Battle Ground Simulations

Virtusphere was an invited co-exhibitor this past weekend with the traveling Virtual Army Experience at the Greater Binghamton Air Show, NY. Virtusphere was demonstrated by many members of the US Army and staff of the Virtual Army Experience with postive feedback.

Local Fox News affiliate provided coverage of Virtusphere at the air show and includes comments for Sergeant Tommy Rieman, Real Heroes Program Manager and can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/mrfuww .

Virtusphere welcomes any feedback and opportunites from defense industry customers and application developers.

In a large tan tent at the Inlet in Ocean City, the U.S. Army has set up a virtual battlefield in which people can participate in a simulated mission, based off the U.S. Army video game, “America’s Army.”

People who are at least 13-years-old can enter the tent and start with an orientation to a mission, like providing humanitarian aid to civilians in Iraq. Then participants enter a cavernous room with several mock military vehicles and a helicopter.

The simulation begins and the participants face enemy insurgents they must shoot with fake guns. Projection walls surround the vehicles with images of the battle scene.

“You just saw the insurgents around you, and you just made sure you had to get them and not get the civilians,” said 16-year-old Cy Jarrett.

The Army says it’s using the experience to get their own messages out and to get people thinking about joining the military.

“There’s a good chance after high school I’d join the military,” 15-year-old Julian Tyler said after participating in the simulation.

Recruiters and Army personnel were available to guide participants through the event and answer questions after their experience.

“This is a recruitment tool, but it’s also here for educational purposes,” said Sgt. Jason Mike, who was awarded a Silver Star for surviving a gun fight in Iraq and saving the lives of fellow soldiers. ”We’re here to educate people on what the army can offer.”

In the simulation there is no real-life gore or real violence.

“We’re rated ‘T’ for teen. Like I said, we’re here for an educational purpose. That doesn’t need to be shown. I think everyone understands that happens with warfare, so that doesn’t need to be explained,” said Sgt. Mike.

But some parents criticize the army for not showing the actual effects and consequences of war, and for allowing young teens to participate in the simulation.

“The games are there and the kids think nothing is going to happen to them when they get older. I think it has an effect on a lot of those school issues,” said William Bean, who is the parent of several young children visiting Ocean City.

Either way, the lines outside the simulation continue to grow.

Reported by Steve Dorsey

In an ordinary office building here, the Air Force Distributed Mission Operations Center runs sorties with all the realism of combat, but without burning one drop of jet fuel.

Instead of taking to the air, pilots and aircrew strap themselves into simulators, located about a mile from the Albuquerque International Sunport airport, and fly in cyberspace with all the realism of actual flight, say, an F-16 fighter, “except for the shake, rattle and roll,” said Lt. Col. Troy Molendyke, commander of the 705th Combat Training Wing, which operates the center.

The center serves as the hub of a distributed simulation network that ties into other air and ground systems that can replicate a variety of aircraft and as many as 40,000 ground vehicles, said Maj. d’Artagnan de Anda, the self described geek who oversees distributed warfare missions.

The center, which was built in 2000 for $14 million and has expanded since then, functions with about 1,000 networked PCs, some with quad processors, running on either Linux or Windows operating systems, and taps into network connections that range in speed from T-1 circuits (1.544 megabytes per second) to OC-3 circuits (155 mbps) to runs simulations, DeAnda added.

The basement of the building houses simulators of command-and-control aircraft such as the E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System and the E-8 Airborne Warning and Control System. In what DeAnda described as a “virtual live” exercise, the crew operating the simulators can direct real aircraft conducting exercises at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

The Air Force has placed greater emphasis on unmanned aerial vehicles such as the Predator and this week the center completed installation of the Predator simulator, said Tech. Sgt. Darrell DeMotta during a tour of the facility.

He served three tours of duty in Iraq and one in Afghanistan as a joint terminal attack controller, overseeing air support for the Army and Special Forces ground troops. DeMotta helped spearhead the development of the simulators to replicate the JTAC mission.

The systems include the basic tools of the JTAC’s trade such as a designator to control a laser-guided bomb and a range finder to determine, with the aid of GPS receivers, location and position. The information is then transmitted over a satellite radio, to a simulated Air Support Operations Center, providing JTACs with the full range of simulated systems they would use in actual combat.

DeMotta said the JTAC simulation systems help him and fellow controllers keep their skills current at a time when tight budgets have limited live training. He said he must run 12 missions a year to remain qualified as a JTAC. “Air Force budget cuts mean less flying hours . . . and the simulators provide cheaper training,” he said.

In September the center will conduct its first operations with allies from Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom in an operation named Coalition Virtual Flag, said Maj. Michele Boyko, the exercise director who also serves as assistant director for operations for the 705th.

In that operation, a global network will allow the Royal Air Force to fly simulated Typhoon fighters and Tornado fighter bombers alongside simulated Royal Australian Air Force F-18 fighters, Canadian Forces CF-18 fighters and a variety of U.S. aircraft, including B1 and B2 bombers and F-15 and F-16 fighters, said Boyko, a B1 bomber weapons systems officer.

The United States now operates in a coalition environment, and Boyko said the global simulation will enable all these forces to train as they fight.

A $1.1 million simulator will help soldiers assigned to the three Stryker combat brigades based here make the most of their time before they deploy to combat by this fall.
To train on the Mobile Gun System – the behemoth of the 10 variants of the armored, eight-wheeled vehicles – gunners and vehicle commanders trekked over to the Yakima Training Center, an area both large and isolated enough to fire off the system’s 105 mm cannon. Now they can step inside a trailer parked behind the Battle Command Training Center, the post’s center for virtual training, saving them time, money and ammunition.

As equipment ships out ahead of the soldiers, the simulators allow new gunners to get acquainted with the system and veterans to retain their proficiency on it until they board a plane for the Middle East.

“With their equipment shipped, there’s no other way for them to come over and do the things they need to do,” said Sgt. Maj. Howard Briel, a senior noncommissioned officer for the Battle Command Training Center.

Fort Lewis is the first military installation to use the simulator, known as the Advanced Gunnery Training System, receiving it a year earlier than expected because of the approaching mass exodus.

The 3rd and 4th Stryker brigade combat teams are headed to Iraq for their third and second deployments, respectively.

The 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team is headed to Afghanistan. The three brigades, all assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division, total about 12,000 soldiers, more than one-third of the post’s active-duty force.

Fort Lewis is scheduled to receive two more simulators next year. It already has received simulators for driving and maintaining Stryker vehicles.

On the newest simulator, the sights and firing controls are identical to those within the actual vehicle, but soldiers view a high-resolution virtual environment to identify, engage and destroy targets.

The system includes 211 training scenarios.

“We’re trying to replicate what the crew is going to face in the various environments,” said Donald Bing, an instructional engineer for Lockheed Martin, the system’s designer. The simulator also can be used to train Abrams tank and Bradley Fighting Vehicle crew members.

Soldiers said they were impressed with what they’ve seen.

Sgt. Thomas Keen, assigned to the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, said a new gunner can learn to load, arm and fire the weapon system in an hour using the simulator.

“We have an ability to rapidly train people with the system,” he said.

by: CHRISTIAN HILL; The Olympian

There are not many jobs where you can play a sophisticated virtual reality video game and get paid for it, but Illinois Soldiers had that opportunity, June 7, during its annual training.

The 232nd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, based in Springfield, trained on the Virtual Convoy Operator Trainer at the Illinois Army National Guard’s Marseilles Training Center. The 232nd includes the 1344th Transportation Company based in East St. Louis and the 1544th Transportation Company based in Paris, as well as maintenance units in North Riverside and Springfield.

The VCOT is a tool that allows up to 10 Soldiers to participate in a simulated convoy mission. The convoy consists of four Humvees and includes drivers, turret gunners and a convoy commander. Soldiers don head monitoring devices that allow them to see 360 degrees in the virtual environment.

“The VCOT has more than 300 adaptable scenarios and operators can change variables each ‘mission,’ making for a unique experience each go-around,” said Ed Voss, the Illinois Guard’s Training Aids, Devices Simulations and Simulators Facilitator.
Gunners are immersed into the experience of a combat convoy mission through a helmet that shows what they would see all around them during a patrol. The stations for drivers include all the truck’s controls. The station for gunners includes any number of weapons a truck gunner might have, including machine guns or automatic grenade launchers.

“It gives you the ability to get into a virtual simulation and trains you to react to a hostile situation,” said Capt. Bradley Roach, of Bloomington, commander of East St. Louis’ 1344th Transportation Company.

Sgt. Joshua Hayes of Edwardsville said the training as very realistic.

“Even though it was a simulated task, I wanted to perform as though I was in country,” said Hayes, also of the 1344th Transportation Company.

“Not only is it excellent training, but the troops get a kick out of it,” said Lt. Col. Drew Dukett, of Roodhouse, the 232nd commander. “The troops get to do something fun and different than the usual training.”

During their two weeks of annual training, May 31 through June 12, the battalion is also slated to do a 12-mile road march, an obstacle course, an Army Physical Fitness Test, convoy training on the roads, and urban warfare training with paintball guns.

Story by Officer Candidate Cale Fulton

In a darkened hangar, two soldiers fire beams of light at computer-generated images of enemy troops on large video screens. Sounds of battle fill the air through a speaker system.

This virtual reality shooting range at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is not just for combat personnel anymore. The government is making it available to military truck drivers, finance officers and others who are increasingly being exposed to hostile fire in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“When they used to be qualified with a weapon, they were pretty sure they were never going to have to use it,” said base commander Col. Bradley Spacy. “They can’t be sure anymore.”

Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va., said the Air Force has taken on roles such as base security and truck driving in Iraq and Afghanistan that it didn’t typically do in the past.

Numerous Air Force bases use firearms simulators, according to Air Force spokesman Vincent King at the Pentagon. Law enforcement agencies and other branches of the military also use virtual reality for shooting practice.

The walls of the hangar at Wright-Patterson are hung with camouflage netting. Real guns stripped of their bullets — from M-9 pistols to M-16 rifles — are lined up on the floor facing two home theater-sized video screens.

“You’re hot,” Master Sgt. David Small tells two shooters, warning them he is starting the computer program.

The screens light up. A desert scene is projected. Incoming mortars hit with a thud, sending showers of sand into the air. Shadowy figures and flashes of gunfire are seen in the distance.

The two U.S. shooters fire back. A computer marks and measures the accuracy of the shots.

Between 35 and 45 people are practicing with the system each week, most of them non-security personnel.

“It drives your adrenaline — those things that actually kick in in the real-world environment versus just sitting in a range,” said Small, who has used the system.

Maj. Christopher Duffley, an intelligence officer who has been deployed overseas five times, has practiced on the system between 10 and 20 times.

“Typically for a field like intelligence or other ones, we don’t get to touch firearms very often,” Duffley said. “You become a lot more confident in your own abilities.”
Staff Sgt. Zachary Odonish, a communications specialist, has used the system three times.

“It’s definitely a lot more realistic than just going to the firing range,” he said.

Thompson said virtual reality systems have become an effective training tool for the military.

“If you can capture the visual feeling of the combat experience, it is very, very similar to actually being in that experience,” Thompson said.

The system, which the base bought in January for $400,000, trains airmen how to hit moving targets in combat conditions and how to communicate with each other, reload quickly and fix a jammed weapon.

The simulator at Wright-Patterson is made by Meggitt Training Systems Inc., based in Suwanee, Ga., which has sold about 5,200 virtual systems around the world including about 900 to the U.S. Marines and Army National Guard.

In the late 90’s a video game started making the rounds that changed the way we look at FPS games.  Around Beta 5, CounterStrike, a full conversion modification of Half-Life, was released as a free download.  It was dreamed up, developed and released, for free, by a college student named Minh “Gooseman” Le.

The premise was simple, and that is the real beauty of this game, it was two teams, the Tangos and the Counter Terrorists, running a set of straight-forward scenarios.  The scenarios were; Plant the Bomb, Rescue the Hostage(s) or Executive Protection (VIP).  The rules were self explanatory and the area of play was limited, focusing the teams on the each others annihilation.  It started a whirlwind of other games, and impacted the gaming community like no other since the advent of the 3d-shooter.

Since that time, the shooter genre has undergone many mutations, consoles have come into play, 3rd person view, addition of certain real-time strategies, but the underlying features are the same.
In the Military Simulation department, the US Army’s America’s Army, the Tom Clancy Ghost Recon series and Bohemia Interactive’s Operation FlashPoint, Armed Assault and ArmA 2, all reach for the ten-ring.  Where other games have a immersive story and rich single player features, such as Mass Effect, only these games try to be “tactical.”  Each has problems, each has strengths and weaknesses.  However, it can’t be denied that FPS games have had, will continue to have, a deep impact on both the casual gaming world and the virtual combat trainer world.

Current products:

VBS2Fires. A complete Call-For-Fire desktop training solution for calling artillery, mortar and naval offensive support utilising the VBS2 virtual environment.

VBS2Fusion. The complete API for VBS2, heralding a new era of VBS2 development.

VBS2FastScript. A comprehensive IDE for creating, modifying and managing VBS2 script files.

In development:

VBS2-Kynapse Integration. Combine the power of the industry leading AI middleware and the industry leading virtual simulation environment.

VBS2 FAC. Building upon VBS2 Fires, VBS2 FAC provides a complete forward air controller training solution for VBS2.

Partner products:

Marksman MK1. Train like you fight. A revolutionary marksman training system allowing weapon training for any scoped weapon.

Call-For-Fire Trainer. A complete Call-For-Fire simulator, combining the power of surrogate equipment, a full projection system and the VBS2Fires software system.

VBS2Fires is a professional Call-For-Fire training which combines the flexibility and stunning visuals of VBS2 with a highly sophisticated Call-For-Fire training and simulation system.  The system allows Offensive Support specialists to construct a Call-For-Fire which is then processed by the system and actioned accordingly within VBS2.    The system simulates exterior and terminal ballistics to a high level of detail and supports a wide array of munitions, fusetypes and fire platforms.

As VBS2Fires is built upon VBS2, all of VBS2’s standard features are included.  Do you want to conduct Call-For-Fire training from a helicopter?  Do you want to perform a Danger Close mission with Infantry participants conducting a mounted assault?  Do you want to train FiST teams in deployment to and from OPs? All of this is possible within VBS2Fires thanks to the underlying VBS2 engine.

VBS2Fires is a desktop trainer that runs on any machine capable of running VBS2.  It is designed to use a two screen setup with one screen dedicated to Call-For-Fire functionality and the other running the VBS2 virtual environment.  This can be achieved through a dual monitor connection to a single PC, or for optimal performance, through the use of two networked PCs.

SimCentric’s proprietary Call-For-Fire Parsing Technology allows Calls-For-Fire to be entered in plain text and then interpreted by the system. Alternatively, VBS2Fires also provides a graphical wizard to allow interactive construction of a Call-For-Fire.

VBS2Fires runs in Trainee, Instructor or Standalone modes.  It is fully integrated with VBS2 core features such as the After Action Review and the Real Time Editor.  It has additional analysis tools for investigating ballistic trajectories, terrain and unsafe practices.  The system provides an interface external to VBS2 to allow streamlined operation and a professional look and feel.

Features:

• Highly detailed exterior ballistics model

  Simulates gravity, drag, wind drift, pressure, temperature, spin drift and Coriolis effects; additionally the model simulates the change of these parameters at varying altitude

• Customisable properties

  Supports field guns, self propelled guns, naval gunfire fire platforms.  Customise the firing characteristics, operational reloading and relaying times, and the munitions that a platform is able to fire.  Build your own projectiles with customisable ballistics properties.

• Wide selection of munitions and fuses

  Munitions include: HE, WP, Smoke (multiple colours), SADARM, DPICM, RAAMS, ADAM, ILLUM (multiple colours), and Copperhead.  Fuses include: Quick, VT, Time, Delay, Seek and Destroy, and Laser guided.

• Wide selection of fire distributions

  Including: Converging, Circular, Linear, Range and Lateral Spread, Parallel Lines of Fire, and user defined custom distributions.

• High fidelity terminal ballistics models

  Terminal Ballistics are modelled both visually and functionally to accurately reflect real-world effects.  Functional damage models reflect side lobe patterns of explosive rounds defined by round velocity and explosive velocity.

• Range of Call-For-Fire entry options

  Trainees enter Calls-For-Fire through the entry of plain text or through the use of a wizard-based GUI.  These are automatically interpreted by the system.  Additionally, voice may be used to communicate between a human instructor and trainee.  The instructor then has the option of manually entering Fire Control information into the system.

• Artificial Intelligence Engine

  VBS2Fires will automatically respond to a Call-For-Fore that is end by the trainee using a detailed Artificial Intelligence algorithm suite.  Alternatively, the instructor may manually respond to Call-For-Fire injecting errors as appropriate.

• Simulation of Radio Nets

  Communications are an essential part of the Call-For-Fore process.  VBS2Fires simulates CNR radio traffic, radio nets, radio frequencies, and radio logs.  Simulated encryption is also supported.

• Rapid scenario design

  VBS2Fires will save you time and money through its rapid scenario editor.  Using this editor building a VBS2Fires scenario is no more complex than building a standard VBS2 Scenario.  Scenarios can be rapidly prototyped and tested in a simple

• Real-Time Editor

  Provides an Instructor with a run time authoring capability allowing any aspect of training to be modified during training.

• After Action Review

  VBS2Fires is completely integrated with the VBS2 AAR system.  Bookmarks can be dynamically added from VBS2Fires and all projectile paths and effects are captured. Additionally, VBS2Fires provides terrain and ballistics analysis tools to aid the exploration of learning points following an exercise.

• Runs on COTS hardware

  Runs on a single PC with two video outputs, or on two networked PCs.  If a PC can run VBS2, it can run VBS2Fires.

• Flexible network based architecture

  Operable in Instructor, Trainee or Stand-Alone mode.  Can be run onsame machine as VBS2 on a separate machine connected over the network.  Seamlessly connects to other machines over any TCP/UDP capable network.

• Seamlessly links with VBS2 COTS Desktop Trainer

  Use VBSFires as part of a larger training exercise.  As it incorporates the VBS2 engine, Call-For-Fire training can be implemented as part of larger training scenarios with Combined Arms participants.

Example VBS2Fires applications:

• Individual training

  Standalone mode allows a trainee to practice Calling-For-Fire without an Instructor or other participants.

• Individual instructor/trainee interaction

  A single instructor terminal can be solely dedicated to a single trainee terminal, allowing an instructor to monitor and control the exercise for that trainee.

• Instructor led group training

  An instructor can monitor and control the exercise for a group of trainees participating in a single VBS2 scenario.  These trainees can interact with each other, or can alternatively be located remotely in a scenario calling fire for unrelated targets.

• Instructor monitored group training

  The Artificial Intelligence engine within VBS2 allows the system to automatically respond to Calls-For-Fire without the requirement for Instructor interaction.  This allows the instructor to focus on monitoring or assessing trainees and highlighting learning points, rather than on operating the system.

• Instructor led training during combined training exercise

  An instructor manages a group of trainees who are conducting Call-For-Fire training in support of a manoeuvre force consisting of a combination of human and computer controlled elements.

• Enhanced Offensive Support simulation for VBS2 training exercise

  VBS2Fires is used to increase the richness of a training exercise involving an Manoeuvre force by providing a high fidelity hostile indirect fire simulation.  To do this a single Instructor directs fire in order to shape the Blue force.

• Combined in exercise with Call-For-Fire Simulator

  VBS2 Fires is used in conjunction with the Call-For-Fire Trainer Simulator to provide seamless interaction between the physical simulator and the desktop trainer.

Developed by Bohemia Interactive partner Virtual Integrated Simulations (VIS), the Marksman MK1 is a revolutionary new system that turns any scoped weapon into a training simulator. Combining durable and detachable Virtual Reality hardware optics with high-fidelity ballistic computer simulation, the Marksman MK1 offers a complete Marksmanship training solution. Training can be conducted with the same weapon that is used on operations. This facilitates realistic training, with inconsistencies such as trigger pressures and weapon weight distribution entirely eliminated.

Accurately-modelled environmental and ballistic effects allow training in dynamic scenarios, and in any real-world location. The MK1 system is completely deployable, with rapid setup and minimum footprint; training can be performed in barracks or in the field. It provides a cost effective solution that is flexible enough to meet most training needs.

The Marksman MK1 is supported by a comprehensive software system which allows fall-of-shot analysis, target analysis and trainee evaluation. This software is seamlessly integrated with VBS2.

The MK1 system can be enhanced by an optional VR Spotter Scope or VR Range Finding Binoculars and can be used in conjunction with the Call-For-Fire Trainer (CFFT) or Aircrewman Virtual Reality Simulator to facilitate complex integrated training such as engaging targets from a rotary wing platform, and participating as part of a broader Offensive Support fireplan.

The Marksman MK1 is also designed to operate within the new VIS 360 Immersive Dome System, enabling marksmen to shoot in 360-degree, high-res projected environments for total immersion.

Train like you fight. The future of marksmanship training has arrived.