Battle Ground Simulations

“There’s been a huge change in the way we prepare for war, and the soldiers we’re training now are the children of the digital age who grew up with GameBoys,” says retired Rear Adm. Fred Lewis, a 33-year U.S. Navy veteran

The military simulation and virtual training market has seen dramatic growth in the last decade and it is expected to grow steadily over the next ten years. Increasing concerns over training costs, time and risk of life have forced military forces around the world to adapt technologies such as computer-based simulators and computer wargames in military training. Most importantly, simulation and virtual training have so far proved to be not only cost-effective but also an effective way to train military staff in a wide range of activities. Those functions range from weapons training to flying and even medical training. Both combat and non-combat applications for military simulations and gaming technologies with increase significantly during the period 2008-2018.

This is the video game generation of soldiers. ” ‘Ctrl+Alt+Del,’ ” the U.S. Army noted in a recent study, “is as basic as ‘ABC.’ ” And computer simulations — as military officials prefer to call them — have transformed the way the United States military fights wars, as well as soldiers’ ways of killing.

“The technology in games has facilitated a revolution in the art of warfare,” says David Bartlett, the former chief of operations at the Defense Modeling and Simulation Office, a high-level office within the Defense Department and the focal point for computer-generated training at the Pentagon. “When the time came for him” — meaning Swales — “to fire his weapon, he was ready to do that. And capable of doing that. His experience leading up to that time, through on-the-ground training and playing ‘Halo’ and whatever else, enabled him to execute. His situation awareness was up. He knew what he had to do. He had done it before — or something like it up to that point.”

Virtual Training Technology, largely train soldiers how to coordinate complicated missions. Think of it as a sort of military “EverQuest” that can be played by multiple people in multiple places at the same time.

“Of course, it’s not a game. The feel of the actual weapon was more of an adrenaline rush than the feel of the controller, but you’re practically doing the same thing: trying to kill the other person. The goal is the same. That’s the similarity. The goal is to survive.”  says Trevino, 20, recalling his first shot at a human enemy.

Here is VBS2, this is the latest version of a military grade simulation, the US Army just paid for a simulated exercise called DARWARS and payed about $17.7 million in USD (see the link).  I feel that $20.00 a copy is a relatively fair price to pay to play the commercial version of this.

Compare that with Armed Assault, the commercial game for the PC, with modifications that are available and you will see that there isn’t much difference in the trainee or player’s experience.

Much of the equipment and features in the newest Military Sim are available for us in the private realm as well.  While there are limitations in the back end of the public version that are not in the military grade version, many of these have been overcome through dedicated members of the community that have created such great add-ons or modifications as ACE (Advanced Combat Environment), BLND HMMWVs, the CH M1Abrams and T72 Pack and a thousand others.

An M1 Abrams by CH

The in depth and careful modeling makes this a vehicle for intense immersion in many types of scenarios. Be they small unit patrolling techniques or immediate action drills, ArmA is a powerful engine and tool in its own right.

US Army military training program DARWARS Ambush! is powered by Bohemia Interactive’s technology

DARWARS Ambush! is a commercial military training product developed by Boston-based BBN Technologies as part of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) DARWARS program. DARWARS Ambush! aims to provide a flexible training environment for soldiers to learn important lessons regarding both mounted and dismounted operations in conflict zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

The product is an overlay for the computer game Operation Flashpoint™, developed by Bohemia Interactive (BI) and published by the Codemasters Software Publishing Company. BI has granted BBN a license for the use of BIs game software and tools in connection with DARWARS Ambush!.

BI is proud that the flexible Real Virtuality game engine it developed for Operation Flashpoint is capable of providing the basis for another successful training product and is committed to expanding the engine capabilities in many areas, including possible use as a training tool, in upcoming product releases.

BI reminds all users of Operation Flashpoint and the various BI editing tools that have been released to the gaming community that their end user license agreements prohibit all commercial use of the game and tools.

Military organizations and associated contractors are reminded that BI’s official military program, VBS1 (Virtual Battlespace 1) and VBS2 (Virtual Battlespace 2), are available for their use by license from BI. Regularly updated and enhanced, VBS is specifically tailored for military training use. It provides a range of advanced, inherent features such as after-action review and real time mission editing capability (instructor interface).

(Operation Flashpoint™ is a trademark of Codemasters)

The Army is shelling out nearly $18 million for a new training simulator game that will allow soldiers to drive virtual vehicles, fire virtual weapons and pilot virtual unmanned aerial vehicles in combat situations.

The contract for “Game After Ambush” was awarded late last month to software developers Laser Shot, of Texas, Bohemia Interactive, of the Czech Republic, and Australia-based Calytrix Technologies.

The new simulator — a modification of the commercial “Virtual Battle Space 2″ — will replace the Army’s official video game “DARWARS Ambush,” which the service uses to train soldiers for combat.

Since 2006, the Army’s Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation, or PEO STRI, has fielded more than 3,000 copies of “DARWARS Ambush” to the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and Homeland Defense Department, according to spokeswoman Kristen Dooley McCullough.

In an e-mail, McCullough said the contract included $10.7 million awarded on Dec. 19, with another $7 million in options.

PEO STRI officials said earlier the new game will replicate what soldiers encounter on today’s battlefield — from fighting in urban terrain and convoy operations to reacting to contact and ambush operations.

The game will be able to interact with the Army’s battle command systems used by soldiers in the real world to track equipment as well as enemy and friendly forces. It also will include tools that will allow the Army to modify terrain, scenarios and missions, officials said.

The Army plans to field 70 gaming systems in 53 locations in the United States, Germany, Italy and South Korea between February and September 2009, according to Leslie Duvow, project director for gaming at PEO STRI.

“Each system will consist of 52 computers with ancillary equipment including steering wheels, headsets and mice,” she said.

Soldiers will be able to drive virtual vehicles, fire virtual weapons, pilot virtual unmanned aerial vehicles and do “most anything a soldier does” in a virtual battle space as large as 100 kilometers by 100 kilometers, Duvow said.

Laser Shot’s “Tactical Weapon Simulator” and Calytrix’s “LVC Game” will be added to the VBS2 software to tailor the game to the Army’s needs.

The Texas firm is the prime contractor for the production, fielding, training, software updates, technical support, and Web portal, in support of the game, according to a Laser Shot news release.

“Our company has extensive experience in supporting training for the soldiers of the U.S. Army, as do our partners Bohemia Interactive and Calytrix,” said Christopher Chambers, Laser Shot’s president.

The Army already uses VBS2 for convoy training alongside several other games at the Joint Multinational Simulation Center at Grafenwöhr.

The game has a strong reputation as a flexible, interactive, three-dimensional tactical training and mission rehearsal tool, according to Bohemia chief executive Pete Morrison. Bohemia sells a range of military-themed titles such as “Operation Flashpoint” and “ArmA: Armed Assault” for PCs.

“VBS2 is, without a doubt, the best military-grade game-based simulation on the market today,” he said.

The PEO STRI contract provides for fielding and training for “Game After Ambush” and associated tasks for one year, with an option to extend the program for four more years, the Laser Shot press statement said.

Military simulations ArmA 2 and Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising are to go head-to-head in the software chart when they are released later this year.

ArmA 2, developed by Bohemia Interactive Studio, is based around a Communist uprising in the former USSR. The game already has a thriving multiplayer scene awaiting its release.

Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising is being developed and published by Codemasters. The gameplay takes place on a real island off the coast of Japan and is said to capture the high level of detail of its predecessor but with a modern twist.

Both games arrive on the Xbox 360, PC and PS3 in the first half of this year.