latin American Modelling Multiconference’ to its new name only this year, the event organisers, in particular Professor Agostino Bruzzone from the University of Genoa, Italy and Yuri Merkuryev from the Latvian Simulation Centre, MIK, Riga TU, have strived to leave behind regional boundaries. The visitor data prove them right: although still a striking numbers of experts were Mediterranean or Latin Americans, this year’s attendees came from almost 60 nations from all over the world, including the People's Republic of China and Australia. I3M provides a forum that joins researchers, practitioners and other professionals interested in advances and applications in the different fields of M&S. The Vienna conference united under one roof, the EMSS (European Modelling and Simulation Symposium); the HMS (International Conference on Harbour, Maritime & Multimodal Logistics Modelling and Simulation); the MAS (International Conference on Modelling & Applied Simulation); the IMAACA (International Conference on Integrated Modelling and Analysis in Applied Control and Automation); the DHSS (International Defence and Homeland Security Simulation Workshop); and the IWISH (International Workshop on Innovative Simulation for Health Care).

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The 2012 edition included over 230 presentations. I3M participants were by the majority academics; however some other interested visitors were present as well. Colonel Wolfgang Kralicek from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Defence and Sport looks to the event as a way of thinking "outside the box", delivering opportunities to create synergies, essential in times of dwindling resources. Dr Robert Sottilare from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory's Human Research and Engineering Directorate believes that “Specifically, the DHSS workshop at I3M provides a forum for our research group to see emerging trends and applications in defence simulation, to present our research on computer-based tutoring, and to network with our international peers." And Wayne Buck, from HQ Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, called it a great pleasure for NATO to be represented at such a prestigious event. “The cross domain effort shown here is what makes this type of multi-conference particularly enticing,” he said. “The opportunity to demonstrate to other domains such as logistics and healthcare that they may be able to reuse some of the defence related investment is heartening. Likewise defence and homeland security can learn from other domains as well and in the papers we have seen many instances of this happening.” The next I3M conference will be 23-25 September 2013 in Athens, Greece.

manufacture a KC-130J full mission simulator for the Kuwait Air Force. The contract was awarded to CAE USA under the United States foreign military sale (FMS) program. The simulator will be delivered in 2015 to Al Mubarak Air Base near Kuwait International Airport. The US Air Force has exercised the option for the third year of aircrew training services provided by CAE USA as the prime contractor on the KC-135 ATS program. CAE USA will continue to provide classroom and simulator instruction as well as upgrades, maintenance, and support of all KC-135 aircrew training devices, in addition to contract modifications to perform a range of KC-135 simulator upgrades. CAE has also signed training contracts with an Asian military customer to provide helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft training over the next twenty-five years. Military Vehicles Training – Rheinmetall Simulation Australia will pursue Australian training contracts linked to the Land 121 military vehicles from its new simulation offices opening in Adelaide. The company also has its sights set on potential defence training work at the Cultana training range and Woomera. The new company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the German defence and automotive company Rheinmetall AG. Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Australia is negotiating a contract to supply military vehicles to the Australian Army through the Land 121 contract. South Australia Treasurer Jack Snelling said the company was also a contender for the upcoming Australian Land 400 Land Combat Vehicle Systems program. If successful, it was likely to establish an Australian facility to produce and possibly assemble the vehicles. Fuselage Load Trainer – Fidelity Technologies Corporation has completed factory acceptance testing of the G222 (C-27A) fuselage load trainer (FLT) used to support training for the Afghan National Army Air Corps (ANAAC). Fidelity worked in partnership with Virtual Reality Media a.s. and Aeronautical Systems Engineering Inc., with Letecké opravovne Trenčín a.s. (LOTN) for the US Army Program Executive Office Simulation Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI). The FLT represents the last device in a multi-platform training systems contract as part of the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) efforts. The training systems/simulation package consists of two MI-17v5 flight training devices (FTD), MI-17v5 basic aircraft training device (BATD), MI-17 cockpit procedures trainer (CPT), G222 (C-27A) FTD and G222 (C-27A) BATD. It combines a hands-on reconfigurable training platform with simulation tools that can replicate aircraft configurations for troop transportation, ambulatory and medical evacuation and cargo logistics operations. Load master instructors remain on-site to monitor and manage students as they master the skills necessary to operationally configure the G222 aircraft to perform its mission. Contract Win – Simulation Displays Ltd., part of the Paradigm AV Group, has announced a contract award by CAE for dome and visual displays. Earlier this year, CAE was awarded a contract to provide a suite of fixed wing Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) aircraft simulators and training devices as part of an overall solution to meet the future aircrew training requirements of an undisclosed customer.

F-35 FMS – Lockheed Martin has marked the completion of the first F-35 Lightning II full mission simulator (FMS) at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma, Arizona. The air station will be home to the first operational Marine Corps F-35 squadrons worldwide. Two of eight planned Joint Strike Fighter FMS systems have been installed on site. The FMS installation and software completion will allow pilot familiarization and transition scenarios to begin later this year. "Due to the fidelity of the simulators, approximately 50 percent of the core syllabus flights for the F-35 program are accomplished in the simulator," said Lt. Col. Dwight DeJong, director of the Joint Strike Fighter Site Activation Team for MCAS Yuma. The FMS includes a high-fidelity 360-degree visual display system and is the highest fidelity trainer in the F-35 pilot-training-device suite, accurately replicating all F-35 sensors and weapons deployment. MCAS Yuma will host five F-35 squadrons and one operational test and evaluation squadron. Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 will be the first operational F-35 squadron on station. USMC Contract – The US Marine Corps has awarded a $74 million contract to the Bell Boeing V-22 Program, a strategic alliance between Boeing and Bell Helicopter-Textron, for seven Osprey ground-based trainers. The contract award for containerized flight training devices (CFTD) also includes the option for the Marines to add one additional unit.

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World News & Analysis The CFTD is used to train aircrews on basic aircraft familiarization and handling qualities, day and night flying (including use of night vision goggles), formation flying, aerial refuelling and landing on ships. All CFTDs can be locally networked to one another and to other aircraft trainers to allow for more robust simulations. The first two of the newly contracted trainers will be delivered to Marine Helicopter Squadron One at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., in May 2014 to support presidential transport activities. Other deliveries will follow in Hawaii, California and New Jersey starting in January 2015. Navy Simulator Upgrade – Q4 Services, 3D perception and RPA Electronic Solutions have joined forces to upgrade the US Navy’s P-3C Orion simulators with technology capable of one arc minute of accuracy. Q4 Services won the contract following its successful completion of the 2011 SBIR program. Q4 was supported by 3D perception and RPA to integrate RPA’s automated alignment scanner with 3D perception’s image processing solutions to provide StarScan, a complete visual alignment solution. StarScan uses high-resolution optical sensors to perform 360-degree, three-dimensional screen measurements resulting in a precise 3D map of the screen surface. This is live-linked

to 3DP's UTM display processor, where the measurement data is processed, and geometric warping and blending is applied to raw source visuals. Fuselage Trainer – Dytecna Engineering Limited has been awarded a contract from CAE USA to provide a fuselage trainer for C-130J loadmasters. The contract award supports the US Air Force C-130J Maintenance and Aircrew Training System Phase II, led by Lockheed Martin as prime contractor with CAE USA as a major subcontractor. The simulator enables training of loading and unloading procedures, loading and rigging of cargo for aerial delivery, cargo ramp and door operation, and other standard and emergency loadmaster procedures. This is the third C-130J fuselage trainer awarded to Dytecna Engineering by CAE USA. Students are expected to begin training on the simulator in 2015 at Kirtland Air Force Base, in New Mexico, USA. The two previously delivered trainers are currently in operation at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas.

Maintenance F-35A Maintenance Training – As the US Air Force begins its Operational Utility Evaluation of the F-35A Lightning II, maintenance training to support the joint strike fighter is also preparing for

key program milestones. Although the first students - basic military training graduates - don't begin training until January 2014, the two units in charge of F-35A maintenance training are already at work. Another key part of the preparation is acceptance testing the F-35 maintenance training devices, including electronic mediated lessons and interactive courseware - and they have completed instructor familiarization on all training system and course material that's been delivered so far and also validated the aircraft system maintenance training.

Software LIFE-Based AI-Driven Scene Content – SDS International has begun delivery of major upgrades designed to significantly improve tactical training using MQ-1 and MQ-9 MTDs in standalone or networked environments. The upgrades focus on integration of SDS' LIFE-based, Artificially Intelligent (AI)-driven scene content software with fielded ANG MTDs, plus significant MTD Instructor Operator Station (IOS) hardware/software upgrades needed to ensure effective LIFE-based scenario development/execution by system operators. The upgrades also include the development/delivery of numerous content-rich, LIFE-based scenarios

Development – Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim) has been awarded a $10.3m contract to further develop VBS2's capabilities for the US Marine Corps (USMC). The USMC has chosen to further invest in VBS2, an important component of their soon-to-be upgraded deployable virtual training environment (DVTE). The DVTE is a laptop-based platform for a wide variety of training simulations in the USMC. The new contract will deliver specific VBS2 enhancements and capabilities to the Marines, in addition to ongoing software support and maintenance. BISim will continue to upgrade the call-for-fire and close air support capability of VBS2 in accordance with the needs of the USMC, and VBS2 will emulate a wider range of USMC devices related to these types of tasks. BISim will also improve the terrain capabilities within VBS2 including support for physics-based destructible buildings, improved editing capabilities in the terrain tools, improved visual appearance of 2D terrains maps in VBS2, and further improvement of procedural terrain generation capabilities. These enhancements will make working with, and developing within, VBS2 even faster and easier.

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supporting a variety of realistic tactical mission training events including Patterns-of-Life, Armed-Overwatch, Reconnaissance and Close-Air-Support. Mantis 3D – Quantum3D, Inc. has received an order from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics for its Mantis Real-Time Scene Management software. Quantum3D’s Mantis software provides fixed- and rotary-wing flight, ground vehicle, tank, mission rehearsal, and sensor simulation, as well as simulation of a wide range of other commercial and military real-time 3D environments. The Mantis software will equip Lockheed Martin’s Simulation Systems Integration Labs (SimSILs) at Fort Worth, Marietta, and Palmdale. Mantis software renders realistic, real-time, out-the-window and sensor scenes for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, ground vehicles, and sea-borne platforms, and is used for training, mission rehearsal, and engineering simulation.

disaster emergency management by the Peruvian Army. Updated Terrain Databases – Calytrix Technologies and TerraSim, Inc. are offering an enhanced set of correlated terrain databases for distributed simulations. The updated “Sample Desert Village” was generated by TerraTools® from core geospatial source data, including orthophoto imagery, digital elevation data, attributed vector data, and 3D models. TerraTools compiled the terrain information types into a common representation, then processed and exported

the result to each of the various runtime formats in the set. The terrain databases are ready for testing in Live, Virtual and Constructive (LVC) distributed simulations, such as those linked together by Calytrix’s LVC Game interconnectivity software. “Sample Desert Village” contains a variety of complexity, including parametrically generated buildings with interiors, walled compounds, utility lines, automatically placed 3D models such as mosques and helipads, vegetation of various types, and paved and unpaved

MASA SWORD – At I/ITSEC 2012 on Booth #2201, MASA Group will showcase the latest advances in SWORD, its constructive simulation software. With demonstrations of the new version of SWORD (5.1), visitors will see SWORD's capability to interoperate with operational C2 systems, GIS and other simulations to perform more realistic, more cost-effective and more powerful trainings and analyses. MASA SWORD is an automated, aggregated constructive simulation designed to help users develop and deploy advanced and highly realistic scenarios for the training of decisionmakers in commanding posts and crisis centers, and for the analysis of military doctrines and emergency procedures. The newest version of SWORD features new missions, behaviors, and models in a range of different operations including Operations Other Than War (OOTW), chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear (CBRN) crisis management, low density conflicts such as counter terrorism, natural disasters, and the management of resource networks. SWORD is currently being extensively used for OOTW and natural

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World News & Analysis roads. The terrain databases support rigorous distributed simulation tests for database content and cross runtime correlation. Simthetiq Goes Mobile – Simthetiq will demonstrate its immersive 3D content modelling and terrain development services through a driving tactical train-

ing simulator (DTTS) at I/ITSEC 2012. The DTTS combines COTS Hardware and Simthetiq’s geo-specific Surobi Afghanistan Database within VBS2 1.6. Simthetiq’s booth – #2814 – will feature a number of pod stations displaying hundreds of COTS 3D entity models currently available on the Simthetiq

Military Flight Training Conference Although the audience was limited, and peppered with the usual suspects, the conference did offer some value. Dim Jones reports. The SMi Military Flight Training Conference took place in London on 19th and 20th September 2012. This was the first of these conferences after an interval of some years, and attracted a relatively small attendance of some 50 or so delegates. This resulted in limited opportunity for networking, since many of the attendees were ‘the usual suspects’, and reflected possible market saturation in competition with the larger Defence IQ event, and also continuing budget constraints worldwide; although there were 16 foreign military delegates representing 11 nations, most were UK-based and, therefore, probably not SMEs. That said, the programme was varied and interesting, the standard of presentations generally high, and the Q&A and panel sessions generated lively debate. One departure from the norm was that the agenda included 2 presentations on training for Unmanned Aerial Systems, an area more usually associated with SMi’s UAS Conference, scheduled for October. This was undoubtedly of genuine interest to those unfamiliar with this specialist field of operations; however, given the nature of this audience, a general view of UAS employment, rather than a detailed description of a system training regime, would probably have been more appropriate. Other items of interest included an update on the implementation of the UK’s Military Flying Training System, and the impact of the recent Strategic Defence and Security Review on frontline strength and, therefore, on planned student throughput. The reduced 56

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numbers prompted the valid question of whether stand-alone national training systems were an affordable option for the future, or whether collaboration would be unavoidable. An opposing view was that anything (within reason) was affordable if one was prepared to pay for it, and that the cost of a flagship national flying training system might be a price worth paying. This view was reinforced by a briefing on flying training in Sweden, whose Air Force has an even smaller annual throughput. Their emphasis on a ‘stress-free’ training system, the efficacy of which has in the past been questioned in the context of a lack of validation in operations, has now received some positive feedback from the Libyan campaign. On an associated theme, the RAF’s Human Factors Training Squadron reported on the benefits of performance coaching in flying training, supported by the early experience of the Hawk T2 in service. Some other topics of debate were: advances in synthetic training capability, and the increased use of gaming technology; need for, and provision of, high-G training for military aircrew; the optimum mix of live, virtual and synthetic training to achieve the parallel aims of reducing live flying, for both cost and environmental reasons; and the potential to create, through distributed mission training, complex operational training environments which would be either unaffordable or impractical in peacetime live training. Despite the limited attendance, this was an useful conference, and it will be interesting to see whether, based on commercial considerations and feedback from this year’s attendees, SMi consider it worth continuing next year.

eStore. The company will also showcase its most recent R&D projects through the use of iPad and Android tablets – including the capability of using mobile devices for virtual task trainers (VTT), interactive DIS viewers and vehicle thermal signature recognition software. Small Unit Marksmanship Trainer – Laser Shot has launched the small unit marksmanship trainer. The system focuses on improving individual marksmanship through preliminary marksmanship instruction, skills developmental and pre-qualification assessments. It is portable and relatively light compared to other systems and the system software introduces the shooter to the fundamentals of marksmanship

Visual Systems Display System Upgrades – VDC Display Systems has been awarded a contract from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics for multiple display system upgrades for F-35 engineering simulators. The display systems to be provided include screens, mirrors, Sony high resolution projectors, optical edge blending, an auto calibration system and structures. 3-Chip 3D Projector – The F85 3-chip DLP® projector is the latest 2D and 3D capable projector to join projectiondesign®'s line up of innovative projectors. The F85 series is the brightest projector in the projectiondesign range. It boasts a brightness of up to 11,000 lumens, and a contrast ratio of 14,000:1 for crisp, detailed images. As well as 2D imaging, the projector can be used in active or passive 3D stereoscopic mode removing the requirement for multiple projectors in stereoscopic set up. Recording & Playback Solutions – Barco has introduced an array of synchronous screen recording and playback solutions designed to capture video from live missions and training exercises for after-action review. Barco’s AV streaming products offer enhanced recording and playback capabilities for sessions involving multiple operators on original equipment, distributed to remote locations, and/or combined onto large screen displays for collaborative review.

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SMi's 4TH ANNUAL

4TH - 5TH FEBRUARY 2013 | COPTHORNE TARA HOTEL | LONDON “Informative - a good conference for the simulation community.” NATO Joint Air Power Competence Centre Command

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Brigadier General Grzegorz Buszka, Deputy Commander JFTC, NATO

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Colonel Simon Diggins, Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for Mission Support and Training Joint Warfare, UK Ministry of Defence

Edward Jones, Technical Analyst, Dstl UK Ministry of Defence

Thomas Lasch, Chief Models and Simulations Branch, US Army Europe

Amarily Segui, ATEC LNO, US Army

Paul Thurkettle, Modeling and Simulation Analyst ATC, NATO

Ian Strachan, Editor, ETSA (European Training and Simulation Association)

Dr. Amela Sadagic, MOVES Research Associate Professor, Naval Postgraduate School

Dr. Stephanie Lackey, Institute for Simulation and Training, University of Central Florida

Dr. Randall Hill, Executive Director, Institute for Creative Technologies, University of Southern California

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