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2014 Top Simulation & Training Companies
Marine Trainer Maj. Gen. James W. Lukeman Commanding General Marine Training and Education Command Training Ranges O Flight Simulation Training Vehicle Maintenance O Mobile Training
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September 2014 Volume 19, Issue 6
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military Training technology Features
September 2014 Volume 19, Issue 6
Cover / Q&A
6
SPECIAL SECTION
Vehicle Maintenance Training
13
2014 Top Simulation & Training Companies
Each year the number of submissions grows and it becomes increasingly difficult to narrow down those companies that make the list. The featured companies are from around the world and have made significant impacts on the military training and simulation industries across a vast array of technologies. These companies’ products allow U.S. airmen, Marines, sailors, soldiers and Coast Guardsmen to train and rehearse for missions in theater, or to prepare for deployment at home station.
One of the top priorities of maintaining the U.S. military’s ground vehicles is having properly trained mechanics. If they are not thoroughly prepared to work on the various vehicles that certain commands use, then they are trained on-site by those commands, although most commands are not set up to provide that training. By Brian O’Shea
26 Maj. Gen. James W. Lukeman Commanding General Marine Training and Education Command
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29
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Centralized virtual training facilities add a logistics tail to training that doesn’t have to be there. The time and money it costs to transport warfighters to training facilities can be reduced by bringing the training systems to them. By Peter Buxbaum
The goal here is high fidelity, giving pilots as real an experience as possible to minimize the cost and resource consumption of live training. Leaders from industry discuss current solutions and future innovation.
The firing range is in many ways the closest thing to real combat that takes place without real danger. Unsurprisingly, all services seek to make this near-combat as relevant and realistic as possible and as frequent as necessary. By Henry Canaday
Mobile Training Systems
Flight Simulation Training
Departments 2 Editor’s Perspective 4 Program Highlights 5 People 12 data packets 34 Team orlando 35 Resource Center
The Closest Thing to Combat
Industry Interview
High Proficiency Training ATC Simulators Including Robust Mobile Systems
Richard M. Rybacki
Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer MetaVR Inc.
36
Specialized Phraseology Trainers Speech Recognition
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Military Training Technology Volume 19, Issue 6 • September 2014
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Congressman John Mica (R-Fla.) recently told the media that Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh confirmed that a revised version of the Train, Educate and Coach (TEACH) contract will be released in 2016 and that there are no plans to move the Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI) out of Florida. Concerns were raised when the TEACH program, a portion of the Warfighter Focus program, was unexpectedly canceled earlier this year as one of the first decisions made by PEO STRI’s new commander, Brian O’Shea Major General Jonathan A. Maddux. The TEACH program is potentially Editor worth billions of dollars over the next decade in coursework and training development for the armed forces. Maddux said his decision was part of an effort to refocus on the agency’s “core” contracts and services, but not as part of any drastic downsizing of the agency. PEO STRI awards nearly $3 billion in contracts per year and local modeling and simulation industry leaders were concerned that there might be talks of relocating PEO STRI elsewhere as part of base closures or budget cuts. “Over the years, Team Orlando, working with PEO STRI, has helped our armed forces maintain their readiness at an unprecedented level while bringing down costs,” Mica said. “The importance of this mutual partnership cannot be underestimated as we move forward during these times of budget reductions.” Mica added that McHugh “fully recognized the benefit that Central Florida’s modeling and simulation industry provides in helping our military maintain a high level of readiness. He also stated his firm commitment in maintaining PEOSTRI in Orlando and that there are no major changes in workforce planned.” When I first heard of the TEACH program being canceled back in June, it definitely raised some concerns. PEO STRI and other military modeling and simulation agencies have been in Central Florida for years; the repercussions of those agencies moving elsewhere would have had serious impacts on industry leaders in the area. It’s commendable that the leadership of the Army knows the value of an organization like PEO STRI and does not plan on relocating it. If you have any questions regarding Military Training Technology, feel free to contact me at any time.
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MetaVR’s synthetic geospecific 3D terrain of Kismayo, Somalia, is ready for training
High-resolution satellite source imagery 3D geo-located and photo-realistic models built from ground-level photos taken on the streets of Kismayo Dense urban streets, port, and airport Visualization in MetaVR’s real-time rendering software
The 3D terrain can be used for a variety of training purposes such as JTACs coordinating ground strikes, UAV operators practicing target identification, ground units participating in exercises of urban insurgent clashes, World Food Program relief efforts, and coastline security missions. Real-time screen captures are from MetaVR’s visualization system rendering 3D virtual terrain of Kismayo, Somalia, and are unedited except as required for printing. The real-time renderings of the 3D virtual world are generated by version 6 of MetaVR Virtual Reality Scene Generator™ (VRSG™). 3D models and animations are from MetaVR’s 3D content libraries. © 2014 MetaVR, Inc. All rights reserved. MetaVR, Virtual Reality Scene Generator, VRSG, and the MetaVR logo are trademarks of MetaVR, Inc.
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PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS Technical and Logistical Support Services Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) recently announced that its AMSEC LLC subsidiary has been awarded two contracts in support of the United States Navy. Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C. awarded a contract to AMSEC for technical and logistical support services and material kitting services for U.S. Navy LCC 19-class Amphibious Command ships. Material kitting services involve the pre-packaging of materials required to complete a specific task. Amphibious Command ships provide command and control for fleet commanders. A total of three contracts were awarded for these services with a combined maximum dollar amount of $96.8 million. AMSEC LLC was also awarded the initial delivery order, valued at $1.2 million. “AMSEC continues to respond to our customer’s needs and enhance our services to meet the Navy’s requirements,” said Harris Leonard, vice president of HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division and president of AMSEC operations. “We will build on our record of superior service to the Naval Sea Systems Command and the naval fleet they support.” AMSEC will support modernization requirements for the USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) and USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20). AMSEC will also provide advanced planning efforts associated with shipchecks,
4 | MT2 19.6
drawings and engineering, as well as marine maintenance and installation. The work is anticipated to be performed in Virginia Beach, Va., Yokosuka, Japan, Puget Sound, Wash., and Gaeta, Italy. The work is expected to be completed by July 2019. AMSEC was also awarded a contract for multimedia instruction courseware by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center. Division Newport (NUWC), Newport, R.I., to produce interactive multimedia instruction courseware modules for the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command’s shipboard and schoolhouse training programs for all subject matter areas of submarine operations and procedures. A total of four contract awards were issued for this 60-month, firm-fixed-price contract with a combined maximum dollar amount of $8.9 million. “We are eager to support the Navy with interactive multimedia training,” said Mary White, AMSEC director of logistics, engineering, technology and training solutions operation. “Our sailors deserve our very best products to prepare them for going to sea and being successful on their missions.” The work is anticipated to be performed in Virginia Beach, Herndon and Arlington, Va.; Waterford, Mass.; and Groton, Conn. The work is expected to be completed by July 2019. Leslie Gallop; leslie.gallop@hii-amsec.com
Compiled by KMI Media Group staff
Army Mobile Instrumented Training System Cubic Corporation recently announced that it was competitively selected to supply the Army Mobile Instrumented Training System (AMITS) for the U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation. The initial award is valued at $12.5 million, and the contract, if fully funded, has a potential value in excess of $200 million. The five-year contract covers a base year and four option years. “Cubic is proud to provide AMITS training equipment to the U.S. Army. This next-generation Homestation Instrumentation Training System (HITS) capability provides the Army with usability enhancements that increase the effectiveness of Homestation Training,” said Dave Schmitz, president of Cubic Defense Systems. “AMITS incorporates automation and ease-of-use features such as intuitive applications and game-based virtual instruction that stimulate user engagement, remove complexity, reduce setup time, and minimize operational and sustainment costs, which translate into increased time available for tactical training.” Brandy Castle; brandy.castle@cubic.com
$10.9 Million Radio Training System Ordered by the U.S. Army Saab Defense and Security USA (SDAS) has received an additional order for the Live Training Transformation Interim Range System (LT2-IRS) contract by the U.S. Army Program Executive Office of Simulation, Training and Instrumentation. The current contract is valued at $10.9 million for ranges at Fort Lewis-McChord and Grafenwoehr. Under the LT2-IRS contract, SDAS is fielding communication network systems for a total value of up to $67 million to enable soldiers to engage in instrumented force-on-force training at the home stations. The order value will be consolidated within the business area Security and Defense Solutions of Saab. “Saab’s continued partnership and commitment to our U.S. Army customer is key to providing a stable product line to support U.S. Army Live Training for years to come,” said Cyndi Turner, vice president and general manager of the SDAS Training and Simulation Business Unit. Steve Parrish; steve.parrish@saabusa.com www.MT2-kmi.com
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS UH-60L Operational Flight Trainers for Royal Saudi Land Forces L-3 Link Simulation & Training (L-3 Link) recently announced that it has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation to build three UH-60L operational flight trainers (OFTs) and associated training systems for the Royal Saudi Land Forces Aviation Command. Delivery of these highfidelity trainers marks the first time L-3 Link’s RealitySeven full flight simulator technology solution will be used in support of a military training program. The first UH-60L OFT will be delivered to the Royal Saudi Land Forces Aviation Command training facility and will be fully operational during the second quarter of 2016. The second and third UH-60L OFTs will begin training pilots during the third quarter of 2016. Under a teaming agreement, Advanced Electronics Company (AEC), headquartered in Riyadh, will provide L-3 Link with systems integration, device assembly and installation, and repair and maintenance services. AEC will support L-3
Link on the first UH-60L OFT and lead the assembly and integration on the second and third simulators. “These rotary wing simulation systems will provide the Royal Saudi Land Forces with the highest-fidelity UH-60L operational flight trainers in the world,” said Lenny Genna, president of L-3 Link. “We are also very pleased to have teamed with AEC, a relationship that underscores L-3’s commitment to the Kingdom’s Saudization policy. AEC has consistently demonstrated the highest level of integrity in all areas of business and is considered a strategic asset by the government of Saudi Arabia.” “AEC is very excited to work with L-3 in delivering these highfidelity UH-60L operational flight trainers to the Royal Saudi Land Forces Aviation Command,” said Ghassan Al-Shibl, president and chief executive officer of AEC. “The partnership with L-3 is in line with the Saudi government’s direction in building local capability and creating jobs for Saudis.” Doug Eller; douglas.eller@l-3com.com
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Joint Force Development Services QinetiQ Training and Simulation Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of QinetiQ Training, is part of Capstone Corporation’s team, one of seven companies awarded the Joint Force Development Support Services ( JFDSS) contract. The estimated ceiling value for the JFDSS Contract is $877 million. The JFDSS contract allows the Capstone Corporation team to compete for future individual task orders requiring training, education and exercise solutions and services in support of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, combatant commanders, the military services, U.S. government federal agencies and multinational partners. The contract will provide the requisite operational support necessary to advance the warfighter’s ability to adapt to and overcome an ever-evolving threat environment. Miles Adcock, president of QinetiQ Training and Simulation Inc. and managing director of QinetiQ Training, said, “This marks another important step for our QinetiQ Training and Simulation Inc. business as we continue to grow and establish ourselves in the United States.” “We are pleased to be able to bring our many years of expertise gained in the United Kingdom to be part of the Capstone Corporation team and pursue future task orders as part of this ID/IQ contract,” Adcock added. “Capstone created a team comprised of some of the best training, education and exercise management service and technology companies in the industry, and QinetiQ Training and Simulation Inc. is recognized as one of them.”
PEOPLE Air Force Major General Steven L. Kwast has been nominated for appointment to the rank of lieutenant general and for assignment as commander and president, Air University, Air Education and Training Command, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. Kwast is currently serving as commander, Curtis E. LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and
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Education, and vice commander, Air University, Air Education and Training Command, Maxwell Air Force Base. After serving as the Director of the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative for four years, Dr. Kristy Murray has retired as of August 31, 2014. Previously she was the ADL Initiative’s deputy director and director
of the ADL Co-Lab in Orlando. Her career with the Department of Defense spanned 26 years. Prior to coming to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Murray worked in various modeling and simulation, training and acquisition positions with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army. Murray led ADL through the evolution of its Next Generation Learning Environment, and she
guided the conception of the Training and Learning Architecture, ensuring that its modular design can enable a rich environment for the future development of distance training and learning. Elbit Systems of America LLC, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems Ltd., recently announced that David Rogers has joined the
company as senior vice president of operations. With over 20 years of experience in roles including general management, operations, industrial manufacturing, engineering and business development, Rogers will oversee operations of Elbit’s sites in Texas, New Hampshire, Alabama, Virginia, Mississippi and Florida.
MT2 19.6 | 5
Keeping the military’s ground vehicles operational and mission-ready. By Brian O’Shea, MT2 Editor Their maintenance trainers use interactive 2-D and 3-D virOne of the top priorities of maintaining the U.S. military’s ground tual environments to provide high-fidelity training in maintenance vehicles is having properly trained mechanics. These people need to procedures. The virtual environments look, act and sound like the show up on assignment properly trained and ready to tackle the tough actual vehicle, and allow the student to concentrate on mastering problems. If they are not thoroughly prepared to work on the various the required cognitive skills in a safe, cost-effective environment. vehicles that certain commands use, then they are trained on-site by Each maintenance trainer consists of several student stations and those commands, although most commands are not set up to provide an instructor station that communicates via a local that training. To ensure that mechanics receive the area network. CAE introduced the concept of a virtual correct training, industry offers the U.S. military sevmaintenance trainer in the mid-1990s and has coneral innovative options to get the job done. tinued to update and improve the underlying techCAE has delivered maintenance trainers for nologies, said McLin. the U.S. Army’s Multiple Launch Rocket System CAE’s vehicle maintenance training solution is (MLRS), High Mobility Artillery Rocket System unique in that the same core simulation software can (HIMARS), Bradley fighting vehicle and Abrams be used across different vehicle families. main battle tank. CAE’s maintenance trainers sup“These simulations are optimized to efficiently port system familiarization, use of technical manutrain multiple critical tasks and emphasize ‘learning als, fault diagnosis, test equipment, and remove and by doing,’ thus minimizing development costs while replace tasks, said Dave McLin, operations manager Dave McLin ensuring training requirements are met,” said McLin. of ground training systems, CAE USA. 6 | MT2 19.6
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are architected, managed and tracked becomes even He added that the major challenge is obtainmore crucial in order to ensure they meet the training the vehicle-specific data needed to create highing objectives.” fidelity, functional simulations. Original equipment Ariotti added that the primary benefits of this manufacturer (OEM) data is often not available or is type of training are safety, availability and time to prohibitively expensive. To deal with this challenge, train. All of Disti’s solutions are scalable to cover CAE has developed processes and methods for colany level of proficiency required, from ab initio to lecting the needed data from an actual vehicle. master technician levels. Their training can be done The primary benefit of CAE’s maintenance while deployed or at homestation. training solution is reduced life cycle costs for inWith today’s warfighter tethered to mobile destitutional centers of excellence and more efficient Scott Ariotti vices, Disti offers native applications that run on the training. device itself without requiring Internet connectiv“Maintenance trainers reduce life cycle costs by sariotti@disti.com ity. They can produce the training environments to reducing the number of tactical vehicles (and asrun as native applications, allowing students to take the training sociated costs) required to support maintenance training activiwith them. An example is Disti’s Virtual Engine Shop, a native apties,” said McLin. “Training is more efficient because students can plication that allows users to tear down and reassemble two types learn and practice in a classroom that can support a much higher of engines and a transmission. The advantage of this method is instructor-student ratio.” once the application is installed, users have it with them regardless CAE expects to provide the U.S. Army with concurrency upof their location. dates to deal with changes in tactical vehicle hardware and softAriotti said while there are many advantages to having a virware configurations in 2014-15. tualized vehicle maintenance training solution, it is still up to the McLin said the future of vehicle maintenance training will beinstructional systems designer to determine if the training tasks come more portable with access through mobile devices. require the student to get hands-on hardware. “While dedicated classrooms will be a staple of maintenance “I believe it is critical for the program managers in the projtraining, we see providing students with the ability to access mainect offices to understand the capabilities of these new virtual envitenance training content outside the classroom on various platronments,” he said. “By understanding what is possible, they can forms (personal computers, tablets and smartphones) and locations [as being vital],” he said. “Providing the ability for instructors to repurpose classroom training materials for use in other venues and platforms will help maximize training efficiency and improve the return on investment.” smart technologies, Disti is another provider of several different solutions for virintegrated solutions tual maintenance training. The first is their Virtual Environment Software Development Kit (VESDK) for producing platform level maintenance trainers, said Scott Ariotti, director of Global Marketing, Disti. The second is Replic8, a product for producing part task level maintenance trainers. The virtual maintenance content produced between these two products covers numerous military maintenance training solutions from marine diesel engines to jet ■ Command fighters such as the F/A-18 Super Hornet. Control Systems “These days, just about any company in the industry can say they do virtual maintenance training,” said Ariotti. “Throwing a ■ Training, 3-D model of a vehicle into a dime-a-dozen game engine and renSimulation Test dering it interactively is not rocket science anymore. The differen& Evaluation Systems tiator is having an efficient production framework that effectively manages the entire development process so the resulting virtual ■ Management environment is properly defined, tested and ready for training.” Information Disti has put together a patented process whereby the develSystems opment of the virtual maintenance environment is managed by ■ Security Systems a centralized database repository that tracks and correlates requirements, 3-D models, behaviors and constraints. The process, coupled with tools that automate labor-intensive tasks (such as requirements analysis and regression testing) and increase graphic artist productivity (such as on-demand builds), results in low-risk, robust virtual environments with capability that traces back to the customer requirements. HAVELSAN is a Turkish Armed Forces Foundation company. “On ground vehicles, while the overall system is simpler than an www.havelsan.com.tr aircraft, the training typically goes deeper,” said Ariotti. “The training environment needs to handle all the nuts, bolts and springs that go into subsystems and subassemblies. How these environments www.MT2-kmi.com
MT2 19.6 | 7
Rockwell Collins has delivered maintenance trainers for the minimize the need to add hardware requirements to training proStryker and mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles, grams, which will in turn keep costs affordable.” said Jim Mizerak, principal program manager, Rockwell Collins. He noted that even though a procedure states that the student has The Stryker Maintenance Training System (MTS) is a suite of to “feel” something, it doesn’t automatically translate to a hardware trainers consisting of diagnostic/troubleshooting trainers, part requirement. Disti’s virtual environments have graphical assets used task trainers and hands-on trainers, all networked together and to depict object temperatures and flows visually. These assets include managed via a training management system server. Rockwell Colcolored streamers with directional intensities to indicate hot, warm or lins designed, developed and delivered the original Stryker MTS cool airflows and virtual hands with visual feedback that the trainee and has since performed multiple upgrades extending the training places on items to be felt. task list supported by the devices to remain current with vehicle Another private firm creating innovative vehicle maintenance soupgrades and training requirements. They have also expanded the lutions is Heartwood. Heartwood delivers 3-D interactive virtual trainnumber of devices in the suite in order to support increased deing that accelerates user learning, reduces operation and maintenance mands for student throughput. training costs, and decreases the need for expensive live training. The MRAP MTS is a blended solution on a single They provide classroom training and fault-based platform. That is, the MRAP trainer consists of multroubleshooting, self-paced lessons, just-in-time and tiple devices on a single platform design. This design on-the-job performance aids, mobile/tablet apps, and incorporates both the virtual and the physical en3-D interactive technical manuals. vironments to provide troubleshooting training on Heartwood’s technology makes training visual, inthe mission-critical automatic fire suppression systeractive and portable. Its content provides a moderntem (AFSS) of the MRAP vehicle. The virtual aspect day alternative to training manuals and videos, as well of the training is capable of being downloaded to a as hands-on experience that enables the user to ‘learn student’s laptop, thereby providing deployable trainby doing’ virtually. ing capabilities for the MRAP AFSS. This ability to “Often students are taught on life-like mock-ups or extend training from the classroom to the field is a actual vehicles designated for training purposes,” said Raj Raheja significant current trend in the industry. Raj Raheja, CEO of Heartwood. “While this is essential “Rockwell Collins’ strength in simulation and at some stage, it is not a great starting point or endraj@hwd3d.com training is in helping solve customers’ complex ing point. Students should be quite familiar with the problems,” said Mizerak. “We provide a wide range vehicle by the time they touch it physically, since live of capabilities that are open and enable scalability, training is expensive, limited in reach and non-portamobility, customization and collaboration, all reble. Furthermore, after the live session, they must have sulting in more effective training at lower life cycle a way to refresh their learning without scheduling an costs.” in-person exercise again.” Simulators permit instructors and students to Raheja agrees with McLin that there is a challenge train repetitively on time-consuming, difficult and obtaining the OEM data for a specific vehicle. Heartdangerous maintenance tasks in a more timely and wood mitigates this challenge by going on-site and usefficient manner. Through realistic simulation, ing laser scanning, photogrammetry or other forms of training time, costs and personnel requirements are re-capturing measurements. Jim Mizerak reduced while student throughput, competency and He added that another industry challenge is that confidence levels increase. the engineering data they receive is extremely dense james.mizerak As military budgets change, so do the challeng(mesh count) and not simulation-ready. Heartwood @rockwellcollins.com es of keeping maintenance personnel trained and uses extensive code to help with the optimization procompetent. The availability of equipment to conduct live training cess, but it still needs to be manually cleaned up later. In both cases, may lessen as budgets are redirected. Mizerak anticipates growth the solution is on Heartwood’s end and is not an issue to the customer. in maintenance simulation and training devices to maximize conHeartwood will soon release ‘Testing and Evaluation’ modes that straints in equipment for live training time. In addition, demand will record valuable data like errors made, number of hints requested for newer training capabilities, such as networking and live, virtual and overall scoring. This way, students can re-take the assessment and and constructive mobile and games technologies, will also have a gauge their progress over time. role in vehicle maintenance training as the adoption of these capaRaheja said that given the current climate for budget concerns, bilities becomes more prevalent. the demand for more virtual training over expensive live sessions will “The biggest challenge in developing training solutions is in only grow over the next several years. determining the right blend of traditional live training with virtual “Within that, we predict mobile- and tablet-based training to training to ensure the right amount of realism at the lowest cost,” take center stage,” he said. “By the time technicians touch the equipsaid Mizerak. “We have demonstrated our ability to answer this ment in a live training session, they would have explored, familiarized challenge for customers and feel it is one of our strengths.” O themselves and performed most procedures virtually. This will make the live training session much more productive and [provide] most bang for the training buck. Once students are exposed to the new gold For more information, contact MT2 Editor Brian O’Shea standard in e-learning, which is ‘learn by doing,’ they will no longer at briano@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives accept passive learning methods like PowerPoint and ‘next page’ style for related stories at www.mt2-kmi.com. courses.” 8 | MT2 19.6
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Transporting training to where the warfighter needs it most.
By Peter Buxbaum, MT2 Correspondent
in interior rooms include the Engagement Skills Trainer (EST), the Centralized virtual training facilities add a logistics tail to trainCall For Fire Trainer (CFFT) and the dismount soldier training capaing that doesn’t have to be there. The time and money it costs to bility within the Close Combat Tactical Trainer (CCTT) program. transport warfighters to training facilities can be reduced by bring“We move the AVCATT to remote aviation detachments on a low ing the training systems to them. to moderate pace, and most of our mobile and transportable capabilThat’s the idea behind Department of Defense investments in ities move infrequently,” said Buhl. “However, when mobile and transportable simulated training systems. they are moved, the empirical data support the capaSome of these systems are designed to be installed in bility investment.” unit day rooms, allowing warfighters to practice their The CFFT, for example, has been taken with units skills whenever they want. Others are loaded on trailduring deployments and set up in classroom space as ers and transported to unit headquarters or to live available. IED defeat and convoy simulators in Operatraining facilities in order to supplement the training tion Iraqi Freedom were used to train multiple units that goes on there. Down the road, simulated trainin multiple locations. “The training flexibility to proing will be available wirelessly on individual mobile vide this training at the point of need saved time for devices such as laptops and tablets, enhancing the oncommanders to use on other priority tasks, and prodemand aspect of warfighter training. vided soldiers with awareness and the option to meet Not all training systems are suitable to be made Col. Harold Buhl these dangerous situations in training [before seeing mobile or transportable, and not all mobile systems them] in combat,” said Buhl. measure up to their fixed-site counterparts. Although The greatest advantage of mobile training systhere are cost and capabilities tradeoffs when investtems is in the support and training flexibility proing in mobile systems, the evidence shows that they vided for geographically dispersed National Guard are worth it. and Army Reserve units. “Some analyses show that The United States Army has invested significantly a mobility capability can provide an economical fleet in mobile training systems, noted Colonel Harold Buhl, solution,” said Buhl. “In other cases, a mobility benproject manager for Combined Arms Tactical Trainers efit has significant burdens, particularly in cost but (CATT) at Program Executive Office for Simulation, also in other areas, that must be offset through other Training, and Instrumentation (PEO STRI). Trailercapability trades.” based mobile simulators include capabilities such as Mobile training systems address costs as well as the Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainer (AVCATT) Chris Velez readiness considerations, according to Chris Velez, and the Reconfigurable Vehicle Tactical Trainer (RVTT) under the CATT program. Trainers designed for setup cvelez@alionscience.com a program manager at Alion Science & Technology. www.MT2-kmi.com
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Adacel’s three-screen system and its packaging. [Photo courtesy of Adacel]
home. Another advanTraining systems provided by Alion for crews of P-3 tage is that we update Orion anti-submarine and maritime surveillance airsystems as technology adcraft were deployed to the units’ headquarters in Italy, obvances and as organizational requirements change.” The Naviating the necessity of extensive travel for training. tional Guard is Raydon’s main customer for mobile systems. “Cost comes into play when you have a lot of travel involved Technology developments that have facilitated the proliferation transporting personnel back and forth to a centralized training comof mobile training systems include advancements in head-mounted mand,” he explained. “Costs are also reduced by replacing systems displays and video technologies. “Seven or eight years ago helmetthat cost tens of millions of dollars with systems with costs in the mounted displays were heavy, had low resolution and single digits. Readiness is improved by having personcost $20,000,” said Recker. “Today, you get higher nel keep their skills fresh in deployed locations where resolution at a much lower cost.” they may not have access to other forms of training.” The video gaming industry leads the way for the “The main benefit of mobility is that it allows kind of realism displayed in virtual trainers. “Advancefor home station training,” said Gregory Recker, ments in video cards that cost $500 allow us to use vice president and director of training and support PCs to do great renderings of enemies, friendlies and at Raydon. “You can train anywhere you want and the surrounding environment,” said Recker. “We are don’t have to travel to a range.” not as up-to-date on graphics because games typically It can also be advantageous to place mobile sysoperate in a 1-by-1-kilometer virtual space while we tems at live training facilities, according to Recker. are rendering terrain that could be 200 square miles. “Guys who are struggling on the range can be put Gregory Recker We will be where the gaming industry is now in two or back on the simulated system right then and there three years. We can’t duplicate the functionality of a and then put back on the range,” he said. “That way grecker@raydon.com full-motion aircraft simulator but we can duplicate 95 you get higher training throughput.” to 98 percent of training requirements on these mobile “On-demand training will become a way of life, systems.” especially for the younger generation now enterLast year, the Army awarded Adacel a five-year coning the military who have been educated this way tract to supply a commercial off-the-shelf system for in school,” said Dave Urbeck, chief of a training the Air Traffic Control Common Simulator (ACS) Protechnology development group at Boeing Training gram. “The ACS program will provide a single simulaSystems and Government Services. “They will come tion air traffic control baseline for all Army and Guard to expect to be trained on that kind of on-demand units to train on both at home and when deployed to capability.” forward locations,” said Tom Evers, director of marThe costs of acquiring and operating training keting and communications at Adacel. “The system is systems can also be reduced through special conDave Urbeck computer-based and easily transportable in a weathertract arrangements that are particularly applicable resistant Pelican case.” to mobile systems. Raydon offers a program for The simulators will be deployed to multiple milirenting mobile training assets so that units only tary locations throughout the world. Each simulator pay for the time they are actually using the system. can support two operator positions simultaneously and “These systems come with trailers and generators,” can be connected together for collective tower and rasaid Recker. “We can park them anywhere they are dar training scenarios. needed and turn on the generator. This is a solution “The simulators are designed to provide air traffic for owners of fixed training systems that have poor controllers with realistic hands-on practice that reinutilization rates.” forces learning—from the basics of phraseology and The rental package comes with an instructor, communications through the advanced skills required making it a turnkey solution. “Our customers get the to be a fully-qualified Army controller—as well as promaximum value out of the system when they rent,” Tom Evers vide proficiency training allowing controllers to mainsaid Recker. “They only pay when they are using the tain their certifications,” said Evers. system. When they are done we pack it up and go tevers@adacel.com 10 | MT2 19.6
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The Adacel system hardware is based on a three-screen laptop computer. The screens and laptop fold into a case that meets military shock and vibration standards. “This gives users the opportunity to quickly transport and deploy the systems,” said Evers. Local operators configure the system to match the airspace in which they are working. “There are tools included in the system that make this a straightforward process,” said Evers. “Recent advances in processor speed and memory capabilities have made it possible to run the system on a single machine. Five or 10 years ago, we could not have built a three-screen laptop economically.” Alion Science & Technology has been involved in building mobile training systems that focus on sustaining anti-submarine warfare skills of aircraft crews while deployed. In addition to the P-3 Orion, the Mission Rehearsal Tactical Team Trainer also provides a deployable, high-fidelity team trainer for H-60 F/S helicopter teams. “These are PC- and laptop-based systems,” said Velez. “The systems can be set up by the air crew themselves and don’t come with large logistics tails or personnel that need to support the training system.” The trainees of these scaled-down systems are not using the same level of cognitive functionality that they would on more elaborate systems. The smaller systems don’t carry the same level of fidelity as their fixed counterparts and don’t provide the same look and feel of a real aircraft. “But from a tactical standpoint they are not losing any fidelity,” said Velez. The crux of the simulation is to develop teamwork; in that respect, the crews lose nothing, according to Velez. “In most cases, there are not two capabilities where the only difference is one being mobile and the other being fixed,” noted Buhl. “But without qualification, all solutions for training, whether fixed or mobile, meet the capability requirements approved by Army leadership. There are trades in engineering, cost and capability that all must be considered in delivering a comprehensive solution. A generalized example of trades is in the higher cost of a capability being made mobile balanced against the training flexibility that a mobile solution provides.” Fixed-site Common Driver Trainers (CDT), for example, are well suited to the high throughput of trainees, noted Buhl. “Mobile CDT at installations can be moved between unit areas to facilitate throughput and training management,” he added. “Mobile CDT has also been moved to gunnery ranges to support sustainment and advanced training for drivers during extended live training events.” The ultimate in mobile training may come as the result of research now underway at Boeing Training Systems. “We are in a research and development phase of mobile simulations for what we call personalized on-demand training,” said Urbeck. “We believe this will be a very effective way to support maintenance training. The goal is to be able to run virtual maintenance training on a tablet computer or a local PC.” The focus is on maintenance at this point, Urbeck explained, because the training can be properly scaled to support the contemplated delivery model. In other words, training for helicopter maintenance, for example, can be broken down into separate systems. They don’t have to create a simulation that trains on maintenance of the entire aircraft. This type of training has made inroads in consumer markets, Urbeck noted, but it will require additional buy-in from stakeholders, especially the higher ups, before it can become fully accepted in the military arena. From a technology standpoint, more will have to be done to ensure security and information assurance, especially if the training is to be delivered wirelessly. www.MT2-kmi.com
“With two arguable exceptions, the technology for mobile systems is not significantly different from that used in static systems,” said Buhl. “The arguable exceptions to mobile system technology are wireless and gaming. They are arguable because they are also used to a degree in fixed-site trainers, but there are second-order consequences that must be understood and accepted or mitigated. Wireless and gaming allow freedom of motion, which we are exploiting for dismounted soldier training. An advantage is being able to set up a comprehensive squad training capability in any company day room. Infinite movement in a finite space is the trade for a transportable system.” Buhl foresees a future virtual training environment that could be an integrated or embedded part of the soldier and unit combat equipment. “This would represent a fundamental change in mobile trainers,” he said. “Requirements considering this concept are under consideration and are being informed with industry and Army laboratory work in areas like embedded training and augmented reality. As we see the requirements and analysis evolve, lay it against the timeline of need, and review the investment resources available, we will pursue solutions to answer the need within the funding available and to the required timeline.” O
For more information, contact MT2 Editor Brian O’Shea at briano@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.mt2-kmi.com.
Mobile ATC Simulators Full-sized functionality - compact package All-in-one - Tower/Radar/PAR Shock & Vibration rated iaw MIL-STD-810G Information Assurance (IA) compliant Backup uninterrupted power exceeds 10 minutes
System of choice for the U.S. Army ATC Common Simulator Program www.adacel.com info@adacel.com
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DATA PACKETS Affordable Desktop Radio Training Real radios are expensive and difficult to obtain, need to be secured, and require ongoing maintenance. Calytrix Comm Net Radio (CRN)-Sim, with the CNR-Skins add-on, offers a solution to these training limitations and enables effective communications training to be conducted in existing training rooms or through the use of a portable tablet solution. CNR-Skins enables effective low-cost radio training without the need for expensive real radios. CNR-Skins provides a set of realistic, fully interactive, graphical radio faceplates (“skins”) to deliver a realistic operator training environment. New CNR-Skins can be developed to almost any degree of fidelity, from basic familiarization training through to deep menu functions. At a fraction of the price of a real radio, CNR-Skins is an affordable radio training solution. The simulators can be used in a number of ways: • Conduct initial radio training • Practice radio procedure across a simulated network, and record and playback for after action review • Maintain radio currency and competency without accessing the real radios • Introduce new radio equipment into service • Train basic radio fault-finding skills Calytrix worked with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to develop a suite of deployable tablet-based radio training solutions to support the introduction into service of a new radio. As part of an integrated Battlespace Communications System for the ADF’s land elements, the Army was replacing its analog radios with new digitized combat net radios. The introduction and rollout generated a number of immediate training issues, notably the high net training liability and the cost and availability of the real radios for training. The ADF’s adopted solution was based on Calytrix’s CNR-Skins deployed on a fleet on touch-screen tablet computers. The CNR Radio Desktop Training Systems addresses both basic radio procedural training and radio familiarization. The delivered package also included CNR-Live to create a blended learning environment between virtual and real radios. Peggy Gies; peggy.gies@calytrix.com
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Compiled by KMI Media Group staff
New Mobile Tablet for Training Engineering and Computer Simulations (ECS) has completed work on a mobile tablet that is designed for training, but ultimately will help save the lives of wounded soldiers during combat. The tablet, called Medical Training Command and Control (MTC2), operates a network of devices that simulate a lifelike battlefield, complete with injuries within the Army’s medical simulation training centers (MSTC). MTC2 controls and triggers explosions, smoke and flashes of light as soldiers race to administer aid to the wounded (in this case, realistic mannequins). ECS Vice President Brent Smith said, “It looks like a war zone. It smells like a war zone … and it feels like a war zone. But it’s Orlando, or any other city or post, where troops train before being deployed. This MTC2 tablet coordinates the most sophisticated technology to the Army’s medical simulation training centers. A single tap or swipe sets off a grenade or a life-threatening reaction in the medical mannequin that serves as a training simulation for today’s warfighters. Soldiers need to give lifesaving medical aid in extremely uncontrolled situations, and within the medical simulation training center, the MTC2 helps create the controlled training environment that makes that possible. It helps them respond quicker, faster, better.”
The period during which medical personnel arrive at the scene, assess the situation, initiate treatment and transport casualties is called the “Platinum 10 Minutes” because it is critical to whether a soldier survives. Within that period and through the “Golden Hour,” medical staff may not be available, so wounded soldiers rely on fellow soldiers or themselves for emergency medical aid. ECS has started developing MTC2 and its future enhancements, which will add yet another level of sophistication. MTC2 analyzes each soldier’s response and delivers back a personalized learning simulation unique to that individual. The technique relies on a psychology and learning approach called cognitive learning theory. Learners select and elaborate on what they perceive, actively shaping their own learning as it takes place. ECS was contracted to develop phase one MTC and phase two, called Medical Training Command and Control: Mannequin and Environment Control System, by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Human Resource and Engineering Directorate, Simulation and Training Technology Center. Brent Smith; brents@ecsorl.com
Helicopter Simulator and Software The CAE 3000 Series is a helicopter simulator that provides full flight and mission training scenarios for both civilian and military settings. The 3000 Series offers new levels of realism in simulated helicopter training and meets and exceeds both current and emerging regulatory requirements, including FAA D-level certification. Presagis Stage simulation development toolkit is a key component of the 3000 Series, providing the Computer Generated Forces environment that enables the development of complex mission training scenarios, as well as ground navigation functionality that simulates how people and traffic behave in crowded civilian and industrial scenarios. The 3000 series relies on Stage for a wide range of civilian and industrial helicopter training applications, including: • Emergency medical services • External load operations (under-slung) • Search-and-rescue operations (hoisting)
• L aw enforcement (police chase) • Transportation (oil rig and ship deck landing) Stage provides a flexible and integrated simulation environment to build dynamic and interactive tactical and operational real-time simulation scenarios on the simulator. And with integral support for the High-Level Architecture interoperability standard, Stage enables 3000 Series simulators to participate in joint forces or coalition training scenarios over a network connection. The CAE 3000 Series is also in use at the Rotorsim training center that recently surpassed 100,000 hours of live training. A joint venture between CAE and Finmecchanica-AgustaWestland based in Sesto Calende, Italy, Rotorsim will be adding two new 3000 Series simulators in 2015, both featuring Presagis Stage for simulation and scenario generation. Stephane Blondin; stephane.blondin@presagis.com www.MT2-kmi.com
2014 Top Simulation & Training Companies Each year the number of submissions grows and it becomes increasingly difficult to narrow down those companies that make the list. The featured companies are from around the world and have made significant impacts on the military training and simulation industries across a vast array of technologies. These companies’ products allow U.S. airmen, Marines, sailors, soldiers and Coast Guardsmen to train and rehearse for missions in theater or prepare for deployment at home station. Those that made the most significant contributions to the training community will be further recognized with achievement awards, including Best Programs, High Revenue, Innovation, and Up and Coming.
Adacel
Tom Evers tevers@adacel.com www.adacel.com Adacel develops advanced simulation and training systems for military and commercial use and has pioneered the application of speech technology to direct voice interactive control of computer-generated entities in training systems. Our science and technology product family includes a full suite of tools for basic and advanced air traffic control (ATC) training, security training systems, flight line driver simulators, automated ATC environments for flight simulator training, and tactical voice applications. Our products range from high-definition simulators to smaller, rapidly-deployable systems. We have built an international reputation for our products and services through commitment to technological leadership and customer support.
We develop unique learning solutions from instructor-led to interactive environments, including games, simulations, virtual worlds and mobile applications that engage learners and improve performance.
Aechelon Technology Inc. Aechelon Technology is a leader in realtime computer graphics applications in training, and is a supplier of commercial offthe-shelf-based, geo-specific image generators, out-the-window and correlated sensor databases, and integration services, primarily to the U.S. government and Department of Defense. With a proven program track record of over 280 high-end trainers, we are honored to serve a diverse and demanding community in tactics training, mission rehearsal and sensor simulation. Throughout our 15-year history, we have maintained an unparalleled track record in program and database deliveries for the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Special Operations Command and U.S. Coast Guard, with all excellent past performance evaluations.
AEgis Technologies Group
see our ads on pages 1&11
Adayana Government Group
Del Beilstein dbeilstein@aegistg.com www.aegistg.com Dennis Wikoff dwikoff@adayana.com www.adayana.com/government Adayana Government Group, headquartered in Falls Church, Va., is an industry leader in human capital training solutions and consulting services. Over the last 18 years, we have delivered innovative, customized and award-winning learning solutions to more than 65 federal agencies. We partner with federal organizations to solve their most pressing training challenges with end-to-end custom solutions ranging from learning strategy to learning product design and development to learning technologies.
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AEgis Technologies Group is a small business prime contractor headquartered in Huntsville, Ala., with major offices in Orlando, Albuquerque and Washington, D.C. Since our founding in 1989, we have enjoyed steady growth, with revenues increasing to $65-plus million in sales, and employ more than 325 professionals. We are an internationally-recognized leader in modeling and simulation (M&S), supporting the entire life cycle of M&S programs through our engineering services, hardware and software products, and professional training. We also provide innovative solutions in UAS training systems,
simulator upgrades, 3-D modeling and GIS. Our global client base includes aerospace, defense, automotive, biomedical, chemical, and other process industries that use M&S as an operational advantage. see our ad on page 15
Aero Simulation INC.
and enhanced readiness in rapidly-changing environments. Building on over 75 years of research and development experience and innovation, we bring expertise and insight to multiple business areas, including modeling, simulation and training. From serious games to decision support, geospatial data imaging to humansystems integration to medical modeling, we turn obstacles into opportunities to help customers achieve their missions.
AMERICAN SYSTEMS Russ Shepard r_shepard@aerosimulation.com www.aerosimulation.com Founded in 1983, Aero Simulation Inc. is a small business that is recognized for training systems excellence and customer responsiveness. Headquartered in Tampa, Fla., we specialize in the design, development, manufacture, integration, delivery and post-delivery support of aviation-related flight and maintenance training devices and simulators. We provide upgrades to existing simulators and manufacture new full-flight and part-task training devices for military and commercial aviation customers. With a demonstrated commitment to continuous quality improvement, we produce sound, innovative training and support solutions that fulfill customer training requirements effectively.
Alelo Alelo is a leader in interpersonal communication and global competence training software solutions. Delivered on mobile platforms, the Web and PCs, we utilize our patented VRoleplay technology platform to create realistic job-related environments in which learners can practice and be tested on their communication skills. Our interactive computer-animated characters are capable of robust, culturallyappropriate conversation, and our speech recognition technology is optimized for the speech of language learners. Our courses are used by thousands of military, government and general public users, and our solutions provide effective training at significantly lower cost than conventional methods.
Alion Science and Technology
Steve Kimmel skimmel@alionscience.com www.alionscience.com Alion Science and Technology delivers advanced engineering, IT and operational solutions to strengthen national security and drive business results. For customers in defense, civilian government and commercial industries, our engineered solutions support smarter decision-making
Founded in 1975, American Systems is one of the largest employee-owned companies in the United States, with approximately 1,500 employees nationwide and $324 million in revenue for 2013. Based in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Chantilly, Va., we provide systems engineering, technical services and training services to government and privatesector customers. We possess proven experience in trainer/training design and delivery; coaching; individual and organizational assessment and development; strategic planning; and cost-effective, efficient program management. We were named Contractor of the Year at the Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards in October 2007 and were named GSA Mentor of the Year in 2013.
AMSEC LLC
AMSEC is a subsidiary of Huntington Ingalls Industries. With approximately 2,000 employees in 35 locations nationwide and overseas, we are a full-service supplier to the Navy and commercial maritime industry. We provide naval architecture and marine engineering, naval ship systems assessments, maintenance engineering, waterfront maintenance support, acquisition program support, shipyard industrial engineering and C4I installation and support services. Additionally, we provide life cycle integrated logistics services, including technical manual development, provisioning documentation, spare parts management, training development and delivery, and software development. We are: “Quality People Providing Quality Service.�
Applied Research Associates Inc.
The Virtual Heroes Division of Applied Research Associates Inc. creates immersive,
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2014 Top Simulation & Training Companies high-fidelity simulations for learning environments, serious games, and virtual worlds for training and education. Our Advanced Learning Technologies leverage simulation and digital game-based learning paradigms to accelerate learning, increase user proficiency and reduce training costs. Powered by the award-winning Unreal Technology, our applications provide self-paced learning and instructor-facilitated team training via our browser-based GO Platform and mobile devices. Virtual Heroes is located in Raleigh, N.C., and in Orlando, Fla., in the Central Florida Research Park.
Aptima Inc.
Michael J. Paley paley@aptima.com www.aptima.com Aptima’s mission is to engineer tools and systems that increase human capabilities. Our scientists study how humans think and learn in today’s technology-rich networked environments, and we use that knowledge to solve problems and provide solutions in defense, homeland security, health care, aviation and cybersecurity.
The ASTA Group LLC
Asta is a woman-owned small business in Pensacola, Fla., focused on improving human and organizational performance using transformational strategies, behavioral science research and innovative technology. Our core competencies include conducting studies and analyses in training requirements analysis, simulation and technology applications for training, and training and education applied research. We have experience conducting studies to support updating training content and identifying cost-effective training technologies to modernize training systems and improve the learning experience of military personnel. We provide simulation- and technology-based training development using state-of-the-art tools to develop Web-based training and serious gaming content.
AVT Simulation AVT will provide expert, cost-effective engineering services and product solutions to our customers. We will target gaps not well supported by traditional suppliers. We will do so in a manner commensurate with our heritage and values, keeping first things first to provide for our customers, our employees and our families. www.MT2-kmi.com
B-Design3D Ltd. B-Design3D is a world expert in 3-D visual content creation for the training and simulation (T&S) industry. Our main goal is to provide visual databases and 3-D models that are highly realistic and perfectly fitted for the T&S system they are integrated in. The trainee and the quality of training are our main focuses and we invest a great amount in order to ensure our visual databases provide the trainee a realistic and immersive experience. As experts in 3-D content creation, we master the main methods, tool formats and technologies the T&S industry uses for 3-D environments presentation. We are awardwinning and renowned providers of 3-D visual content for systems using the tools and software of VT MÄK, Presagis, VBS2, OpenSceneGraph and its derivatives, Unity, Unigine and more.
BITES Defence and Aerospace Technologies BITES is a technology-based innovative company of more than 80 professionals, located at Metu Technopolis Ankara/Turkey. Our branch office in Istanbul Technopark has provided software solutions to the defense sector for about 10 years. Our wide range of products include next-generation computerbased training systems and synthetic environments, 3-D virtual maintenance trainers, low-cost synthetic training aids, training and logistic management information systems, mission-planning and after action review-debriefing software solutions, and serious game-engine-driven image generators for all kinds of virtual training, including augmented reality-based applications. We integrate all converging technologies to the maximum extent in training, software development and simulation technologies.
Barco
The Boeing Company
Barco, a global technology company, designs and develops visualization solutions for a variety of markets, including defense, security, and training and simulation. We offer sophisticated, user-friendly products that optimize business efficiency and minimize downtime. Our innovative hardware and software solutions integrate all aspects of the imaging chain from image acquisition and processing to image display and management. We have sales and marketing, customer support, research and development, and manufacturing facilities in Europe, America and Asia-Pacific. We are active in more than 90 countries with about 3,700 employees worldwide. We posted sales of $1.5 billion in 2013.
Boeing Training Systems and Government Services provides a full range of training solutions, infrastructure and government services, and logistics information management systems backed by years of experience, in-depth customer knowledge and a global network.
We incorporate advanced learning concepts into training by blending the science of learning with traditional training approaches: intelligent tutoring integrated with learning management systems, adaptive training, data analytics and collaborative tools for authoring training scenarios.
Buffalo Computer Graphics
Scott Pugh siminfo@bcgeng.com www.bcgsim.com Buffalo Computer Graphics has four primary business areas—maritime training solutions, disaster management systems, mass notification systems, and custom hardware and software engineering. Each comprises a portion of our business. As a premier provider of incident management software and maritime training solutions, we have earned a reputation for providing superior products and excellent service to both our privatesector and government customers. Our core belief in developing relationships,
Simulation Development & training systems
Bihrle Applied Research Inc.
VAMPIRE ® Brian Wachter bwachter@bihrle.com www.bihrle.com Bihrle Applied Research Inc. is an aeronautics R&D company specializing in the development of flight-representative software math models for military and commercial fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft, including full-envelope modeling, malfunction modeling and upset/recovery modeling. We successfully incorporate such flight models into a wide range of customer applications, including engineering workstations, full flight simulators, hardware-in-the-loop simulators and multi-vehicle networked simulations. We also specialize in the acquisition of aerodynamics data, using innovative wind tunnel test techniques to accurately describe air vehicle behaviors in the most challenging flight regimes, such as stall, post-stall, spin, departure and recovery.
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2014 Top Simulation & Training Companies not just selling products, sets us apart from our competitors. Our mission statement is: “To engineer superior products and offer outstanding service tailored to our customer’s needs.”
CACI
That’s why at Calienté Defense we provide an array of thermal target solutions tailored to meet your requirements and your budget. We understand the neverending battle of balancing costs with quality training in the face of decreasing budgets and more work with less people. No matter the climate or budget, we have the thermal target solution for your range.
Calytrix Technologies Mike Flanagan training@caci.com www.caci.com/training CACI provides information solutions and services in support of national security missions and government transformation for intelligence, defense and federal civilian customers. For more than 50 years, business leaders and agency officials have reached out to us for consulting services and training support. We have delivered thousands of training solutions for various federal agencies. We currently support all services within DoD and many federal civilian agencies, including VA, DHS, TSA, HHS and DoT. The primary focus of our training is to improve mission-critical performance. Our portfolio includes a robust suite of enterprise training, simulation, and education solutions and services.
CAE CAE is a global leader in providing comprehensive training solutions based on world-leading simulation technology and integrated training services. We employ 8,000 people at more than 160 sites and training locations in 35 countries. We offer defense and civil aviation customers a complete range of highly innovative products, services and training center solutions designed to help them meet their mission-critical needs for safety, efficiency and readiness. We provide similar solutions to customers in health care and mining. We have the broadest training services network in the world and train more than 120,000 civil and military crewmembers annually.
Carney Inc. Peggy Gies peggy.gies@calytrix.com www.calytrix.com Calytrix Technologies is a training and simulation company specializing in developing and delivering integrated training solutions. Uniquely combining live, virtual and constructive simulation environments with subject matter expertise, we enhance operational readiness and training outcomes in both defense and civil domains.
Camber Corporation Camber is a premier professional services company that provides systems engineering, intelligence, cybersecurity, information technology, unmanned systems, modeling and simulation, training, and threat mitigation. Founded in 1990 and headquartered in Huntsville, Ala., we have 2,500 experts in over 100 sites around the globe delivering ISO 9001:2008, ISO/IEC 20000 and CMMIcertified high-value solutions. Our mission is to provide innovative, best-value professional services and solutions that exceed customer expectations. Our values: a commitment to excellence, maintaining and rewarding the highest-quality workforce, and the highest standard of business ethics. Our vision for the future is to continue to grow a highly-successful, universally-respected, entrepreneurially-oriented company.
Capstone Corporation
CalientÉ LLC Dave Magnone dmagnone@capstonecorp.com www.capstonecorp.com John Farfaglia john@calientellc.com www.calientellc.com/targets From the extreme cold at Fort Wainwright, Alaska to the high winds at Fort Carson, Colo. to the intense summer heat at Camp Blanding, Fla., every live fire range has its own unique set of challenges and circumstances. One size does not fit all.
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blended training solutions where performance results are critical. Our total solutions include hardware, software and courseware integrating proven and emerging technologies. We provide products and services within the full spectrum of training system requirements. This includes training devices, SCORM-conformant Web-based training, instructor-led training, Advanced Electronic Classrooms, and PC-based simulations for technical skills and soft skills training. We are an ISO 9001:2008 certified woman-owned small business headquartered in Orlando, Fla.
Capstone creates interoperable, multi-architecture technology solutions and services that enhance training system performance and improve our warfighters’ ability to excel in live situations.
Carley Corporation Carley’s custom-designed training solutions improve human performance. We specialize in the analysis, design, development and implementation of large-scale, complex
Carney’s mission is to improve the performance of our clients by accelerating performance and knowledge to ultimately produce the outcomes our clients require. With an exclusive focus on the federal government, we are passionate about providing civilian and military personnel with a performance edge that’s second to none. Applying our deep understanding of the art and science of learning, we create powerful solutions that are enabled by technology, not driven by it. Process and results orientation, engaging graphics and animation, solid instructional design, and innovative use of technology have been the hallmarks of our learning solutions since 1994. More importantly, we’ve helped our clients assess, capture, share and maximize performance for exceptional results.
CHI Systems Inc. CHI Systems has been at the forefront of improving human performance in complex systems for more than 25 years by offering innovative methodologies and advanced training technology solutions. We specialize in advanced technology training and simulation systems, cognitive modeling, user interface design, command decision support, visualization and predictive analytics. Our team members are experts in training analysis and instructional design, developing game- and simulation-based training solutions using augmented reality, immersive learning, intelligent tutors, synthetic agents and haptic-based approaches, complete with assessment and performance feedback. These capabilities are applied to medical, cultural awareness, communication and threat recognition skills training.
Christie
Keith Klentz keith.klentz@christiedigital.com www.christiedigital.com/simtop100 Christie’s integrated simulation solutions offer exceptional products, industry know-how and vast experience in one complete visual display solution. Our visual display technology is used in highperformance simulation environments all
over the world. Our world-class engineers, project managers and integration experts work together to deliver high-performance visual display solutions for simulation and training with accurate, true-to-life simulation environments.
CM Labs Simulations Inc.
CM Labs Simulations’ Vortex technology provides simulation capabilities that set the industry standard for interactive 3-D dynamics and simulated equipment behavior. Through simulation, we help augment skills and reduce the risks of complex operations. Every day, soldiers, operators, engineers and drivers are trained on our solutions at over 1,000 simulation installations worldwide. Our customers include Cassidian, CAE, Honda, Elbit Systems, L-3, Lockheed Martin, NASA, RUAG and over 100 other leading organizations.
Cole Engineering Services Inc.
Michael Chandler michael.chandler@coleengineering.com www.coleengineering.com Cole Engineering Services Inc., an award-winning employee-owned small business founded in 2004, is recognized as a premier small business provider of state-of-the-art modeling and simulations-based training solutions to the federal government. We possess exceptional technical expertise in software development, systems engineering and modeling, serious gaming, and live, virtual and constructive architectural and engineering services. Our executive leadership team has over 120 years of combined military and DoD industry contracting experience. Our technical staff has over 300 years of successful modeling and simulation experience. We have operational processes in place to ensure program management success and quality assurance, promoting low risk and program milestone achievement.
Concurrent Real-Time
Bill Kahn bill.kahn@ccur.com www.real-time.ccur.com Concurrent Real-Time is one of the industry’s foremost providers of
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2014 Top Simulation & Training Companies high-performance real-time computer systems, solutions and software. We have delivered multi-core solutions for the most demanding mission-critical applications for over four decades, and have deployed and supported thousands of real-time Linux-based solutions throughout the world. Our solutions focus on HIL and MIL simulation, data acquisition and industrial systems applications. Our products include the RedHawk Linux real-time operating system with guaranteed response; NightStar tools for advanced Linux debugging and analysis; and application-specific tools for simulation and testing. Industries served include aerospace, defense, automotive, energy, transportation, medical and financial. see our ad on page 17
Creative Technologies Inc.
James H. Korris info@cretecinc.com www.cretecinc.com Creative Technologies Inc. is a unique small business, developing and producing innovative immersive technologies for training and marketing. Our novel simulation capabilities include application development and systems integration, along with staffing and support at location-based institutional, desktop, transportable and mobile levels. Our communications products make complex systems, their features and their operation intuitive and accessible to a wide range of audiences. Our capabilities include interactive applications and
creative visualization from concept to delivery. Our government and commercial clients benefit from groundbreaking, immersive cognitive simulation products and services, such as augmented virtuality that integrates live and virtual training.
Crew Training International
information technology and services for intelligent travel solutions. Cubic Defense Systems is a leading provider of realistic combat training systems and secure communications. Mission Support Services is a leading provider of training, operations, maintenance, technical and other support services for the United States and allied nations.
D-BOX Technologies Inc.
For over 20 years, CTI has developed advanced training solutions for DoD, government and corporate training programs. Using our expertise in identifying needs in high-stress, time-critical environments, we develop custom training solutions using cutting-edge learning to help your teams accelerate their performance. Our primary assets are highly-skilled training professionals and an experienced, capable management staff. The variety of training programs and courseware development solutions we provide are both technically advanced and complemented with graphic features that will take your team’s learning to another level.
D-Box empowers trainers to stimulate operators’ muscle memory, creating reflexes and increasing mission-critical readiness on the field. Allowing virtual training teams to simply integrate simulators with an efficient hardware and software motion solution, we have made the defense training and simulation community a strategic priority.
most firms, we use deep behavioral and physiological diagnostics to design adaptive, engaging solutions that optimize performance and profoundly enhance the user experience. Our vision is to provide adaptive, intuitive and engaging solutions derived through deep diagnostics for human performance optimization. We are focused on our mission to be leaders in human-systems integration by engineering human-centric solutions that empower, engage, enhance and enable a broad spectrum of users from novice to master to maximize their productivity and effectiveness.
Diamond Visionics
Defense Logistics Support Inc. Defense Logistics Support Inc. specializes in specific training products for the warfighter. We are recognized as being a leader in innovative products for the warfighter.
Design Interactive Inc.
Cubic Corporation
Bill Rebarick bill.rebarick@cubic.com www.cubic.com
Luke DeVore luke.devore@designinteractive.net www.designinteractive.net
Cubic Corporation is the parent company of three major business segments. Cubic Transportation Systems is a leading integrator of payment and
Design Interactive Inc. is a human factors engineering firm that helps clients overcome their most pressing human performance challenges. Unlike
Since its inception in 1996, Diamond Visionics has been at the forefront of the visualization industry, setting a new standard in the United States and across the world. We lead the field not only with our content-rich, user-friendly solutions, but also by providing the lowest cost of ownership in the market. Our cutting-edge image-generation software and visualization tools are in constant demand at the highest levels of training and simulation, mission rehearsal, and homeland security. Our clients include the U.S. Navy, the Canadian Department of National Defence, the aerospace industry, and a variety of Fortune 500 corporate clients and commercial airlines around the globe.
Max rendering. fouR channels. one box.
the power of simulation
With ImaGen™ Powered by GenesisIG™, you now get a powerful 4-channel image generation solution in a single 4U enclosure. Concurrent Real-Time’s high-performance RedHawk™ Linux® COTS platform and Diamond Visionics’ GenesisIG visualization software make your man-in-the-loop simulation and training apps fly on raw GIS source data. for details or to see other real-time Linux solutions, go to real-time.ccur.com today.
©2014 Concurrent Computer Corporation. Concurrent, its logo and products are trademarks or registered trademarks of Concurrent. Diamond Visionics, its logo and products are trademarks of Diamond Visionics. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
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2014 Top Simulation & Training Companies Digimation
David Avgikos davida@digimation.com www.digimation.com Now in its 22nd year, Digimation is a pioneer in the development of 3-D graphics and related technology used in training and simulation. We develop turnkey training and simulation solutions for PCs and tablet computers and partner with leading defense contractors to improve the effectiveness and realism of existing trainers. Our maintenance trainers are used to teach the installation, operation and maintenance of a variety of mechanical equipment. Our high-fidelity small arms trainers teach function, repair and marksmanship skills. The company’s new Armersive small arms trainer is a full-featured 3-D marksmanship trainer that fits in the palm of your hand.
Digital Projection Digital Projection is a manufacturer and distributor of professional projector products and launched the first digital light processing (DLP)-based projector into the market in the mid-1990s. Today, we provide a wide variety of DLP-based projectors for professional markets. Niche projector products like simulation-specific LED+IR NVG stimulating capable projectors to 3-D/stereoscopic 120 Hz projectors to more normal boardroom products to super bright large venue projectors encompass our innovative product line. Our innovation continues with the world’s first three-chip laser-hybrid projector and the world’s first three-chip LED projector.
Dignitas Technologies Dignitas Technologies LLC, an economically disadvantaged woman-owned small business founded in 2004, provides system and software engineering services for the modeling and simulation community with a mission to shape the future of simulation with innovative technology. We lead several small business innovation research projects and support a wide range of large and small programs spanning the live, virtual and constructive domains across a diverse customer set. We have extensive experience and successful past performance in the development of key simulation systems and provide expertise in management, research, engineering and programming.
Discovery Machine Inc. Discovery Machine has developed a patented behavior-modeling approach to capturing and deploying subject matter expertise. We have leveraged proven successes with DARPA, ONR, NAVAIR and
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more to develop a suite of AI products for simulated training environments such as VBS3, Unity, the U.S. Navy’s JSAF, and most recently Kongsberg’s Proteus. Custom simulation solutions have been developed. We were named the 2013 Phillips/Plankenhorn Small Business of the year and were a finalist for the Small Business Impact Award at PA’s 2014 Governor’s ImPAct Awards. International expansion efforts are underway after successful completion of projects in the United Kingdom and Norway. Additionally, five international resellers have been signed, increasing our global reach.
DiSTI Corporation
the world. Our company, which includes Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries, operates in the areas of aerospace, land and naval systems, command, control, communications, computers, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance, unmanned aircraft systems, advanced electro-optics, electro-optic space systems, EW suites, signal intelligence systems, data links and communications systems and radios. We also focus on upgrading existing military platforms, developing new technologies for defense, homeland security and commercial aviation applications and providing a range of support services, including training and simulation systems.
Engility Corporation
Chris Giordano cgiordano@disti.com www.disti.com Founded in 1994, the Disti Corporation is a leading provider of graphical user interface software and customized 3-D maintenance training solutions. We combine advanced graphical user interface technology with strategic innovation to bring customers in any industry the highfidelity and high-performance graphical computing solutions they demand. From safety-critical embedded applications to the rapid prototyping of cockpits and dashboard instruments, we offer a streamlined approach to any visual interaction application. see our ad on page 19
DynCorp International DynCorp International is a leading global services provider offering unique, tailored solutions for an ever-changing world. Built on more than six decades of experience as a trusted partner to commercial, government and military customers, we provide sophisticated aviation, logistics, training, intelligence and operational solutions wherever we are needed. We are headquartered in McLean, Va.
Elbit Systems Ltd.
Engility was formed in 2012, building on a legacy of over 40 years of government services success. Our values are as follows: •
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Customer-focused. Anticipate and meet the needs of our customers with our expertise, efficiency and relentless focus on exceeding their expectations. Differentiated. Foster a culture of continuous improvement and a spirit of innovation in our efforts to be the best government services company for our customers, employees and investors. Servant leadership. Every position in the company contributes to employee success. In turn, our employees ensure our customers’ success. Earned trust. Earn our customers’ trust by delivering excellent performance in an ethical way.
Engineering & Computer Simulations Engineering & Computer Simulations Inc. is an award-winning software development and solutions company located in Orlando, Fla. Our core mission is to provide advanced learning technology solutions to clients within the commercial and government sector. Our technology portfolio of crisis response solutions includes: crisis response simulations, safety- and competency-based technology, immersive virtual worlds, serious gaming, performance assessment, staff training, and mobile innovations. We offer efficiencies in operations, education, training and collaboration.
ETC Simulation Yoav Ben Shem yoav.benshem@elbitsystems.com www.elbitsystems.com/elbitmain/ trainingandsimulation Elbit Systems Ltd. is an international defense electronics company engaged in a wide range of programs throughout
ETC Simulation’s mission is to be the technologically innovative leader in simulation training for all agencies involved in emergency management and disaster response. We aim to continuously develop and evolve the state of technology of the products we produce to the benefit of not only our customers, but the individuals they protect. Built upon 40 years of research and development, we strive to
produce the most effective simulation training systems for leading organizations worldwide for developing and strengthening emergency response teams.
FlightSafety International At FlightSafety, a leading aviation training company, we work diligently to maintain and enhance our reputation for customer service and the industry’s best, most comprehensive safety training. We deliver more than 1 million hours of professional instruction each year, training more pilots than any other company and always to the highest standards. Thousands of pilots train to proficiency with us at 40 learning centers and training locations in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Japan, South Africa, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
GameSim Inc. Providing software products and services, GameSim is a small business with projects ranging from the video game, modeling and simulation, and geographic information systems industries. From simulators that train soldiers to games that entertain millions, we bring the best-ofbreed technology to deliver on time.
HAVELSAN
Mehmet Bilge Ye il mbyesil@havelsan.com.tr www.havelsan.com.tr Havelsan is a pioneer of defense, simulation and training, information technology, and command and control systems. see our ad on page 7
Heartwood Studios Inc. Heartwood empowers companies and organizations to accelerate user learning, reduce operation and maintenance training costs and decrease the need for expensive live training using 3-D interactive training technology and applications. Our customers build, repair, operate and maintain their products by deploying 3-D interactive training solutions anytime, anywhere, on any platform: Web, PC, mobile and tablets. This fully-interactive, rich learning content provides a modern-day alternative to training manuals, videos and hands-on experience that enables the user to ‘learn by doing.’ As a market leader, we support a strong base of customers and partners, including Apple, L-3, Oshkosh, Raytheon, Sikorsky and the U.S. Navy. www.MT2-kmi.com
2014 Top Simulation & Training Companies Improvised Electronics Our mission is to support military and law enforcement agencies by providing holistic solutions for battlefield effects, realistic functional training aids, and live tactical training range instrumentation. Our core capabilities include range instrumentation, propane/oxygen blast and automatic weapon simulation, IED electronics, C-IED training aids, live training classes, custom engineering for military and defense agencies, long-range mesh networking communications, and integration with legacy systems.
Inert Products LLC
Donald E. Buza donbuza@inertproducts.com www.inertproducts.com Inert Products will design and produce high-quality, durable, and realistic training aids to meet the training objectives of the men and women who defend and protect us on a daily basis while keeping pace with the evolving tactics employed by our adversaries in an effort to save lives. see our ad on page 33
Inter-Coastal Electronics Inc. Inter-Coastal Electronics is an advanced engineering company that designs and manufactures state-of-the-art live training and test instrumentation systems for worldwide military and civilian customers. We develop, manufacture, field and maintain high-quality instrumentation, test equipment, training devices and services that link to other live and virtual simulations. Our products collect, process, transmit and record live fire mission data using network communications, wireless telemetry, geometric pairing and area weapons effects assessments at individual, crew and collective training levels, enabling robust after action review capabilities and take-home packages. Fielded systems support aviation, unmanned aircraft systems, field and air defense artillery, and ground missiles.
JANUS Research Group Inc. Janus provides innovative, efficient and cost-effective services, products and software solutions. We significantly improve the efficiency and performance of our client’s organizations by providing superior technological enhancements and enhanced business processes. We are a forward-thinking company with expertise in providing specialized acquisition, program management, and combat development systems engineering and technical
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assistance. We are an industry leader in the creation and rapid development of innovative, 3-D virtual reality training and visualization software environments. We design and produce virtual environments and visualizations to include: interactive multimedia instruction, simulations, collaborative multi-player serious games, mobile applications and cinematics.
JRL Ventures JRL Ventures Inc. and Marine Concepts is the premier business and professional resource providing design, engineering, CNC robotic routing, plug-and-mold building, first article and limited run production parts to the composite tooling industry. Our mission is to continue to provide the highest level of quality and service to our customers while we continue to branch out into the composite tooling industry through innovation and advancements. Our team consists of the most talented and professional performers in the industry and is capable of accepting challenges and achieving growth while maintaining the highest of standards. Our team is committed to integrity, customer satisfaction and being the most technologically advanced in our industry.
interactive courseware. We have delivered military, civil and commercial training systems to customer locations throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Pacific Rim. see our ad on page 21
Laser Ammo USA Inc. Laser Ammo USA Inc., owned and operated by former Israeli and U.S. military combat veterans, is dedicated to providing serious training for serious professionals. Our products, including the SureStrike dry fire training system, are used by military, law enforcement agencies, National Rifle Association instructors and firearm owners worldwide. Our family of products allows operators to utilize their specific weapons platform, including air soft or recoil conversion systems, for dry fire training. From basic reactive target systems through high-end simulators, to fully customizable solutions for force-on-force training, we provide serious training for serious professionals.
Laser Shot Inc. Headquartered in Stafford, Texas, with additional offices in Sugar Land, Texas, Orlando, Fla., and Grantham, United Kingdom,
Laser Shot designs, fabricates, and manufactures laser-based and live-fire firearms training solutions for militaries, law enforcement agencies and other first responders worldwide. Our exclusive ability to provide in-house fabrication and manufacturing of training systems, simulators, weapons and facilities, combined with patented Thermal Shot technology, enables comprehensive custom training solutions to be created supporting each customer’s unique training needs.
Lockheed Martin Lockheed Martin is a leading provider of innovative solutions for mission readiness and sustainment. Our skilled employees provide fast-turn, high-quality technical services for customers in more than 90 locations worldwide. Our focus is helping customers achieve mission success anytime and anywhere by offering a full range of training, engineering, integration and test support. From teaching aircrews to fly the world’s most advanced fighter jet to developing the live, virtual, constructive environment of tomorrow, we transform technology into affordable mission readiness solutions.
Kratos Kratos Defense is a total training solutions provider specializing in simulation systems, training products and training programs. We develop and deliver the full spectrum of training support, from comprehensive front-end analysis to cutting-edge interactive multimedia instruction and fullfidelity training devices. Instructional systems design solutions employs the most advanced interactive, Web, gaming, social media and mobile technologies empowering the warfighter to exceed performance objectives. We specialize in state-of-the-art simulators supporting aviation and ground vehicles that provide advanced training environments for maintainers, operators and aircrews across all services.
L-3 Link Simulation & Training
SCALABLE MAINTENANCE TRAINING Customized Solutions to Meet Your Needs
Desktop
Frank Casano frank.casano@l-3com.com www.link.com L-3 Link Simulation & Training is a world leader in providing intelligent total training solutions for operators and maintainers across a wide range of military, civil and commercial platforms. Our innovative solutions provide a full spectrum of state-of-the-art training technologies, including high-fidelity immersive simulations, as well as distributed academic and
Web Mobile
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2014 Top Simulation & Training Companies Logistic Services International Inc.
Logistic Services International Inc. provides courseware development, technical data support, part task trainers, desktop simulations, gaming solutions and instructor services for the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and the defense industry. We are also a principal subcontractor to defense original equipment manufacturers for numerous military training programs. We have provided continuous military training services to U.S. and foreign military customers for 34 years, with more than 20 years’ experience developing computer-based training, including SCORM and Experience API conformant Interactive Courseware. We are a customer-focused organization with 450-plus employees directly supporting training product development.
Meggitt Training Systems
Larry Raines mgtts-militarysales@meggitt.com www.meggitttrainingsystems.com Meggitt Training Systems, makers of FATS and Caswell technologies and a division of Meggitt PLC, is a leading supplier of integrated live-fire and virtual weapons training systems and electronic scoring systems. Over 13,000 of our livefire ranges and 5,100 virtual systems are fielded internationally, providing judgmental, situational awareness, collective and marksmanship training to the armed forces, law enforcement and security organizations. We employ nearly 400 people at our headquarters in Atlanta and at facilities in Orlando, Canada, the Netherlands, UAE, Australia and Singapore. With facilities around the world, we are able to provide global sales and support to the U.S. and allied forces. see our ad on inside front cover
MetaVR
featuring high-speed visualization of 3-D content and rapid creation of networked virtual worlds using real-world data. We provide geospecific real-time visual simulation with the fidelity of game-quality graphics. Our software products enable users to build high-fidelity virtual worlds with their terrain generation and scenario creation tools and render, at 60 Hz frame rates, the resulting virtual worlds with their real-time 3-D visualization application Virtual Reality Scene Generator. Our systems are used for simulation training applications. see our ad on page 3
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Pinnacle Solutions Inc.
NCI Inc. NCI is a leading provider of enterprise solutions and services to U.S. defense, intelligence, health care and civilian government agencies. We have the expertise and proven track record to solve customers’ most important and complex mission challenges through technology and innovation. Our team of highly skilled professionals focuses on delivering cost-effective solutions and services in the areas of modeling, simulation and training; cybersecurity and information assurance; engineering and logistics support; enterprise information management and advanced analytics; cloud computing and IT infrastructure optimization; health IT and medical support; IT service management; and software and systems development/integration.
NGRAIN
Pinnacle Solutions Inc. is a servicedisabled veteran-owned small business providing training device development, engineering and training services, and logistics support. We have been appraised by the Software Engineering Institute as capability maturity model integration Level 3 for software development, integration and testing and registered as ISO 9001:2008. We are a trusted provider of training products, simulator upgrades and modifications, flight instructors, simulator operators and maintainers, and technical publications. Our appeal to our customers is that we are process-oriented (low risk), missionfocused (we understand what they are trying to accomplish), innovative (we bring new ideas to the table) and reliable (we do what we say we are going to do).
Pocket Nurse Keith Pollock kpollock@us.ngrain.com www.ngrain.com Ngrain’s 3-D-augmented and virtual reality technologies power the missioncritical applications in the enterprise. Our organizations can: • •
•
W. Garth Smith sales@metavr.com www.metavr.com
tracking solutions are fast, precise, portable and easy to use, with lowest total ownership cost. For 20 years, we have been widely used in entertainment, life sciences and engineering applications, and are especially valuable in virtual reality, training and simulation applications. Our clients include UC Berkeley, Boeing, Brainzoo, Cambridge, Cardiff, Disney, Eden Games, Harmonix, EPFL, FBI, Honda Research (Think Asimo Robot), Google, Willow Garage, Lockheed Martin, NASA and Sandia National Labs, as well as the U.S. Air Force, Army and Navy.
Empower specialists in the field with the right information at the right time. Maximize operational uptime by expediting visual inspection, damage assessment, maintenance and repair operations. Eliminate costly mistakes with justin-time guidance, visual feedback and support.
Only we optimize the performance of people, machines and the interactions between them through 3-D visualization of the world’s data.
PhaseSpace Inc. PhaseSpace develops and delivers industry-leading motion capture, motion tracking, and vision processing solutions. Our motion
Pocket Nurse Enterprises Inc. is a Pennsylvania-based, nurse-owned and operated company providing medical supplies and equipment for health care education and simulation worldwide. Founded in 1992, we supply products based on the needs of our health care educator customers. We carry over 8,500 products, including Pocket Nurse brand products, Demo Dose, simulated medication, SimEMR interactive Web-based simulated patient charts, and our custom student health tote bags.
ProActive Technologies LLC ProActive Technologies provides stateof-the-art hardware and software design engineering and logistical and management support services to the simulation and training marketplaces for government and private industry. Our driving principles of quality, on-time delivery and service are achieved as a direct result of our employees’ dedication to fulfilling our customers’ goals. Integrity and credibility are our foundations. We stand behind our word and our work. This philosophy is the basis for our exceptional reputation with our customers, suppliers and competitors.
Q4 Services LLC Headquartered in Orlando, Fla., Q4 Services is an independent women-owned small business that has established itself as a market-leading supplier of innovative and unique visual display systems to the military and commercial simulation and training industry.
Raydon Corporation
Cory McAndrew cmcandrew@raydon.com www.raydon.com Raydon is an unconventional player in the simulation training arena. Our designs are grounded in economical platforms, incorporate a range of hardware delivery systems, and support integrated operation and rich training content. Our approach is to provide great training solutions that solve your problem and fit your budget. We strive to bring affordable simulation training solutions to global audiences and have developed a business model that makes advanced training available to you through a full service rental or sales contract. see our ad on page 23
Riptide Software
Anthony Vergopia anthony.vergopia@riptidesoftware.com www.riptidesoftware.com Riptide is a proud supporter of our armed forces and has a long history of partnering with the government to provide the military state-of-the-art training and education solutions. Over the past 15 years, our advanced training systems have helped increase efficiency, improve results, and save time and money for the simulation, training and instrumentation community. Our proven program execution credentials include over $130 million in executed military contracts with over 160 successful deployments worldwide. This makes us one of the largest and most successful small businesses in the Orlando community. Our team has grown each year by maintaining a strong customer-focused philosophy, knowing that our technology solutions help train critical warfighting skills.
Rockwell Collins Rockwell Collins is a pioneer in the development and deployment of innovative communication and aviation electronic solutions for www.MT2-kmi.com
IMPROVING MISSION READINESS. IT’S OUR SOLE OBJECTIVE.
Source: Swiss Federal Office of Topography
At L-3 Link, We’re Delivering the New Standard for Virtual Simulation Realism. HD World ® is a high-fidelity virtual training environment that immerses warfighters in real-world, dynamically interactive training scenarios. In providing unparalleled realism, HD World combines highresolution geo-specific databases and multi-spectral, physics-based processing technologies with stateof-the-art image generation and display systems. Our multi-spectral training environment provides a fully correlated and physically accurate suite of sensor simulations – including all the operational modes of EO/IR, radar and sonar systems – to support manned or unmanned training. To see how L-3 Link is redefining training capabilities, go to www.link.com.
Link Simulation & Training
L-3com.com
2014 Top Simulation & Training Companies both commercial and government applications. Our expertise in flight deck avionics, cabin electronics, mission communications, simulation and training, and information management services is delivered by a global workforce and a service and support network that crosses more than 150 countries.
SAAB Defense and Security USA LLC
Steve Parrish steve.parrish@saabusa.com www.saabgroup.com/en/land/ training_and_simulation Saab Defense and Security is a large U.S. business with over 30 years of experience in the production and support of simulators, instrumentation and range equipment all over the world and a robust presence in U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Energy. We deliver live, virtual and constructive training programs with the high-fidelity realism and technology infrastructure required in training today’s warfighter. Our Orlando facility holds a secret clearance, as do many of our employees. We have the staff, equipment and facilities to analyze any requirement, design it, fabricate it and integrate, deliver, install and test the products our customers need.
SAIC
Josh Jackson james.j.jackson@saic.com www.saic.com SAIC is a leading technology integrator providing full life cycle services and solutions in the technical, engineering and enterprise information technology markets. We serve customers in the U.S. federal government, as well as state/local and commercial markets, specializing in providing a broad range of higher-end, differentiated technical capabilities. We deliver training and simulation solutions that increase operational effectiveness, reduce operating costs, and facilitate speed. We provide tailored training solutions for individuals, groups and large complex organizations. We provide insight into some of the world’s most complex and difficult problems through modeling and simulation. see our ad on Back cover
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SCALABLE Network Technologies
Christine Van Slyke cvanslyke@scalable-networks.com http://web.scalable-networks.com Scalable Network Technologies has developed a family of software products for engineers, analysts and operators of mission- and business-critical environments to help ensure networks, networked systems and distributed applications work effectively under all normal and emergency operating scenarios. Our solutions integrate software virtual networks with physical hardware and applications, allowing users to rapidly test a wide range of highly realistic scenarios for better operational planning, more effective training and enhanced communications effectiveness without the expense of building out physical infrastructure. We have created a labbased risk reduction approach that provides a repeatable, verifiable and highly cost-effective solution.
Serco Inc.
Janet Cichelli Spruill janet.spruill@serco-na.com www.serco-na.com Serco Inc. provides professional, technology and management services focused primarily on the U.S. federal government, including every branch of the military, key civilian agencies and the intelligence community. Services include consulting, engineering, information technology, human capital management, learning and knowledge management, military personnel and defense readiness services, business process outsourcing, logistics and engineering, and transportation support. Headquartered in Reston, Va., we have approximately 10,000 employees in 100-plus locations throughout 45 states, five Canadian provinces and 14 countries. We are ranked in the Top 35 of the largest federal prime contractors by Washington Technology and are ISO 9001:2008 certified with CMMI level 3 capabilities.
Simbionix Simbionix is a world-leading provider of a full spectrum of innovative training and education solutions and simulators for medical professionals and the health care industry. We combine innovative research and development, cutting-edge technology, and strong clinical relationships to promote adoption of best medical practices, advance clinical performance and optimize procedural outcomes.
All products are developed in collaboration with global medical experts who play an active role in simulation design, content definition, and product testing and validation. Cooperation with leading professional societies (including SAGES, EAES and AABIP), credentialing boards and academic institutions around the world are all part of establishing simulation-based curricula and meeting certification requirements.
SIMETRI Simetri was founded in 2009 to conduct research and product development in medical training technologies. We focus on modeling and simulation products and services that enhance medical education and training effectiveness and emphasize the advancement of human-centered technology. Our core competencies include: • • • •
Pioneering anatomical models through material science research and prototyping Engineering human-centric systems Maximizing investments and readiness through training effectiveness analysis Bringing innovative products and services to market through effective processes and project management
We deliver solid and innovative solutions by partnering with customers and employing a design and development process tailored to every application and requirement.
SimiGon
SimiGon is a global provider of advanced training and simulation technologies and solutions. Our technology platform, SIMbox, has been adopted by multiple defense and aerospace players, training providers and government agencies. SIMbox is an advanced, scalable, PCbased distributed simulation and training platform found in the world’s largest training programs. Providing advanced live, virtual and constructive training capabilities, SIMbox is a fully integrated enterprise training system including high-fidelity 3-D simulation, learning management, resource management, intelligent tutoring, automated feedback reports and robust simulation and courseware development tools.
SIMmersion SIMmersion is a spinout of Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory based in Columbia, Md. Founded in 2002, we have contracted directly with government sponsors, and have been awarded contracts with the FBI, the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint
Forces Command, the intelligence community, and various institutes at the National Institutes of Health. Our history also includes a number of rewarding collaborations with major defense contractors and other clients, both in the government and the private sector. We train communication skills quickly and effectively by combining the world’s most realistic simulated experiences with highly interactive training content and extensive user feedback.
Simthetiq Inc.
Gareth Jones sales@simthetiq.com www.simthetiq.com As a developer of 3-D solutions for simulation, research and serious gaming, Simthetiq develops custom 3-D visual content and applications to produce some of the most immersive training solutions in the industry. Founded in 2005, we are recognized in the modeling, simulation and training industry for our dedication to providing high-quality, cost-effective and agile products and services.
Skillsoft Skillsoft is a pioneer in the field of learning with a long history of innovation. We provide cloud-based learning solutions for customers worldwide, ranging from global enterprises and government to education. Our customer support teams draw on a wealth of in-house experience and a comprehensive learning e-library to develop off-theshelf and custom learning programs tailored to cost-effectively meet customer needs. Our courses, books and videos have been developed by industry-leading learning experts to maximize business skills, performance and talent development. Our simulation and training solutions have benefited organizations across the board in military involvement through the implementation of custom courses to suit each branch’s needs.
Sonalysts Inc.
Robert Kurzawa kurzawa@sonalysts.com www.sonalysts.com Sonalysts meets the challenges of the future with today’s innovation. We have the unique capability to blend our multidisciplinary capabilities in science, engineering, creativity and design to produce state-of-the-art modeling, simulation and training (MST) solutions. For four decades, we have consistently provided customers the superior value of one-stop-shop solutions to difficult challenges that combine www.MT2-kmi.com
2014 Top Simulation & Training Companies
We don’t send you to combat,
WE BRING THE combat TO YOU
RENT ONLY WHAT YOU NEED, WHERE YOU NEED IT AND FOR ONLY SO LONG AS YOU NEED IT. STATE OF THE ART, NOW…AND AFFORDABLE, TOO. The rental of virtual training enablers to support current training requirements provides state-of-the-art technology that is immediately Ready to Train and at a cost per soldier training hour far lower than that of traditionally acquired enablers (Military avoids the typical Total Costs of Ownership). COMMANDERS DESERVE DIRECT INPUT TO THE TRAINING ENABLERS THEY NEED…and they should not have to wait years for their arrival, if ever. For the first time, Commanders can demand Training Enablers that directly match their training objectives and are scalable to available time to train, throughput and location. Risk and responsibility for sustainment, upgrade, and storage shifts from the Military to Industry.
virtual training systems
www.RAYDON.com
2014 Top Simulation & Training Companies innovative research and development, proven advanced training technologies (adaptive interactive multimedia instruction and intelligent tutoring), human systems integration, high-definition media, and serious game development. Our MST solutions offer increased readiness through enhanced training effectiveness at a reduced cost, all within a rigorous CMMI-based Level 3 systems engineering process.
Stottler Henke Associates Inc.
Stottler Henke Associates Inc. applies artificial intelligence and other advanced software technologies to solve problems that defy solutions using traditional approaches. We deliver intelligent software solutions for education and training, planning and scheduling, knowledge management and discovery, decision support, and autonomous systems.
Sundog Software LLC
digital instrumentation, advanced audio/video recording and wireless communications products, creating better training and surveillance capabilities for our warfighters and first responders. From design and software engineering to a fully ISO 9001 production facility, our solutions, products and services are focused on the success of our customers. Our training and surveillance systems allow live audio, video and data capture, and transmission and replay in almost any environment and in concert with our users’ needs. By non-obtrusively capturing the sights, sounds and data during training, after action reviews are created that address all of the target system’s capabilities for an exceptional learning experience.
The Tatitlek Corporation Established in 1973, The Tatitlek Corporation offers a wide variety of mission-critical government services. Through our many reputable subsidiaries, we (an Alaska Native Corporation, 8(a), and disadvantaged business enterprise) are a diverse U.S. government and Department of Defense support contractor providing realistic and sustainable solutions to complex, logistically challenging and strategically important client demands.
Tec-Masters Inc. Frank Kane fkane@sundog-soft.com www.sundog-soft.com Sundog Software creates environmental effect software development kits for simulation and training developers. We combine the performance and visual quality demanded by AAA video game titles with the physical realism and flexibility demanded by simulation and training requirements. Our code libraries add fast skies, 3-D oceans, volumetric clouds, and weather effects to synthetic natural environments for any simulated time, place and conditions. Our technology integrates easily into visual systems developed with almost any framework and on almost any platform. Our customers include the U.S. Navy, the FAA, NASA and hundreds more worldwide.
Tactical Micro Inc.
Tec-Masters (TMI) is a Huntsville, Ala. based minority-owned small disadvantaged business that is ISO 9001:2008 and CMMI ML3 certified. We are a financially strong, debt-free small business with a contract base averaging $22 million in annual revenues over the last three years, with total revenue over $454 million from 2005-2013. TMI’s core business areas are: modeling and simulation, engineering services, system engineering and technical assistance support, software development, testing and evaluation, program and acquisition management support, training, creative multimedia, logistics support, and information technology.
At Tech Valley, our goal is to: •
Tactical Micro, a secure communications company, brings innovation to
24 | MT2 19.6
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Deploy technologies that are directly applicable to U.S. military via current and emerging requirements. Increase weapons proficiency and marksmanship by providing an enhanced learning experience, which allows soldiers to train via realworld scenarios. Focus on training reality with superior customer service and technical support.
Ternion Corporation For 25 years, Ternion Corporation has provided highly flexible simulation solutions to government and commercial organizations worldwide. FLAMES (Flexible Analysis, Modeling, and Exercise System), our flagship product, is a family of commercial offthe-shelf software products that provides a framework for composable constructive simulations and interfaces between live, virtual and constructive simulations. Additionally, our team of experts develops custom FLAMES-based simulations to meet the specific requirements of our customers.
TrianGraphics
TrianGraphics was founded in 2004 and is based in Berlin, Germany. We operate on the Vis/Sim market and specialize in generating databases for all types of real-time simulations. Besides terrain generation, we are developing the DBGS Trian3DBuilder, which came into the market in 2006.
TRU Simulation + Training
Tech Valley Technologies
Matthew Fair mfair@tacticalmicro.com www.tacticalmicro.com
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Develop and manufacture realistic, high-performance thermal and hit sensing/precision scoring targets and training devices for the U.S. military and our overseas allies, for both live-fire and simulated world training environments.
UFA Inc. UFA is a leading provider of air traffic control (ATC) simulation systems and voice recognition technology for civil aviation, military organizations and universities around the world. Differentiated by our market-leading voice recognition and response system, highly realistic training scenarios, and breadth of our ATC simulation product line, our software enables controllers to train more flexibly, effectively and cost-efficiently. We excel in developing complex software architectures and algorithms, including aircraft modeling and navigation. We offer a unique combination of small business responsiveness and attention along with extensive program experience and understanding of the ATC field. We are proud of our 30-plus-year track record of exceeding customer expectations.
Valkyrie Enterprises Valkyrie is a rapidly growing veteranowned small business; we opened our doors in 2007 with five employees. Currently, we employ over 200 across the country. We proudly serve the DoN, other DoD entities, and commercial and international clients. We specialize in systems engineering, engineering design, inservice engineering, training, technical services, ballistic missile defense, and maintenance planning and assessment. Each of these core equities supports Valkyrie customers in the domain areas of acquisition, modernization and readiness, providing life cycle support to our customers. We are proud to operate with large business process rigor and the responsiveness and agility of a small business.
VT MÄK
Ben Coffey bcoffey@trusimulation.com www.trusimulation.com TRU Simulation + Training Inc. is a new force in the aviation simulation and training market with a full spectrum of innovative offerings and solutions available around the globe. We serve the commercial and military markets, providing the superior technical support and customer service our constituent parts were known for, backed by the power of Textron. We are formed out of three legacy companies: Mechtronix Inc. and Opinicus Corporation, acquired by Textron late last year, and a portion of AAI Logistics & Technical Services, an operating unit of Textron. Headquartered in Goose Creek, S.C., we are known for our air transport simulation, business and military simulation, mission and maintenance training, and training centers and services.
VT MÄK develops software for live, virtual and constructive simulation. Leveraging a strong foundation of commercial-offthe-shelf software products, we work with customers to build, link together, and populate compelling 2-D/3-D simulated environments. Our primary users are in the aerospace and defense industries, yet our products and services help customers anywhere modeling and simulation is needed to train, plan, analyze, experiment, prototype and demonstrate. We are dedicated to serving our customers by building flexible products, offering superior technical support, and delivering command staff training solutions. We continue to innovate with new technologies, including Web and mobile, to further stateof-the-art simulation.
www.MT2-kmi.com
DATA PACKETS
Compiled by KMI Media Group staff
Creating Realistic Human Characters for Multiple Visual Systems VT MÄK, a company of Vision Technologies Systems Inc., recently announced the launch of DI-Guy 13, the first major release of DI-Guy as part of the MÄK product family. This release features more realistic character models and scenario content, as well as major performance and ease-of-use improvements. One of MÄK’s key initiatives has been to drastically increase the amount of quality content available to users. DI-Guy 13 adds hundreds of new highquality simulation characters, including a wider variety of casual males, children, EMTs, civilian police, military and civilian aviation personnel, and more types of soldiers in service uniforms. Users will also have an extensive number of prop and non-human models, including new planes, buses, cars and emergency vehicles, as well as a wide selection of chairs, desks and other civilian objects found in villages or towns. DI-Guy 13 introduces many new capabilities that make the software easier to use and configure. These include: • Streamlined entity configuration: It is now easy to apply any handheld device, like a phone, a weapon or water bottle to any character. Previously, each character had a separate configuration for each item that could be placed in their hands. Users can now find their character of choice and have them hold anything. • Instancing: DI-Guy 13 makes it easy to build scenes including the many new characters while still experiencing good performance by introducing
• •
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instanced characters. With instancing, the graphics card can draw all similar character types in a single draw call that was previously required for every individual character. Real-time inverse kinematics (IK): Real-time IK dynamically modifies a character’s animation to adapt to changes in the terrain. Animation Blend Tree System: New to DI-Guy 13, this system enables DI-Guy to generate new motions from existing animations in real time. The ability to seamlessly blend similar animations allows DI-Guy to generate new omni-direction locomotion actions. Easier animation creation and editing: Users can now import and export animations directly to the Collada format, where standard tools can then be used to modify or build new animations. Better interoperability: DI-Guy 13 introduces support for HLA Evolved. The DI-Guy FOM extensions can now be used with a custom DI-Guy FOM Module. This will make it much easier to integrate DI-Guy scenario into a HLA Evolved Federation.
“DI-Guy 13 continues a long tradition of providing cutting-edge visualization for simulated human activity. This release cements MÄK’s commitment to providing state-of-the-art content for our customers’ diverse simulation environments,” said Jim Kogler, director of COTS products, VT MÄK. Alex Broadbent; abroadbent@mak.com
Flagship Generation Software Released TerraSim has announced the release of TerraTools 5, the latest version of its flagship terrain generation database software that uses cartographic source data to rapidly and automatically generate high-fidelity terrain databases for visual, constructive and serious game runtimes. With over 500 new features, bug fixes and maintenance updates, TerraTools 5 is TerraSim’s largest software release to date. TerraTools 5 Batch Mode Manager (optional plug-in) streamlines and simplifies automatic terrain generation for large area environments across multiple runtime formats through a new graphical interface, giving users the ability to visualize and manage batch processing. The Batch Mode Manager allows users to generate runtime content unattended and correlated to multiple runtime formats while providing advanced diagnostic tools to monitor processing and troubleshoot problems. TerraTools 5 allows users to parametrically and automatically generate complex, multi-story interior buildings complete with rooms, walls, windows, doors, and stairs that provide roof
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access and connect to adjacent stories (above and underground). Interior buildings can be exported to runtime-specific interior model formats for placement in a terrain database and exported to multiple runtime formats. Additional updates to TerraTools 5 include: • New and updated nodes, attributes and batch commands for improved functionality • Streamlined processing and memory usage for improved project efficiency • Enhanced and expanded TerraTools model library for urban environments • Industry-leading product manuals, tech notes, tutorials, and online technical support sites • Enhanced support for latest VBS technologies • Multi-map support for large area terrain generation • Enhanced surface material masks and vegetative biotopes • Multi-state destructible buildings, bridges, and tunnels
• O neSAF 7.0 / OTF 8.0 support with OneSAF Feature EDM and UHRB EDM support • Interior building support with ballistic penetration and destruction behaviors for Steel Beasts Pro • Support for Unity game engine on multiple platforms • Enhanced terrain database paging and scene lighting for Havok Vision Engine • OpenFlight and OpenSceneGraph quadtree structure support • Drag and drop data files into TerraTools project • Standard and warning message preservation • Personal and File geodatabase support. TerraTools 5 is provided free of charge to all customers currently under maintenance. Existing customers can find a complete list of new features and maintenance updates in the TerraTools 5 Release Notes in their TerraTools installation folder. Spencer C. Huff; spencer.huff@terrasim.com
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Marine Trainer
Q& A
Constantly Assessing and Improving Marine Training and Education Programs Major General James W. Lukeman Commanding General Training and Education Command U.S. Marine Corps Major General James W. Lukeman was born in Beaufort, S.C. He was commissioned a second lieutenant through the NROTC program upon graduation from the University of Notre Dame in 1980. After Infantry Officer Course, Lukeman was assigned to 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines at Camp Lejeune, N.C. He served in Alpha Company as a rifle platoon commander and weapons platoon commander and as the battalion’s 81 mm mortar platoon commander. In 1983, he was transferred to the Staff NCO academy at Quantico, Va., where he served as the director of the career course. In 1986, Lukeman was reassigned to Camp Lejeune as the S-3A for 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines. Following a deployment with the 26th MEU, he was assigned as the company commander, Lima Company, 3/6. In 1989, he attended Amphibious Warfare School. After graduation, he was assigned to Alpha Company, Marine Security Guard Battalion in Frankfurt, Germany, where he served as the operations officer. In 1992, Lukeman was transferred to the NROTC Unit at the University of Texas at Austin, where he served as the Marine officer instructor. In 1995, he attended Command and Staff College at Quantico, Va. In 1996, he was assigned to the 1st Marine Division as the executive officer of 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines. During this tour, the Battalion deployed to the Persian Gulf with the 15th MEU. After promotion to lieutenant colonel, he moved up to the division staff, where he served as the operations officer for the 1st Marine Division. In 1998, Lukeman attended the National War College in Washington, D.C. His follow on assignment was with the Office of the Secretary of Defense as an assistant for Strategy and Force Planning in the Strategy Office. In July 2001, he returned to the 1st Marine Division and took command of 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines. He deployed with 2/5 to Okinawa as part of the 31st MEU. In June 2002, he was assigned to the division staff, where he served as the assistant chief of staff, G-7 and assistant chief of staff, G-3 during Operation Iraqi Freedom-I. In 2003, Lukeman was assigned as the commanding officer, Security Battalion, Marine Corps Base Quantico. Following that tour, he served as the chief of staff for Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va. From 2006 to 2008, he served as the chief of staff for Training and Education Command. In 2008, he was assigned as the military assistant to the assistant commandant, where he served until his selection for brigadier general. Lukeman served as the deputy director for Strategy and Plans, J5, U.S. Africa Command from 2010 until 2012. From 2012 to 2014, Lukeman served as the commanding general, Second Marine Division. Lukeman currently serves as the commanding general, Training and Education Command. 26 | MT2 19.6
Q: How have the roles and responsibilities of Training and Education Command (TECOM) changed now that conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down? A: Our core competencies have not changed. They remain to: • Transform civilians to Marines, imbued with our warrior ethos and reflecting the Marine Corps’ ethics and core values • Provide Marines with the core skills of their assigned military occupational specialty (MOS) to allow them to function in the operating forces (OPFOR) • Provide progressive education and training that will allow Marines to assume increasing responsibilities and increase their decision-making abilities • Enable home station training to ensure the operating forces are able to function as a Marine air-ground task force (MAGTF) in joint environments • Establish well-defined standards, policies and programs to guide Marine Corps common skills training. With regard to pre-deployment training and professional military education (PME), our responsibility has changed from preparing units for a single operation (OIF/OEF) to preparing units for a wide variety of contingency operations within the future security www.MT2-kmi.com
environment. Toward this end, we are rebalancing service-level training and re-emphasizing our core competencies in combined arms, expeditionary and amphibious operations. All our servicelevel training and PME programs are being re-examined within this overarching requirement. Q: Are there any new programs or policies you plan on implementing as you assume your new role at TECOM? A: In TECOM, we are constantly assessing and improving our training and education programs, curricula and instructional techniques. Our biggest challenge is meeting all the training requirements of the operating forces during an era of declining resources. In this light, we focus on integrating all our programs to ensure unity of effort and the efficient use of resources. Resources are tied to capabilities—specifically our core competencies. Q: What challenges does TECOM face heading into 2015? A: Our biggest challenge is meeting all our training and education requirements in an era of declining budgets and ongoing fiscal uncertainty. In meeting the challenges brought on by sequestration and fiscal year 2014 budget cuts, TECOM sought to maintain high-priority capabilities such as entry-level training, PME and unit training for forces deploying in support of real-world operations, while accepting some risk in support to home station training. While we were able to sufficiently fund our core mission activities during sequestration, other programs, such as simulations and ranges, continued to be accomplished, but at degraded capability. Anticipating similar funding challenges in the upcoming year, TECOM has identified trade-offs in training development and delivery. Some trade-offs are feasible due to a decrease in OEF training requirements, which reflect current and projected reductions in force structure and operational tempo. A second challenge is determining the “sweet spot” between training in our core capabilities and training for crisis response and counterinsurgency operations. We are continuing efforts to rebalance training following more than 13 years of experience in counterinsurgency operations. A third challenge is retaining the lessons learned from over a decade of combat experience. As OIF and OEF come to an end and combat-experienced Marines depart the service, we are striving to incorporate the hard-won lessons into our training programs and educational curricula so that future generations of Marines will benefit from this experience. Q: In today’s austere budget environment, how will TECOM maintain current capabilities with a shrinking budget? A: TECOM remains committed to training and educating the most ready force our nation can afford, but this comes at a risk. As we continue to face fiscal uncertainty, the Marine Corps is responsibly building a relevant and lean force for the 21st century. The emerging security threats to our nation demand that America has a globally responsive, truly expeditionary, consistently ready maritime crisis response force. While today’s fiscal constraints may make us a leaner force, we are committed to maintaining our readiness—the real measure of www.MT2-kmi.com
our ability to meet unforeseen threats. The bottom line is we will continue to invest in our Marines, as they are the foundation of the Marine Corps. Longer term, we anticipate having to make difficult choices in reducing structure while striving to maintain robust, broad-based training and education capabilities in a dynamic and uncertain future security environment. Q: Do you see live, virtual and constructive (LVC) training taking on a bigger role in the current environment, and if so, how? A: Yes, but how much will be determined by the availability of resources to accomplish what we know LVC capabilities can provide. We are already applying LVC training capabilities in a variety of ways. For example, our infantry immersion trainer (IIT) creates realistic scenarios by providing a geo-specific physical environment that includes the simulated sights, smells and sounds of a small village. Trainees interact with both live role-players and computer-generated avatars in a uniquely effective combination of live and simulated elements. On a much larger scale, we also use LVC training in the large scale exercise (LSE) at 29 Palms to replicate the contemporary operating environment for a Marine expeditionary brigade (MEB) or Marine expeditionary force (MEF). The development of game-based technology now supports tactical decision-making training for small-unit leaders in a blended training environment. Game-based simulations have high-fidelity cognitive models as well as high-fidelity physical models that provide an “anytime, anywhere” training capability. Simulations such as the individual simulated marksmanship trainers, combat convoy simulator, supporting arms virtual trainer, deployable virtual training environment and combined arms command and control training upgrade system provide commanders with a variety of collective training simulations that can be used to hone their Marines’ skills prior to exercising collective skills at live training events. Q: How are training standards developed, reviewed and updated? A: Individual and collective training standards are initially developed during training and readiness (T&R) working groups and supported through guidance provided by occupational field advocates. Once an individual training standard has been established, it is taught and tested through formal instruction, managed-on-the-job-training or distance learning. Collective training standards are trained in the OPFORs. The assessment of a training standard is based upon a designated sustainment interval. Training standards are ordinarily reviewed and updated every three years during T&R working groups. After standards have been identified and training developed, Training Command’s formal learning centers continually survey the operating forces to gauge both the quality and effectiveness of the MOS training they provide. Information from these surveys is also provided to the T&R working group. In addition to input from career field subject matter experts, TECOM’s Standards Division conducts job analysis studies through its Front End Analysis program to provide an empirical validation of training requirements. Task performance data is collected from billet holders across the OPFOR to identify how members of a career field are being employed. When combined with training data collected from senior community members, task performance data reveals common training requirements. MT2 19.6 | 27
Q: How does the Marine Corps train units for unanticipated contingency operations? A: An expeditionary mindset is part of the ethos of every Marine, so we are prepared mentally and physically to take on unanticipated missions. With that said, all training is based on unit mission essential task lists (METLs), directed training requirements and grade-oriented common skills standards. Unit METLs are based on regionally-oriented operation plans (OPLANS), anticipated contingency missions and scheduled deployments. They are developed by unit commanders and approved by the chain of command. While combatant commander OPLANS are regionally oriented for specific scenarios, Marine Corps mission-essential tasks are generic enough to prepare units for a wide variety of contingencies. For example, while a unit may conduct pre-deployment, METL-based training for a Korean peninsula OPLAN, the training will be broad-based enough to prepare the unit for a wide variety of contingency operations in the Western Pacific or elsewhere. Additionally, common skills training teaches and exercises skills that frequently apply in operations across the range of military operations (ROMO). Q: How do you see training evolving over the next five years? A: We are in the process of rebalancing service-level training and reemphasizing our core competencies in combined arms, expeditionary and amphibious operations. Toward this end, we are instituting the MAGTF Training Program, which is a key service-level initiative for implementing post-OEF training requirements. The MAGTF Training Program includes: • The Battle Staff Training Program, which provides individual and collective battle staff training across all elements of the MAGTF from battalion or squadron to MEF-level staffs. • The Integrated Training Exercise (ITX), which provides battalion- and squadron-level collective training. The ITX provides combined arms training similar to what existed prior to OIF, while incorporating lessons learned from more than ten years’ experience in counterinsurgency operations. • The Mountain Exercise, which provides training in both the technical aspects of mountain and cold weather operations and the tactical integration of MAGTF elements at the battalion level and below. • The Talon Exercise (TALONEX), which provides battalionlevel combined arms training in a live-fire environment. TALONEX is conducted in conjunction with the Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma and focuses on the horizontal integration of the ground and aviation combat elements. • Finally, the LSE, which provides MEB or MEF-level combinedarms training using a live-virtual-constructive concept to link distributed forces across the United States, including amphibious forces afloat. The exercise focuses on the integration of all elements of the MAGTF. Q: TECOM has separate subordinate commands for training and education. How are they different? A: We view military training and PME as two distinctly different, yet complementary, forms of learning. 28 | MT2 19.6
Training emphasizes the “how” of doing things by teaching and developing skills, both individual and collective. Most skills are tangible and improved through repetition. In Training Command, curricula are designed primarily to teach the skills needed to qualify Marines for a particular MOS. Instructors are selected based on demonstrated MOS expertise and recent experience in the OPFOR. MAGTF Training Command provides both horizontal and vertical integration training among the elements of the MAGTF. MAGTF training is MET-based, which means that training events are designed and executed to teach and exercise skills needed to perform the types of missions units will be called on to execute. PME emphasizes the “why” in examining and solving military problems as a basis for developing a more comprehensive understanding of complex situations and making better decisions. Through the case study method, we teach Marines how to think critically and apply general principles of warfare and lessons from previous crises. Through training and school-house exercises, students increase their experience database and are better able to formulate and articulate courses of action with multiple options for unforeseen circumstances. Each form of learning has a distinct and irreplaceable role in developing Marines and Marine units that can operate effectively across the ROMO. Q: How do you train Marines to operate in unforeseen environments? A: All Marines, from entry-level training to their assignments to operational units, are educated and trained with an expeditionary mindset, epitomized by the phrase “bags packed”—ready and willing to deploy on a moment’s notice, any time, to any place, to perform any mission. This mindset implies the versatility and adaptability to respond effectively without a great deal of preparation time to a broad variety of circumstances. This mindset is a global perspective oriented to responding to a diverse range of threats around the globe, rather than to a specific threat in a specific part of the world. This mindset is a matter of both training and institutional culture throughout the Marine Corps. We cannot possibly train for every eventuality; that is where education comes in. The Marine Corps embraces and emphasizes the role of PME in the development of a professional cohort of Marine leaders—officer and enlisted—who know how to think critically, understand the impact of environmental factors and context on a given problem set and are comfortable making decisions in the face of uncertainty, fog and friction. Marines develop and refine these essential tools over the course of their career as lifelong scholars and students of warfare, history and culture. Q: Is there anything else you would like to add? A: As we’re seeing in Central Europe and the Middle East today, the post-9/11 world is different: it’s more dangerous. We continue to witness violent extremism, regional competition and increased sophistication and lethality among non-state actors at unprecedented levels. As we have done throughout our history, the Marine Corps will adapt to ensure we continue to be the middleweight expeditionary force-in-readiness that is “most ready when the nation is least ready.” TECOM will continue to provide quality training and education programs that realize these goals. O www.MT2-kmi.com
The military is conserving resources, time and manpower using simulation to train pilots. Flight simulators are an excellent resource for the U.S. military as an alternative to live training. The numbers quickly add up in terms of cost when training pilots in live aircraft; as technology steadily improves, flight simulators are reaching new heights of fidelity. Several industry leaders in this field recently discussed the flight simulator training systems they offer the U.S. military and in what ways they are aiming to increase fidelity within these systems. Roger Ogilvie Vice President and General Manager BAE Systems’ Mission Support Business
Like pilots, all aircrew members, convoy personnel and armored vehicle crew members must be able to recognize threats as they occur and then participate in the J Gallagher avoidance and/or mitigation of those threats. With rear- and side-facing views of terrain and environment that often are not available to the system operator, these individuals are frequently the first to observe incoming threats. To survive, they must quickly identify the nature and origin of those threats and then accurately convey that information. The ability to observe, think clearly and then communicate coherently in a threatening environment is not a natural instinct—it is a skill that is honed with the practice available with the BAE Systems Simulation Training and Rehearsal System (STARS). STARS is an automated instruction tool that offers customized training solutions, threat and scenario flexibility, and a portable advanced virtual reality desktop environment. Much like a video game, the STARS desktop simulation allows for a more realistic environment without the need for a high-cost simulator. But one of its biggest benefits is its flexibility to serve any training environment. At BAE Systems, our software developers work closely with our customers to develop customized training scenarios to support specific
mission challenges. We are even working on simulations that can be accessed anywhere, and at any time, to support our customers with personnel in more remote locations. Some of these training simulators can be modified to run on portable electronic devices such as tablets and smartphones. More sophisticated, higher-fidelity simulations are also available and can be incorporated into traditional interactive multimedia instruction. Trainees using STARS are provided with multiple, random “drill” type presentations and are graded on their response to those events. Throughout training, the underlying instructional system tracks the learning progress. If the trainee or student is having trouble with a certain type of event, the system shows more of that specific threat protocol until the user achieves mastery. STARS provides fundamental visual threat recognition and avoidance training for all aircrew members. Warfighters train to quickly and accurately respond to threats from the ground or from the air, including anti-aircraft artillery, man-portable air defense systems, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms attacks. Trainees using STARS can customize their training to focus on skill areas requiring improvement. In addition to being a training asset for crew aboard multi-position aircraft, STARS is also a valuable training simulation tool for ground, air and/or sea search and rescue operations.
Scott Budisalich Director of Modeling and Simulation Programs Camber sbudisalich@camber.com
Camber Corporation is the U.S. Army’s premier service provider of modeling and simulation support to develop, evolve and J Gallagher operate the U.S. Army-owned Apache Risk and Cost Reduction System (RACRS). RACRS serves as a test bed asset for Program Management Office Apache to evaluate and rapidly mature new hardware and software technologies. Using RACRS, Camber has assisted the Army in software prototyping, hardware/software integration, immersive pilot-based evaluations of new capabilities and ad-hoc training of new systems. RACRS is equipped with the aircraft www.MT2-kmi.com
operational flight software. Aircraft cockpit components and extensive instrumentation/data acquisition provide pilots with the same function and feel like the real aircraft. As a test bed, RACRS fidelity must often exceed the fidelity necessary for pilot training devices to provide an environment capable of revealing system-wide impacts when performing engineering changes. Camber continuously updates its modeling and simulation capabilities to assist its customers with evaluating available methods and technologies to increase simulation fidelity. Current efforts are focused on improving the accuracy of the simulated infrared sensor response. MT2 19.6 | 29
When viewed by high-resolution sensors, the infrared scene is a complex combination of physical states and effects such as material physics, energy balance and atmospheric conditions. The challenge of increasing fidelity is to focus on the main contributors and present the most realistic scene possible with available technologies. Camber’s sensor simulation combines the following models: background scene content, including man-made and natural materials; atmospheric attenuation between background scene and sensor; and sensor response and image processing for the final cockpit display. Each of these segments is being evaluated and tuned to increase the fidelity of the presentation to the pilot. To validate simulation tuning efforts, Camber developed a sensor flight hardware test fixture enabling direct collection of digital sensor imagery. The RACRS Apache sensor test fixture provides the capability to combine and compare imagery collected from the flight sensor system against its simulation. Camber engineers and subject matter experts analyze sensor and simulation data to determine the
operationally relevant constituents of the scene, resulting in focused simulation fidelity improvements. Night operations are essential to the AH-64 Apache mission. Accurate night sensor imagery affects a pilot’s operational cues for safe pilotage and effective targeting decisions. Camber is using the aircraft system data to tune and validate the simulated sensor response. This ensures the Camber solution provides correct simulated visibility and content differentiation at range under varied weather conditions. Camber Corporation is a premier professional services organization that provides solutions in systems engineering, intelligence, cybersecurity, information technology, unmanned systems, modeling and simulation, training and threat mitigation. Founded in 1990 and headquartered in Huntsville, Ala., Camber employs 2,500 professionals in over 100 locations in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, delivering ISO 9001:2008, ISO/IEC 20000 and CMMI-certified, high-value solutions to Camber’s customers worldwide.
Ken Jackson Vice President Concurrent Real-Time ken.jackson@ccur.com
Concurrent Real-Time provides hard real-time computer platforms to help system integrators build high-end training J Gallagher simulators for all types of vehicles. At the heart of the Concurrent solution is the RedHawk Linux real-time operating system. RedHawk provides enhanced real-time performance to guarantee frame rates for trainer simulation models and image generation. It also eliminates latency and jitter to assure realism in training environments. Concurrent offers RedHawk on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware platforms. Concurrent COTS systems are tested for process dispatch latency and certified at the level they attain to ensure training system performance. Man-in-the-loop simulation host systems require a combination of hard real-time performance and a comprehensive modeling environment. Concurrent’s SIMulation Workbench product provides a powerful simulation framework in an easy-to-use package. Many of today’s simulators contain multiple models generated from different modeling packages that need to run concurrently and share interdependent data and I/O. SIMulation Workbench supports many popular industry modeling packages, such as MATLAB/Simulink, Dymola and SIMPACK, as well as hand-coded models. It gives the user the flexibility to select the proper tool to generate the most effective models. Whatever the modeling tool, SIMulation Workbench makes it easy to configure the I/O channels to model variables via a point-and-click
graphical user interface. The user can also select what models will run on what CPU cores and can shield them from all other system activity to achieve the best real-time performance. The number of CPU cores and their associated clock rates are limited only by what is available in the market. Concurrent has achieved frame rates under 50 microseconds and can run models with different frame rates simultaneously. These features give the user the ability to increase the fidelity of training system models. Concurrent recently released ImaGen, powered by GenesisIG, our latest-generation real-time image generator, together with our partner Diamond Visionics. This new platform offers up to four state-of-theart graphics cards that can be configured as part of a single scene or four independent channels or sensors. The platform allows the user to select high resolution source data for GenesisIG software to display. It is important to note that the GenesisIG software displays directly from raw GIS source data and does not require the user to create a visual database. This saves a lot of time and expense and allows for easy updates. To ensure your entire training application is running as it should, and event latency from the real-time host and IG to the display is optimal, Concurrent offers its powerful NightStar debugging and analysis toolkit. It can show you where your code is spending its time and how efficiently your system is running. It also ensures you can run the highest fidelity simulations to meet the most advanced training requirements.
Jon Rambeau Vice President and General Manager Training and Logistics Solutions Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training
At Lockheed Martin, our focus is on equipping aircrews with the skills they need to safely and effectively complete their missions. As militaries continue to 30 | MT2 19.6
face tough budget decisions while maintaining readiness in an evolving global security environment, Lockheed Martin is advancing technology to accelerate the next generation of multidomain training capabilities. www.MT2-kmi.com
Currently, Lockheed Martin provides training solutions for more than 30 military aircraft variants with a student-centric approach that integrates technology, instruction and management systems. In fact, because of the effectiveness of the C-130 Aircrew Training System, all initial qualification flights occur in simulators. For the F-35 Training System, half of the core syllabus flights are accomplished in simulators because they provide such a realistic, immersive training experience. One area in which we’ve seen major dividends for increasing training effectiveness and decreasing costs is distributed training. Many of our programs leverage distributed training to enable more homestation training events and cross-platform aircrew collaboration. Taking distributed training to the next level for fighter pilots, we are developing an integrated live, virtual and constructive (LVC) training environment. LVC will provide the sensory inputs needed to simulate real-world combat training for fourth- and fifth-generation fighter aircraft like the F-16 and F-35. Called the Advanced Combat Enhancement System (ACES) program, our LVC solution moves data between ground and aircraft sensors, helping pilots train with simulators, computer-generated forces and other aircraft in the same synthetic environment. Recently, we put ACES to the test in its first flight demonstration. During the exercise, a pilot flying in a live F-16 engaged with a pilot flying as wingman in a ground-based F-16 simulator. Simulated sensor data sent from the ground into the aircraft provided a shared constructive training scenario for the live and
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virtual aircraft. The two F-16s cooperated to successfully engage multiple aggressors and defend against ground surface missile threats. This demonstration employed the radar, heads-up display, situation display and electronic warfare systems. Given the increased capability of fighter aircraft, integrating live, virtual and constructive elements is essential to train pilots effectively. There simply aren’t enough adversarial players and range space available to adequately challenge fighter pilots through traditional Red Flag training events any longer. Further, while Red Flags are based on pre-planned scenarios, ACES’ ground range infrastructure enables training scenarios to be modified in real time for a more spontaneous, authentic experience. ACES provides the benefit of security as well. The system allows pilots to train with all the capabilities that are available with modern fighter aircraft while safeguarding combat tactics from the enemy. Across all of our training programs, the Lockheed Martin team is driven to provide military men and women with the most immersive, effective training. We owe it to our service personnel to give them our best because simulation saves money, but training saves lives. O
For more information, contact MT2 Editor Brian O’Shea at briano@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.mt2-kmi.com.
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Why I/ITSEC?
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Using training ranges to hone the warfighter’s skills. By Henry Canaday, MT2 Correspondent
“space and funds.” The ranges are designed for firing standard NATO The firing range is in many ways the closest thing to real combat 7.62 by 51 mm ammunition. that takes place without real danger. Unsurprisingly, all services seek Laser Shot works with companies that make target systems to make this near-combat as relevant and realistic as possible and as and bullet traps, so customers can use equipment from these other frequent as necessary. As U.S. troops withdraw from combat, these firms. Or customers can use Laser Shot’s own target system, a video aims will become even more important. Fortunately, range-training projection of a scenario over 40 feet in width that reacts realistically programs can build on a very solid base. as bullets hit. For example, during the past decade of conflicts, the Marine Corps The U.S. Navy uses the Laser Shot modular range at a facility in range program has made unprecedented investments in range capabilChesapeake, Va., and other customers include the U.S. Border Patrol, ity and capacity by providing new training environments and improvCanadian Special Operation Forces and the U.S. Federal Reserve. ing both live-fire and non-live-fire training technologies. The Marines Gritschke said he expects more orders from the U.S. military soon. He have also modernized range management and control capabilities, acnoted that the indoor range can be purchased as equipment, not real cording to the Marine Training and Education Command (TECOM). estate, which may make procurement easier. Now the Corps anticipates a decrease in combat deployments and And Laser Shot offers more than just indoor ranges. Marketing is operating under resource constraints. Its priorities for ranges over Director Mihir Busa said his firm is a leader in developing, manufacthe next half-decade are several. turing and fielding firearm simulator systems and live-fire facilities. First, TECOM wants to sustain currently fielded capabilities to Its laser-based simulation integrates training for air, land and sea platcontinue to provide Marines with the most realistic training environforms with live-fire systems, including shoot houses, ranges and moments. Second, TECOM wants to ensure that the increased demand bile ranges that work with Laser’s Thermal Shot technology. for home-station training, a result of less-frequent combat deployLaser’s Thermal Shot Live-Fire Virtual Targetry System enables ment, can be safely and effectively accommodated. Third, TECOM live-fire training in all the firm’s training platforms. Thermal Shot seeks to ensure that basic capabilities and capacities can be fielded at uses virtual-target courseware combined with live fire. It projects innew or expanded training locations. teractive, moving combatants and non-combatants across entire walls, Finally, TECOM seeks to continue developing existing training turning standard shoot houses into close-quarter battle facilities. technologies that enhance integration of live, virtual and constructive Laser’s Crosshair simulates long-range moving or training environments and thus improve immersive static targets. Combined with VBS2, the firm’s Long training opportunities for small units. Range Precision Shooting Simulator (LRPSS) enables TECOM said private industry has been a key partshooters to engage animated avatars and other highner in the past decade’s modernization of Marine Corps value targets. LRPSS has revolutionized long-range ranges. The command expects private firms will conshooting through simulation rather than live engagetinue to play an important role in providing sustainments. LRPSS scenarios simulate wind, time of day, ment services and further developing tactical engageelevation and human targets. This realism reinforces ment simulations systems and immersive training target recognition, target acquisition that anticipates technologies. human movement, and adaptive and reflexive thinking. Private firms are eager to help, both by making Meggitt Training Systems offers a series of moving basic range technologies more affordable, mobile and John Gritschke and stationary human and vehicle targets. In addition accessible, and by providing sophisticated systems that jgritschke@lasershot.com to these targets, Meggitt provides a wide range of equipadd realism to range training. ment and systems to make range training much more For example, Laser Shot makes a modular live-fire effective. shooting range that is shipped out in sections on reguFor example, Meggitt’s Sound Effects Simulator lar road vehicles and is then assembled at the range (SES) records and plays back radio transmissions, husite. Only a concrete floor pad and electric power are man speech, animals, weapons, Morse code and a varineeded at the site, explained John Gritschke, director ety of truck sounds, noted Shannon Medina, director of the firm’s Live-Fire Division. A metal skin is added of U.S. Military Live Fire. “The SES plays back sounds to the exterior. based on programmable scenarios or specific comThe modules yield an indoor shooting range mands given,” Medina said. SES can simulate a variety up to 40 feet wide. Gritschke said most competitive of U.S. and hostile weapons. products provide only two lanes of open width, which Mihir Busa Meggitt’s Battle Effect Simulator (BES) Trigger can prevents range supervisors from exercising effective be activated by any event designated in the scenario. control of all lanes. The only limit on range length is mbusa@lasershot.com 32 | MT2 19.6
www.MT2-kmi.com
For example, if a shooter happens to hit a vehicle’s engine block, the BES will stop the vehicle, and this might trigger a pop-up infantryman target the shooter must engage. If, on the other hand, the shooter hits the driver, the vehicle continues down the track and a flash bang can detonate, simulating a car bomb. Meggitt’s AC/DC thermal trigger Shannon Medina activates thermal images for target identification and engagement. A shannon.medina thermal tank target creates its heat @meggitt.com signature viewed through thermal optics. Medina stressed that many Meggitt products are designed for complex scenario scripting. “Just firing rounds down range does not prepare soldiers or Marines for combat,” she said. Meggitt can also plan, design and install equipment for ranges. Unlike most other firms, Meggitt Training Systems has its own full-time service crew that knows installation, products and client needs. Moreover, Meggitt’s new RangeMaster Control System (RMCS) is easier to use and program. RMCS easily customizes the course of fire, lighting and temperature control, as well as integrating with other systems and databases. And Meggitt’s new XWT is a next-generation target-retrieval system for both indoor and outdoor ranges. Medina said Meggitt training equipment is distinguished by its reliability and maintainability, yielding range availability rates in excess of 98 percent. Meggitt field-service teams are the most experienced and respected in the industry, according to Medina, and its spare-part time is the shortest in the industry. In addition, Meggitt customers save money because they can retrofit old serial-communication ranges with new training devices. “Meggitt is one of the few companies able to retrofit serial ranges with new training devices,” Medina said. This is far less costly than upgrading to DSL networks. The company has already performed these highly economic retrofits for a combat pistol qualification course at Tullahoma, Tenn., and for a scout reconnaissance range at Fort Riley, Kan. In both cases, the serial communication infrastructure was over 30 years old. Meggitt can now also provide a robust, high-throughput, lowlatency WiFi mesh solution that supports portable and deployable ranges. It can avoid re-cabling ranges where serial data networks fail or are damaged. “This solution does not have to be fixed and can be deployed from range to range,” Medina said. Saab is the prime contractor on several range services and products for both the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, noted Steve Parrish, director of business development for training and simulation. “We have a variety of moving and stationary target systems in various configurations for infantry, armor and aviation. Our targets are for both live-fire and instrumented training.” Saab is especially proud of a target accessory called Location of Miss and Hit (LOMAH). The supersonic LOMAH allows tank and other hyper-velocity rounds to be accurately tracked and scored. “When running a target range, it is best to provide training for all calibers of weapons,” Parrish said. For all these weapons, LOMAH allows shooters and coaches to see precisely the locations both of shots that hit and shots that missed. This information can be very useful. Often, new shooters have difficulty correcting their aims for rounds that miss the target. www.MT2-kmi.com
LOMAH shows where a round went even if it is lost. The device is also great for snipers firing from distance, since it shows impacts of rounds whose location previously required binoculars and spotters. Parrish said these spotters were often inaccurate estimators of shot impacts. “LOMAH shows the shooter’s exact impact on a laptop screen—no estimating necesSteve Parrish sary.” LOMAH is now used globally. Saab is working to integrate steve.parrish@saabusa.com its range products with other Saab training systems. “We want soldiers to drive our simulated tanks and Strykers, engage targets with live ammunition and instrumented simulations, and finally assault a military operations in urban terrain facility which has instrumented buildings that show who shot whom with cameras to capture video,” Parrish said. Saab systems can capture the shoot-through wall, proximity and location of each trainee. The ultimate aim is to improve both marksmanship skills and their effects in winning battles. O
For more information, contact MT2 Editor Brian O’Shea at briano@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.mt2-kmi.com.
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Procedural Model Generation Service Helps Artists Improve Training By Dolly Rairigh Glass A new software tool, the Procedural Model Generation Services (PMGS), is directly impacting the success of the Rapid Data Generation Program of Record by providing high-quality models to external simulation systems without the need for a large handcreated library, thus enhancing the training environments to improve soldier readiness. The research and development program under which PMGS is being generated is co-funded/managed by the Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI) and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Human Research and Engineering Directorate, Simulation and Training Technology (STTC). “Our current warfare challenges demand more than ever that soldiers ‘train as they fight,’” said Hector J. Gonzalez, science and technology manager for Synthetic Natural Environments, STTC. “Therefore, it is of paramount importance that we provide them with a simulated environment as realistic as possible in an expedited manner. PMGS contributes to enhance both the speed of production and the quality of our simulation environment, thus improving soldier readiness.” The PMGS reduces the time needed for graphic artists to integrate 3-D models into simulations, and looks to be a possible value added for many programs across Team Orlando in the future as they begin to investigate how PMGS might fit into their programs. Because the program is provided with Government Purpose Rights, any other government program has the right to use it without incurring more costs. Other programs can use it as is free of charge or fund the modifications they need to make it work within their own simulations. “PMGS allows graphic artists to create 3-D models, like buildings, and then utilize them, along with the terrain database, within a simulation like Combined Combat Tactical Trainer (CCTT),” said Robert Cox, assistant program manager, Rapid Data Generation, PEO STRI Environmental Representation/Geospatial Lead. “PMGS reduces the time needed for the graphic artist, therefore saving on labor, time and money.” “Currently, the timetable to produce a building, for example, is about two to four hours,” explained Cox. “With PMGS, we are able to create that same building in seconds. It’s a huge cost-avoidance.” Simulation systems like the CCTT provide several realistic virtual environments, and PMGS is more cost-efficient because it is streamlined, enabling the user to access a pre-built model library. “There are two types of models,” Cox said, “geo-specific, a graphic artist’s depiction of a building, let’s say the White House, and geo-typical, a graphic artist’s depiction of a typical house built in Florida. PMGS builds those geo-typical models based on a series of ‘procedures’ or ‘business rules.’” Cox continued, “For instance, a business rule might be that all geo-typical houses in Florida are made out of concrete blocks. PMGS defines the business rules that are then applied to the development of a 3-D model.” 34 | MT2 19.6
The Procedural Model Generation Service reduces the time needed for graphic artists to integrate 3-D models into simulations, and looks to be a possible value added for many programs across Team Orlando in the future. [Photo courtesy of Team Orlando]
As the program manager for the Rapid Data Generation, one of the programs that co-funded GameSim to produce the PGMS, Cox was looking to develop technology for Synthetic Environment (SE) Core, a sister program. SE Core develops environmental representation databases for PEO STRI and U.S. Army simulations. “It’s environmental because it is a confluence of terrain, models and other things,” Cox said. “A lot of people say terrain, but for us, that is not totally correct because simulations use more than terrain. Synthetic Environment Core develops these databases and they are used by virtual and constructive simulations to train the soldiers on specific tasks.” The co-funder/manager of PMGS, the U.S. Army’s Simulation Training and Technology Center, is also extending the PMGS capability by adding procedural generation of vehicle models capability to the tool set. “In addition to transitioning to a program of record, like SE Core, STTC is also using the Procedural Model Generation Service baseline in our research testbed at STTC,” said Julio de la Cruz, chief engineer, SE, STTC. “The scope of the investment involves the research and investigation on the effects of the time and cost that PMGS has for producing terrain databases for simulated training systems,” de la Cruz said. “There is more and more demand for 3-D models in computer graphics, virtual reality, and modeling and simulation, and this results in a change in emphasis for the requirements. The visual quality becomes one of the main points of attention.” Modeling of three-dimensional objects sequences is a challenging problem, and has been a research topic for many years. De la Cruz said that in the database generation process, history has shown the generation of 3-D models presents a bottleneck that impacts cost and time during the production process. Currently, STTC has only performed analysis for 3D building models, but future research will include broader types of models, like vehicle and live-form 3-D models, to help them obtain better accuracy through maximum likelihood estimation. O www.MT2-kmi.com
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Adacel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 www.adacel.com Adacel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 www.adacel.com AEgis Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 www.aegistg.com Aptima. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 www.aptima.com Concurrent Real-Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 www.real-time.ccur.com Digimation Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 www.digimation.com Disti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 www.disti.com Havelsan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 www.havelsan.com.tr Inert Products LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 www.inertproducts.com L-3 Link Simulation & Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 www.link.com Meggitt Training Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C2 www.meggitttrainingsystems.com MetaVR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 www.metavr.com National Training & Simulation Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 www.iitsec.org Raydon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 www.raydon.com SAIC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4 www.saic.com Simthetiq Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 www.simthetiqestore.com The Tatitlek Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 www.tatitlek.com
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MT2 19.6 | 35
INDUSTRY INTERVIEW
Military Training Technology
Richard M. Rybacki Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer MetaVR Inc. Richard M. Rybacki co-founded MetaVR with W. Garth Smith in 1997. Rybacki holds the position of chief technology officer of MetaVR, leading the development of the company’s flagship product, Virtual Reality Scene Generator (VRSG).
3-D real-time PC-based visual systems companies?
Q: How did MetaVR begin as a company? What was your role in the beginning and now? A: W. Garth Smith and I first worked together at TASC. Both of us had a background in distributed simulation; mine was from the Air Force, and he had worked on the SIMNET project at BBN. At that time (late ’90s) we noticed the evolving technology of PC-based graphics cards and thought about how they could be used to solve real-time visual simulation problems. I had developed a vis/sim application for my master’s project, and we thought about the viability of developing a similar capability for Windows-based PCs. As we watched the growing market for PC-based 3D gaming, we saw potential value in developing real-time texture-mapping visualization on PCs. At I/ITSEC 1997, we demonstrated VRSG for the first time, mainly focused on after action review, real-time analysis and stealth capabilities. Of course, back then we didn’t expect the market to grow as much as it did. My role back then was developing VRSG, and it remains my role today. Q: What are some of the recent developments of VRSG? How important is partnering with other companies key to MetaVR’s success? A: VRSG’s physics-based IR sensor modeling capability, which we developed jointly with Technology Service Corporation and released last year, is one example of the importance of technology partnerships. VRSG’s physics-based IR simulation entails real-time computation of the IR sensor image directly from the visual database. It 36 | MT2 19.6
combines automatic material classification of visual RGB imagery with a physics-based IR radiance and sensor model. As part of this effort, we also have two unmanned aircraft that can collect 1-inch resolution imagery as input into the IR simulation. The fidelity of the simulation increases with the high-fidelity imagery. Another valuable partnership is with BattleSpace Simulations (BSI), with whom we developed our Joint Terminal Attack Controller training system (JTAC) at the desktop simulator. BSI’s Modern Air Combat Environment provides the simulation component and VRSG provides the visualization. The resulting simulator was granted accreditation in 2012 by the Joint Fire Support Executive Steering Committee for types 1, 2, and 3, day/night control, and laser target designation. The simulator has the highest rating of any available JTAC simulator for these types of controls. To date, MetaVR and BSI have fielded over 30 JTAC training simulators to customers throughout the USAF, including Air Force Special Operations Command, Air Combat Command and Air National Guard units. Additionally, last year MetaVR and BSI were chosen for the U.S. Air National Guard Advanced JTAC Training System (AAJTS) immersive dome-based system. Q: What unique benefits does MetaVR provide its customers in comparison to other
A: We provide a great deal of 3-D content with VRSG at no additional charge. With the purchase of a VRSG software license or renewal of software maintenance, a customer has access to our vast model libraries (over 5,000 models) and many 3-D terrain databases. We are constantly adding to our model libraries and building more terrain. All our development is funded by the sale of software licenses. We also offer very responsive customer support. Often, customers request features and models to fulfill their training needs; we develop them at no charge and then add them to a subsequent software release. In this way, our customers—as subject matter experts—greatly influence VRSG development, and all our customers benefit. Q: Can you give examples that illustrate MetaVR’s capabilities in meeting the needs of defense customers? A: Many features of our JTAC desktop simulator are based on interviews with JTAC trainers, primarily through the U.S. National Guard and Air Force Special Operations Command. VRSG’s physics-based IR simulation and our new VRSG Scenario Editor are two additional examples; we developed these features based on input from UAV operators and JTAC trainers. Q: What challenges does MetaVR foresee for the next 12 months and how is the company positioned to address them? A: We feel pressure from the game industry and from integrators who try to integrate game engines to solve simulation problems. The game industry sets the bar high for visual quality. MetaVR strives to bridge the gap between the visual quality of game engines and the scalability requirements for realworld geospecific simulations. O rmrybacki@metavr.com www.MT2-kmi.com
NEXTISSUE
October 2014 Vol. 19, Issue 7
America's Longest Established Simulation & Training Magazine
Cover and In-Depth Interview with:
Gen. David G. Perkins Commanding General TRADOC
Special Section Medical Simulation Resource Guide Medical simulation plays a critical role in maintaining operational readiness for military medics, and the developers who provide these solutions are consistently using innovative technologies to meet the needs of the military.
Command Profile: NAVAIR University’s School of Modeling and Simulation
Features Distance Learning
Targets
MOUT Training
Military leadership and industry leaders are working on meeting security concerns and other distance learning challenges in the hopes of stretching this type of training and education even further.
A big part of weapons training is not only the ranges used, but the targets as well. With technology steadily advancing, warfighters can recover even more data to help hone their skills.
Enhancing the realism of military operations on urban terrain has been a consistent goal of the military to provide the warfighter with the best training and preparation possible.
Insertion Order Deadline: September 24, 2014 • Ad Materials Deadline: October 1, 2014
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