Called the M134D Virtual Trainer, the simulator is modeled after the M134D Minigun, a six-barrel electric-powered machine gun that fires 7.62mm rifle rounds. Its high-rate of fire — up to 50 rounds per second — makes the M134D exceptionally effective at suppressing hostile forces in a wide variety of combat situations. The same characteristic, however, also is a major drawback because training personnel to use the M134D with live rounds is incredibly expensive.

“You are talking a dollar a round, and you are shooting 3,000 rounds a minute,” said Tony Padgett, Product Line Immersion Training Manager for the Cubic Simulation Systems Division in Orlando.

Cubic’s trainer recreates the ballistics of an actual M134D in a virtual training environment as well as weapon sounds and other characteristics. Two of the simulators are scheduled to be delivered to Department of Energy facilities, where they will be used for facility protection and counterterrorism training along with Cubic’s Warrior Skills Trainer (WST), a virtual vehicle trainer that uses high-fidelity graphics projected on large screens for training scenarios. A third M134D virtual trainer will go to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, as part of a mobile Cubic training system being used to train U.S. Army special forces units.

Cubic Corporation is the parent company of three major business segments: Defense Systems, Mission Support Services and Transportation Systems. Cubic Defense Systems is a leading provider of realistic combat training systems and defense electronics. Mission Support Services is a leading provider of training, operations, maintenance, technical and other support services. Cubic Transportation Systems is the world’s leading provider of automated fare collection systems and services for public transit authorities. For more information about Cubic, see the company’s Web site at www.cubic.com.

TRADOC’s National Simulation Center and the U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI) hosted the VBS2 Government Users’ Conference at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. The event allows VBS2 users and developers to share best practices with the rest of the community, attend tutorials on VBS2 and two other game-based training tools (Bilateral Negotiation and Tactical Language), and communicate with other members of the gaming community of practice.

VBS2 is a commercial game-based training platform that blends a user-friendly, immersive environment with scenario editors, after-action review and a powerful development suite. To help train company and smaller units, the U.S. Army fielded the first-person shooter software and hardware to more than 50 Active, Reserve and National Guard Battle Command Training Centers (BCTC), TRADOC institutions and other selected locations. VBS2 provides a platform for training Soldiers on multiple tasks and mission rehearsal.

Presenters at the conference will include representatives from Centers of Excellence at Fort Knox, Ky. and Fort Sill, Okla.; BCTCs at Fort Lewis, Wash., Fort Hood, Texas, and U.S. Army Europe; and the U.S. Marine Corps.

The speakers discussed innovative uses of VBS2 for training in operational units and at academic institutions. The conference also included demonstrations of scenario and terrain development techniques as well as system interoperability, opportunities to exchange ideas and training insights. Additionally, Col. Paul E. Funk II, deputy commander of the Combined Arms Center-Training, discussed the future of Army gaming and how it will help Soldiers adapt to changing requirements.

Anyone interested in using VBS2 to support training or gaming was invited to attend. They included contractors, industry representatives and foreign military representatives sponsored by PEO STRI or TCM Gaming. Fort Lewis communications personnel also provided an opportunity to participate through Defense Connect Online.

The VBS2 Government Users’ Conference was a follow-up to a Gaming Kaizen meeting held in early December at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. At that idea-sharing event, gaming users and trainers from the Army, Marine Corps, Army Reserve and other organizations discussed ideas for enhancing the use of VBS2 as a training tool and the planned rollout of VBS2 Lite, a modified version of VBS2 that Soldiers will be able to download and use anywhere. The new software, which will be discussed at the conference, is expected to be available later this year to government users. VBS2 Lite is intended to allow Soldiers to become familiar with VBS2 training capabilities and controls, as well as allow several Soldiers to train small-unit tactics simultaneously by connecting computers together via LAN.

Based at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., the Combined Arms Center-Training delivers training programs, products and services to leaders and units in support of Army readiness to conduct full-spectrum operations in any environment. To learn more about the Combined Arms Center-Training, visit http://www.leavenworth.army.mil, or visit them on Facebook and Twitter.

Headquartered in Orlando, Fla., the U.S. Army PEO STRI executes an annual budget of more than $3 billion. In addition to providing interoperable training and testing solutions and program management, PEO STRI provides life cycle support for the Army’s most advanced training systems around the world. PEO STRI is dedicated to putting the power of simulation into the hands of our warfighters.

Contributing to this article:
Diane R. Walker (Combined Arms Center-Training), Anderson Lail (Applied Studies Group)

“It tells you everything. The computer calculates time, space and distance to the second. On every shot fired, there’s feedback. And all it costs is electricity,” Graziano said.

One of only six EST facilities in the Army, Fort Bragg’s EST has been open for five years, said Graziano. Each setup can accommodate up to 10 Soldiers, who employ computer-connected weapons.

The difference between EST and video game: realism

As real-life combat scenarios play a screen before them, the Soldiers’ reactions are collected and analyzed by the computer for review. Depending on what the Soldiers do or don’t do, the computer adjusts the scenario.

What separates the EST from first-person shooter video games is its realism, said Graziano. Every weapon used in the EST is a real weapon that has been modified, rather than a replica. The action, recoil and feel of the weapons are no different than they would be on the range, he said.

Soldiers using the EST are not limited to firing only M-4s or M-16s. The facility has versions of virtually every weapon system used by the Army, Graziano said.

“If they’ve got it in the arms room, we’ve got it here,” he said.

Each “round” that the weapons fire at the screen is actually a laser beam that is tracked and analyzed by the EST computer. If the round hits one of the enemy fighters on the screen, the computer adjusts the scenario to show that he has been wounded or killed.

Paratroopers from 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, trained on the EST April 19.

Inside one of the dark rooms, Sgt. 1st Class Donel Hagelin monitored the computer while five Paratroopers got into position on the firing lanes. Hagelin commanded them to lock and load.

On screen, a white van came to a halt at the end of a sandy, desert road. Two unarmed men dismounted and began yelling in Arabic. Then, from the back of the van, two additional men ran out with AK-47s. Instantly, the Paratroopers unleashed a hail of simulated bullets at the screen. In seconds, it was all over.

During the replay, it became clear that one of the Paratroopers had shot at the unarmed men running away. Hagelin corrected him on the spot.

“Situational awareness, men – I can’t stress that enough. That’s something you’re going to have to live with if you kill someone who is just caught in the crossfire,” he said.

After running through several more scenarios, Hagelin was enthusiastic about the value of the EST. The simulator allowed him to give precise feedback to his Paratroopers, and gave them a chance to work on their techniques without having to waste rounds at the range, he said.

“It’s the fastest way to train troops and the easiest way to save money,” he said.

Fortunately I didn’t get a scratch though, as contrary to the rumour going round the office I haven’t signed up for a tour of duty with a mercenary company – I’ve been taking part in these real-world conflicts on my PC using VBS2.

Virtual Battlespace 2, or VBS2 to its friends, is a battlefield simulator developed by Bohemia Interactive Australia, the sister company of Bohemia Interactive, the developers of Operation Flashpoint and Arma: Armed Assault. However, although OFP and Arma are a good deal more realistic than most games, I’d hesitate to describe VBS2 as a game.

VBS2 is based on the same graphics engine as the game Arma: Assault Assault.

For starters, up until a couple of months ago you had to be a government organisation with a multi-million dollar IT budget such as the US Marine Corps or the British Ministry of Defence to even buy a copy of VBS2. That all changed recently though, as BIA decided it was okay to sell a version of VBS2 direct to consumers. At £275, VBS2 Personal Edition is still a lot more expensive than a typical PC game, but being the sort of person who enjoys arguing the merits of the seven different marks of Sten gun, I thought it worth taking for a spin.

Apart from the eye-watering price a number of things quickly become apparent when you try VBS2 for the first time. For starters, because even the cut-down Personal Edition version includes so many different units and maps it’s supplied on two DVDs. Secondly, like some professional graphics applications VBS2 PE is supplied with a USB dongle. This comes in a variety of colours, depending on the length and type of license you have purchased and prevents the simulation from loading without it being inserted in a USB port.

My first experience of VBS2 PE didn’t get off to particularly good start. Like most gamers I’m used to clicking on the game icon in the Start menu and then diving in. With VBS 2 PE however the default icon loads a ‘rights limited’ version of the simulation. In this mode you can’t adjust any of the graphics or audio settings, let alone remap any of the controls. I suppose this is to stop squaddies messing around with the computers they run VBS2 on, but VBS2 PE is the first ‘game’ I can think of with such a limitation. A quick visit to the manual suggested trying clicking on the Administrator mode icon – which treats you like a responsible adult and unlocks all the menus.

The next hurdle is trying to find something to ‘play’. Unlike other games, even non-linear games such as Team Fortress 2, which include a lot of pre-made missions or levels, VBS2 PE is surprisingly sparse. The main menu provides several options, but none are really conducive to jumping in and playing. There are a couple of training scenarios, but these are only really designed to get you used to the default controls as you navigate your avatar through an assault course.

The best menu to try is the Library – which allows you to view in 3D all the units and objects included in VBS2 PE. These vary from the insanely detailed; such as 13 different models of Warrior MICV, to the more mundane; four different breeds of dog, a tractor and a concrete mixing truck, just to name a few. The Library also allows you jump in and control any of these objects, setting you a number of different challenges, from the bizarre; racing a Challenger 2 MBT around a track, to the humdrum: shooting up a collection of trucks in your Apache attack helicopter.

The plethora of sea, air and land (both pedestrian and vehicles) units is one of the biggest differences between VBS2 PE and most games. Although VBS PE doesn’t simulate aircraft as well as Flight Sim X or boats as well as Ship Simulator it provides enough realism for soldiers from various military disciplines to train together in one giant virtual environment. This networking is hugely important, as one of the most crucial parts of training is teaching soldiers to work together as a unit. A virtual battlefield simulator such as VBS2 is thus immensely useful, as it allows soldiers to train to work together without much of the cost, or risk of training out in the field.

You too can walk the streets of Baghdad and get shot at by guerillas if you want. Just be careful not to shoot any civlians.

Unless you have downloaded some user-made missions from one of the several end-user accessible VBS2 forums such as Razors Edge, you’ll need to make a mission of your own to play. This can be done in the Mission Editor, which allows you to create hugely detailed scenarios with full control of the environment including the date, time and weather. In addition to simply plonking down units onto the map you can also script them to behave in a certain way, for example to wait in ambush or patrol a certain area. If works in much the same way as the scenario editor included in Bohemia Interactive’s games, but has many more options.

You can easily make your own missions in VBS2 – in this case a recreation of the Iranian Embassy siege of 1980.

The final part of VBS2 is the After Action Review, which acts much like the ‘instant replay’ feature found in the TV coverage of sporting events, allowing you to view what just happened in the game world. While this provides limited amusement for gamers, for the military it’s a key feature, as it allows instructors to show the troops where they went wrong after the battle so that they learn from the experience.

Although, on the surface, VBS2 plays like pretty much any first person shooter/driving/flying game it soon becomes apparent that this is no game at all. For example, while mainstream PC games have been slow to introduce a limitation on the amount of weapons and ammo your avatar can carry around, VBS2 has a sophisticated inventory system that takes into account the weight and volume of items. No more carrying around four rifles, half a dozen rockets and a crate full of ammo then.

VBS2 is also very uncompromising when it comes to the level of difficulty. Although it’s far easier to aim and shoot with the mouse than it is to aim and fire a real assault rifle, staying alive in VBS2 is still a real challenge – the 21st century battlefield is positively crammed with sharp bits of metal flying through the air at high-speed with your name on them. While you can slow down and accelerate time if you’re fighting a single-player battle, in multiplayer missions you can’t tweak the laws of physics to help you out in this way.

As VBS2 was first made available to government users in April 2007, it doesn’t have the best looking 3D engine. Still, although its graphics are several light years ahead of traditional military simulators, such as the British Army’s £400 million Combined Arms Tactical Trainer built by Lockheed Martin, it’s no Crysis. Still, the maps in Crysis are typically no more than 6,400 hectares, barely enough for a fast moving aircraft to turn around, compared to VBS2’s up to one million hectare maps.

The graphics in a traditional military simulator, such as the British Army’s CATT are truly atrocious by PC game standards.

As a gamer however, even one with a strong interest in military history, VBS2 has one principal fault – it’s not much fun. This is no doubt in part due to the tiny user community – VBS2 is only really worth playing online with other people, and at £275 precious few gamers have bought VBS2.

It can be hugely rewarding to complete a tough and realistic mission, but when you can get a very similar experience from a heavily modded version of Arma for £24.99, VBS2 PE suddenly isn’t a very attractive proposition, even for a hardened military geek such as myself.

Perhaps if the developers had decided to sell VBS2 PE sooner, then it would have given more time for the price to trickle down to a more acceptable level and allow the modding community longer to get to sink its teeth into the engine’s huge potential. After all, out of the box Arma suffers from many of the same problems as VBS2 PE – but most of issues have been addressed by an extremely active modding community.

Ultimately, while VBS2 is undoubtedly a fantastic training tool, and a huge leap forward in graphical fidelity from proprietary military simulators, for gamers, VBS2 PE is an interesting but costly distraction from Arma II.

by James Gorbold or bit-tech.net

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

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.

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.

VBS2Fusion transforms VBS2 into a true simulation platform, allowing bespoke applications to be developed which leverage the power of the VBS2 virtual environemnt, graphics capability and simulation engine.

VBS2Fusion is an add-on module that is sold separately to VBS2. VBS2Fusion will be released in several phases, with Version 1.0 to be released in May 2009. The initial version of VBS2Fusion abstracts the VBS2 Application Scripting Interface (ASI) and is designed to allow developers to influence VBS2 scenarios during run time.

Version 2.0, due for release in November 2009, will add a range of additional features such as direct access to the VBS2 simulation core (removing the need to access the scripting layer, or ASI, entirely) and also the means to control the complete VBS2 character skeleton externally.

VBS2Fusion is developed by SimCentric Technologies, a close partner of Bohemia Interactive. SimCentric offers professional and affordable support services for customers seeking to employ or fund updates to VBS2Fusion.

For more information visit the VBS2 website.

As VBS2Fires is built upon VBS2, all of VBS2’s standard features are included, including After Action Review and the Real Time Editor. Do you want to conduct Call-For-Fire training from a helicopter? Do you want to perform a Danger Close mission while Infantry participants conduct a mounted assault? All of this is possible within VBS2Fires thanks to the underlying VBS2 framework. VBS2Fires is suitable for a wide range of uses; from training general officers in the All-Arms Call-For-Fire through to practicing experienced Forward Observers, or simply simulating AI-driven indirect fire in support of VBS2 exercises.

Features include:

• 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 altitudes.

• Customisable properties

  Supports field guns, self propelled guns and naval 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-Fire that is entered by the trainee through a detailed Artificial Intelligence suite. Alternatively, the instructor may manually respond to a Call-For-Fire and inject errors as appropriate.

• Rapid scenario design

  VBS2Fires will save you time and money through leveraging the VBS2 scenario editor -building a VBS2Fires scenario is no more complex than building a standard VBS2 scenario.

• After Action Review

  VBS2Fires is completely integrated into the VBS2 AAR system. Bookmarks can be dynamically added and all projectile paths and effects are captured and replayed. Additionally, terrain and ballistics analysis tools are included.

• Runs on COTS hardware

  Calls-For-Fire may be entered either in a Windows-based interface (connected to a VBS2 instance by VBS2Fusion), or within VBS2 itself. The Windows-based interface can be run alongside VBS2 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 on same machine as VBS2 or on a separate machine connected over the network.

• Seamlessly links with VBS2 COTS Desktop Trainer

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

Examples of VBS2 Fires applications:

• Individual training, or one-on-one training

  Stand-Alone 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 or monitored 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 exercises

  An instructor can manage 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 exercises

  VBS2Fires can be used to increase the richness of a training exercise involving a manoeuvre force by providing a high fidelity hostile indirect fire simulation.

• Combined in exercise with Call-For-Fire Trainer

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