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05 Oct 21. InVeris Training Solutions to debut immersive virtual reality product at AUSA 2021. InVeris Training Solutions, the leading provider of integrated virtual and live-fire training systems and services for domestic and international law enforcement customers, will utilize the Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting and Exposition (AUSA) to debut its fully immersive VR-DT (Virtual Reality – Decisions and Tactics) system for de-escalation training. AUSA’s event, to be held on Oct. 11-13 in Washington, D.C., brings together more than 31,000 senior Army leaders, allied officers and top industry executives, plus 700 suppliers from across the United States and beyond.
“InVeris looks forward to showing the U.S. Army and allied military leadership how our new VR-DT system can revolutionize de-escalation instruction to keep soldiers safe, as well as those they defend in an immersive virtual training environment,” said Andrea Czop, InVeris’ vice president of sales, marketing and programs.
VR-DT uses virtual reality to provide military police, security forces and law enforcement agencies the ability to maximize readiness and correctly educate soldiers for field experiences. The system combines state-of-the-art hardware, scalable software and a content library that is always increasing. Wireless headsets deliver impressive 360-degree fields of view and weapons tracking, enabling soldiers to train in fully immersive environments that put them in a virtual location. VR-DT enhances training for de-escalation, safety tactics, mental health crisis intervention, use of force and protocol. A lightweight, fully customized laptop allows an instructor to direct the scenarios, environments and weapons.
The August 5 acquisition of Dallas-based SURVIVR provides additional VR-based assets and expertise that will enhance InVeris’ industry-leading readiness training solutions portfolio. In turn, this will help the company build on its long-standing commitment to deliver effective, reliable, and innovative products and services for when split-second decisions matter.
InVeris also will highlight its FATS® 100MIL small-arms simulator and related BlueFire® weapons for marksmanship, collective and judgmental training, plus our next-generation platforms. The system is ideal for military forces and law enforcement looking to upgrade or procure new solutions to deliver a more realistic training environment based on Army-certified ballistics.
The FATS 100MIL is a major expansion in weapons training capability with advanced game engine 3D marksmanship, enhanced weapons diagnostics with intelligent automatic coaching and collective training. The system provides an impressive array of functionality for both instructor and trainee, delivering solid weapon-handling and shot-placement analytics, coaching tools that automatically highlight trainee results for reinforcement or correction, and enhanced graphic capabilities for an all-encompassing immersive training platform.
To speak with an InVeris representative during the AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition, visit booth #3439 or schedule an appointment at https://www.inveristraining.com/events.
06 Oct 21. Cubic Supporting Synthetic Inject to Live – Live Virtual Constructive Training Events. Cubic Corporation announced today that along with The Boeing Company, it has been supporting Synthetic Inject to Live (SITL) – Live Virtual constructive Training Events at NAS Pax River, MD, from September 14-30, 2021, and will again in December 2021 (date TBD).
As the Services are increasingly moving towards the use of Live Virtual Constructive training to generate readiness and produce fiscal efficiencies, Boeing and Cubic have been working to support NAVAIR PMA-265’s LVC Technologies Team in maturing and advancing the capability for rapid acceleration into the Fleet training enterprise.
Their work builds on the highly successful 2018 Secure LVC Advanced Training Environment (SLATE) Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) where operational 4th Gen USAF and USN fighters integrated with Virtual and Constructive entities at Large Force Exercise (LFE) scale in the Nellis Test and Training Range.
“The ability to rapidly upgrade existing range infrastructure and integrate Live participants with a common synthetic environment is essential to provide the realism needed for the Night One scenario,” said Mike Knowles, president of Cubic Mission and Performance Solutions. “It’s not enough to field a system that can only support one platform. It has to deliver the common training environment for the way we will fight – distributed, alongside Joint and Coalition partners, leveraging advantages in multiple domains with proficient warfighters.”
The SITL-LVC effort includes the ability to guise participants for them to appear across all the Blue platform system displays as the desired entity. Other key aspects of the flight testing included the integration of the Navy’s Next Generation Threat System (NGTS) for both tethered and untethered operations and connecting U.S. Navy MH-60, F/A-18 simulators, F-35 Effects Based Simulators (EBS), and the Aegis Battle Force Tactical Trainers to Live aircraft via the Navy’s Continuous Training Environment.
The test flights validated the Government-owned technical data package, which uses IEEE standards, USG-owned 5G Advanced Training Waveform (5G ATW) and an NSA Type I MILS architecture. Collectively, those capabilities fully link Live aircraft into the common synthetic environment being used across USN and USAF training enterprises, thus reducing risk for rapid transition into the Service Programs of Record.
The flight tests also provided a demonstration of the SLATE systems’ successful integration with the F/A-18 Link Inject to Live (LITL) training capability, currently fielded at various Naval Air Stations. Integrating LITL with SLATE will provide the additional scale and integration of the Joint and Coalition partner platforms into a common synthetic environment where counter air, counter surface, and counter EW mission threads can be trained to at LFE scale. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
07 Oct 21. Bell Teams With CAE USA for US Army FLRAA and FARA Training. Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced it has signed a teaming agreement with CAE USA Inc., a globally recognized training and mission systems integrator. As part of the collaboration, CAE has agreed to provide Maintenance Training Devices, to assist in the development of Flight Training Devices, and deliver other training products including courseware, Interactive Multimedia Instruction, and procedural training solutions for Bell’s Future Vertical Lift family of systems.
As a member of Team Valor and Team Invictus, CAE brings unparalleled experience and technological proficiency in U.S. Army Aviation training that will provide invaluable support as FLRAA and FARA move to programs of record. Per the terms of the agreement, CAE will host early V-280 Valor training at their Dothan, Alabama Training Facility. At this state-of-the-art CAE facility, Army Aviators will have access to next-generation training capabilities.
“Future Vertical Lift is ushering in next-generation capabilities to the U.S. Army. CAE will provide soldiers the operability and maintainability knowledge base needed to successfully operate the V-280 Valor and 360 Invictus in contested environments,” said Keith Flail, Executive Vice President, Advanced Vertical Lift Systems. “The addition of CAE to Team Valor and Team Invictus demonstrates not only Bell’s commitment to providing the Army the highest performance and flight-proven option to move FLRAA and FARA to programs of record, but also to provide the best training solution possible to the Warfighters.”
With the progression of FLRAA and FARA towards programs of record, Team Valor and Team Invictus are committed to adding industry innovators that will provide Army Aviation transformational capabilities. Delivering these advanced weapons systems requires going beyond just developing cutting-edge technology. It also calls for ensuring that warfighters are fully prepared to utilize this technology for multi-domain operations.
“FLRAA and FARA are critical for Army modernization,” said Daniel Gelston, Group President, CAE Defense and Security. “CAE’s digital technology and synthetic training environments partnered with Bell’s enhanced flight-proven platforms, the V-280 Valor and the 360 Invictus, deliver transformational capabilities to Army aviation. We provide soldiers advanced operational training and enable the Army’s transition to Future Vertical Lift technology. CAE is proud to contribute to Team Valor and Team Invictus as part of efforts to prepare the next-generation of Army Aviation for future battlefields.” (Source: ASD Network)
07 Oct 21. Calian Now Offers End-to-End Military Training and Simulation Solutions with Acquisition of SimFront Simulation Systems Corporation. Acquisition builds upon long-standing relationship between Calian and SimFront. Calian® Group Ltd. (TSX: CGY), provider of trusted solutions across Advanced Technologies, Health, Learning and IT and Cyber Solutions segments, announces the acquisition of Canadian-based SimFront, effective immediately.
Calian and SimFront have a 15-year collaborative relationship within the Department of National Defence.
During this 15-year period, the SimFront Virtual Command and Control Interface (VCCI) Tool Suite has served as the cornerstone for Simulation-to-Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) integration/interoperability and After-Action Review (AAR). The VCCI Tool Suite combined with Calian MaestroEDE™ will now enable Calian to provide end-to-end military training and simulation capabilities and pursue new opportunities with customers seeking integration and immersive training support. SimFront integration and augmented/virtual/mixed reality solutions elevate Calian capabilities in this area.
SimFront customers include Land Forces and Navy in the Canadian Department of National Defence, the UK Ministry of Defence and the Asia Pacific Region. Their simulation-to-C4ISR integration expertise and solutions help strengthen decision-making, performance and readiness of tactical commanders and staff in operational environments.
In addition to strong defence experience, SimFront is also a leader in immersive training simulations for the healthcare and oil & gas industries and has been developing simulation software since 2013. These simulations help improve employee safety and performance against identified tasks.
“We look forward to building upon the long-standing relationship we have with Calian. SimFront is committed to delivering quality solutions to our existing, joint customers and supporting the Calian expansion into the European market,” said Chad Watson, Director, SimFront.
“Having successfully collaborated with SimFront for 15 years, I am confident that this is a solid culture fit. Our customers need an end-to-end offering in the training and simulation space, and with SimFront we will continue to over-deliver on customer expectations. This acquisition aligns strongly with all four pillars of our growth strategy – continuous improvement, customer retention, customer diversification and innovation,” said Kevin Ford, Calian CEO.
The definitive agreement is valued at up to CDN$15 m. The amount paid on closing is CDN$9 m and contains earnouts of up to CDN$6 m based on the achievement of a certain level of EBITDA performance over the next 24 months.
The acquisition of SimFront is effective October 7, 2021.
05 Oct 21. US, six allied and partner nations conduct European Partnership Flight. The week-long event witnessed participation of representatives from USEUCOM, USAFE, alongside other allies and partners.
The US Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE) has announced that the service members from the US Army and six allied partner nations participated in a European Partnership Flight (EPF) event.
The event is a Baltic Radar and Sensor Visibility and Integration Workshop co-hosted by US Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa and the Estonian Ministry of Defence.
It was conducted in Tallinn, Estonia, last month.
This week-long event witnessed the participation of representatives from US European Command (USEUCOM), US Naval Forces Europe – Africa (CNE-CNA), and USAFE, alongside partners from Estonia, Sweden, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia and Finland.
During the event, representatives of these nations discussed the ‘way-ahead’ in support of the radar and sensor visibility and other integration efforts throughout the Baltic Region.
US Air Force colonel 603rd Air Operations Center deputy commander Victoria Habas said: “The EPF is our chance to synchronise with our partners about our shared vision for theatre operations.
“This kind of in-person event has been sorely missed over the last couple of years while travel was constrained.
“We make great gains in trust and confidence amongst each other when we have a chance to hear questions, address concerns, brainstorm and even socialise with one another.
“Our partners possess outstanding capability in both their equipment and their people. In order to be successful in a future fight, we have to be able to bring those capabilities to bear seamlessly with our own.”
The USAF noted that the workshop concentrated on the tasks required to integrate data from organic radars.
It also supported a ‘Significant Security Cooperation Initiative’ aimed at developing a robust command and control network that supports Nato and partner forces.
The workshop results will help the US forces to prepare its workforce and Baltic partners for the next Astral Knight Exercise expected to take place next year. (Source: airforce-technology.com)
06 Oct 21. FPDA countries participate in Bersama Gold 2021 tri-service exercise. Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and the UK are the FPDA countries. XBG21 is the first FPDA exercise to be conducted physically as a field training exercise. Credit: MINDEF / Government of Singapore.
Militaries from Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) countries are participating in a two-week exercise, Bersama Gold 2021 (XBG21).
The tri-service exercise, being held in the southern parts of the South China Sea, was previously named ‘Exercise Bersama Lima’. It was renamed this year to mark the FDPA’s 50th anniversary.
The FPDA countries are Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. It was established in 1971.
According to the Singapore Ministry of Defence (MINDEF), the exercise is witnessing the participation of some 2,600 troops.
In addition, the exercise will also see the participation of ten ships, one submarine, six maritime helicopters, three maritime patrol aircraft, and 25 fighter aircraft.
Two support aircraft and one command and control (C2) aircraft will also take part in the contactless exercise.
XBG21 will include contactless maritime and air components, as well as a virtual land workshop.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, XBG21 is the first FPDA exercise to be conducted physically as a field training exercise.
It started on 4 October and will run until 18 October.
In addition, airforces from the FPDA countries will exercise with each other in air serials such as air defence exercises.
These airforces also support the maritime component in anti-submarine exercises.
Anti-air and anti-submarine exercises, gunnery firings and manoeuvring drills will be conducted in the exercise.
Meanwhile, a land component in the exercise includes a virtual jungle warfare workshop.
XBG 21 deputy ex-director colonel Ng Xun Xi said: “Exercise Bersama Gold will facilitate the sharing of professional knowledge and experiences and enhance mutual understanding and trust between personnel from the FPDA member-nations.
“I’m heartened to see that despite the Covid-19 situation, FPDA member-nations remain very committed to the exercise. Singapore is also glad to play our part by hosting the participating ANZUK assets.”
Exercise Suman Warrior and Exercise Bersama Shield are some of the FPDA exercises that witness regular participation of SAF. (Source: airforce-technology.com)
04 Oct 21. India and Nepal conclude Surya Kiran joint military drill. The exercise witnessed participation of Infantry Battalion from the Indian Army and an equivalent Nepalese counterpart. The exercise validated the performance of both the armies in counterinsurgency operations. The armies of India and Nepal have concluded the 15th edition of a joint military exercise, Surya Kiran XV, at Pithoragarh in the state of Uttarakhand, India. The conclusion follows 14 days of intense military training. Exercise Surya Kiran XV started on 20 September. The Infantry Battalion of the Indian Army and an equivalent counterpart from the Nepali Army participated in the joint military drill. During the exercise, the two forces shared their experiences drawn from several counter-terrorism and disaster relief operations. Following rigorous military training, armies of the two nations showcased their combat power and dominance against the terrorist groups during the ‘Validation Exercise’. The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that it provided an opportunity for the armies to strengthen the long-standing professional and social relationship. The MoD said: “The senior officials expressed their satisfaction and appreciation towards the professional conduct of the exercise.
“The bonhomie, esprit-de-corps and goodwill generated during the exercise will go a long way in future strengthening the bonds between the armed forces of both countries.”
Exercise Surya Kiran aims to build interoperability and share expertise between the two countries.
Every year, the Surya Kiran series of exercises is conducted in either Nepal or India. The last edition of the Surya Kiran exercise was concluded in Nepal in 2019.
In November 2016, India and Nepal completed the tenth edition of the Surya Kiran-X exercise, at the Army Battle School in Saljhandi, Nepal.
(Source: army-technology.com)
01 Oct 21. US Air Combat Command conducts Strategic Validation Exercise 4. The exercise included active duty wing commanders and their designated representatives from 28 wings within ACC. The US Air Force’s (USAF’s) Air Combat Command (ACC) has completed the Strategic Validation Exercise (SVE) 4 at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton, Virginia. The fourth iteration of the exercise included active-duty wing commanders and their designated representatives from 28 wings within the command. It focused on stress testing and enhancing key concepts of the new Air Force Generation (AFFORGEN) model, force presentation (AFFORPRES), and Agile Combat Employment (ACE) at the wing level of operations.
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ACC director of operations major general Mark Slocum said: “The goal of SVE4 is to bring together our wing commanders and address the long-term big-rock issues for the Air Force with AFFORGEN and ACE concepts.
“With the model we’ve had, the airforce was eating up readiness faster than we could maintain it. AFFORGEN addresses that issue for our future combat-ready forces to be available for any high-end fight.”
AFFORGEN is the new force-generation model that replaces the Air Expeditionary Force construct to ensure sustainable and high-end airpower readiness for the joint force.
It restructures force generation into four six-month readiness phases that span over a 24-month cycle.
Separately, ACE is an operational scheme of manoeuvre executed within threat timelines to boost survivability.
The USAF aims to achieve initial operating capability with AFFORGEN and ACE by the fiscal year 2023.
Slocum added: “There are a lot of variables to AFFORGEN and ACE, we will try things and adjust as needed, and we surely won’t get it 100% correct at the start, but that is why we test and apply lessons to make it better.
“You’re part of a massive change that’s coming for our forces for the future fight. This is an exciting time to be in the airforce and bring needed change for our warfighters.” (Source: airforce-technology.com)
30 Sep 21. Australia and Indo-Pacific partners wrap-up Timor-Leste exercise. ADF personnel have completed the ninth iteration of Exercise Hari’i Hamutuk in Timor-Leste with defence partners from across the Indo-Pacific region.
Hari’i Hamutuk, which means ‘build together’ in Tetum, was conducted from August to September and focused on exchanging trade-skills, supporting the growth of Timor-Leste’s defence capability and increasing interoperability between the ADF and partner nations.
The multilateral engineering exercise involved a combined ADF contingent who worked closely with the Forҫas de Defesa de Timor-Leste (F-FDTL), the New Zealand Defence Force, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force and the US Navy.
The ADF completed construction enhancements at the Tilomar Border Outpost in the country’s south west, and completed numerous construction and maintenance projects at the Metinaro Military Base and the Port Hera Naval Base.
Exercise Hari’i Hamutuk 2021 greatly enhanced the relationships between partner forces throughout the region, according to Contingent Commander Major Michael Cannington.
“Australia and Timor-Leste have a long history of military co-operation reflecting the strong friendship and bonds between our two nations,” he said.
“Working together with the F-FDTL and other nations has allowed us to continue to build trust in our shared knowledge and common engineering practices.”
Exercise Hari’i Hamutuk 21 involved ADF Mobile Training Teams drawn from the Army’s 1st Combat Engineer Regiment, 10th Force Support Battalion, 1st Close Health Battalion, School of Military Engineering and the Royal Australian Air Force.
These teams delivered specialised training to F-FDTL personnel in vertical and horizontal construction, vehicle, heavy equipment and small engine maintenance, air conditioning repair, water purification, combat engineering, welding, medical skills, catering skills, signals, operational planning and logistics.
Participating this year was Sapper Bianca Kempen, on attachment from the Australian Army School of Military Engineering.
“I learnt a lot of Tetum during my time here, and how to work and assist other trade specialities from not only the ADF but from across all partner nations,” she said.
“Being able to work closely with partner forces including the F-FDTL has given me the opportunity to learn and hone new skills and techniques which I wouldn’t have been exposed to back in Australia.”
On return to Australia, ADF personnel will undertake 14 days of quarantine. Their arrival and quarantine does not affect the repatriation of Australians from overseas, or impact international arrival caps.
(Source: Defence Connect)
30 Sep 21. US and Serbia take part in joint airborne training during Skybridge 21. Skybridge 21 is a bi-lateral training exercise held in Serbia. The US Army and Serbian forces have participated in airborne operations and rapid response missions as part of Skybridge 21.
Skybridge 21 is a bilateral training exercise that was conducted in Serbia from 13-17 September. The exercise is aimed at improving interoperability of allied and partner nations by showcasing the unit’s ability to readily respond to any kind of scenario.
Paratroopers from 54th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade and the 63rd Parachute Brigade (BDE), and Serbian Armed Forces worked alongside supporting components in the exercise.
The troops conducted a joint force airborne operation with an aerial humanitarian aid package delivery.
US Serbia Ambassador Anthony Godfrey said: “The overall goal of this exercise is to build the relationship, to build confidence in each other, to establish better interoperability, and to develop Serbia [Armed Forces] as a partner that we’re going to be able to work with when the going gets tough.”
According to the US Army, the mission execution began with a high-altitude low opening jump conducted by some 30 special operations paratroopers from the 63rd BDE.
This set of paratroopers set up initial security on the drop zone for the primary force of US and Serbian static line jumpers.
Once all these paratroopers were on the ground, they quickly assembled and moved to another drop zone to take delivery of humanitarian aid packages of both the US and Serbia.
The mission was completed upon the recovery and distribution of the packages.
During the exercise, both the US and Serbian planners jointly worked to design a plan to quickly deploy around 180 paratroopers and ten humanitarian aid packages by air within a three-hour time.
An unnamed US Army 63rd BDE Special Operations deputy parachute training officer said: “This training is a great experience.
“Our parachute riggers from the Serbian Armed Forces can learn what equipment is used by American parachute riggers. They can exchange experiences and see what specific methods can be used for cargo delivery.” (Source: army-technology.com)
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About InVeris Training Solutions
InVeris Training Solutions combines an agile approach with an unmatched expertise in training technology to design and deliver customized, cutting-edge, first-rate training solutions that keep military, law enforcement, private and commercial range clients safe, prepared and ready to serve – Because Seconds Matter™. With a portfolio of technology-enabled training solutions, and a team of 400 employees driven to innovate, InVeris Training Solutions is the global leader in integrated live-fire and virtual weapons training solutions. With its legacy companies, FATS® and Caswell, InVeris Training Solutions has fielded over 15,000 live-fire ranges and 7,500 virtual systems globally during its 90-year history. The Company is headquartered in Suwanee, Georgia and partners with clients in the US and around the world from facilities on five continents.
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