Close combat training technology specialists, 4GD, have signed a contract of participation with the British Army to demonstrate the capabilities of their SmartFacility synthetic training environment at the Army Warfighting Experiment (AWE) 2021.
Incorporating two new products that were launched in January this year, ACIES and ECFECTUS, 4GD will showcase its dismounted close quarters combat synthetic wrap that can support seamless high-quality urban warfare simulation across live and virtual worlds, combined arms training and data capture and analysis.
The exercise will be conducted simultaneously at 4GD’s new META Lab in Berkshire and the recently delivered SmartFacility in service with the British Army’s 16 Air Assault Brigade at Colchester, with the two physical facilities networked into a single IntegratedRealities environment.
Rob Taylor, Founder of 4GD, said: “The goal of this experiment is to demonstrate how 4GD technology can enable the localisation of high readiness close quarter and combined arms training in an IntegratedRealities environment while also decentralising training, so soldiers and commanders can manage their personal performance against a seamless simulation of a real-life urban battlefield, without having to leave the facility physically.”
Adding to the existing immersive special effects of the 4GD SmartFacility, the ACIES IntegratedRealities System will deliver the synthetic aspects of the scenario. The resulting environment will include SimStriker smart-target adversaries, a virtual drone, a synthetic mortar trainer delivered by 4GD partners D3A, and a marksman in synthetic overwatch. These assets will be physically split between the two facilities, but synthetically relocated for the exercise.
While the operation is ongoing, the ECFECTUS tactical performance data collection suite will draw information from various sources including 4GD SimStriker smart targets to provide feedback on lethality, survivability, mobility and sustainability, and drive performance improvements for warfighters.
“As British troops are more likely to face well-equipped adversaries in modern urban battlefields, we feel privileged to be part of AWE21 where we can contribute our solutions and demonstrate how high-intensity training in a realistic synthetic environment can be a force multiplier that ensures mission success,” Taylor added. “The format offered by AWE is a highly valuable exercise as it allows us to get feedback on our developments directly from the end user, which helps us to tailor our solutions in line with their emerging requirements and ensure our R&D is focused in the right direction.”
The Army Warfighting Experiment is the annual live trial of prototypes and emerging military technologies run by the British Army to encourage innovation and foster close cooperation with leading businesses across every defence industry niche. Phase 3 of AWE21 is set to take place in autumn this year.