Land: Army blending live and simulated training more | ADM March 2013

Australian troops participating with US forces in Exercise Talisman Sabre 2013 later this year will benefit from an unsung but refreshingly efficient operation in which Army’s deployable instrumented live simulation training system was upgraded and its capacity nearly tripled within a demanding timeframe.

The expanded system now provides what is thought to be a unique rate of data collection and reporting on both soldiers and vehicles to support Army’s collective training validation during the readying phase of force structure preparedness.

A core deployable instrumented live instrumented simulation (LIS) training system was delivered under Project Land 134 Phase 1 to Army’s Combat Training Centre (CTC) in Townsville in 2006 by prime contractor Cubic Defence NZ (CDNZ).

Comprising 300 instrumented soldier harnesses intended to overlay and integrate with old-style H-Harness webbing, the system also included 38 vehicle kits to enable position tracking and adjudication in combat vehicle force-on-force engagements.

The CTC-LIS combination involves the use of applique laser and radio frequency-based systems that simulate direct and some indirect weapon and other area effects in the live domain.

It also provides range instrumentation, GPS position-locating and the communications networks needed for the CTC to collect and analyse real-time situation and event data from exercise participants and vehicles.

While effective, in 25 of the 41 combined arms exercises in which LIS was used to prepare troops for operational service, the demand for the system exceeded its capacity.

Approval to expand the core system by engaging the Original Equipment Manufacturer (CDNZ) was received in February last year. This was on the basis the enhancements would be installed, tested and operational by the start of Exercise Hamel 2012, just over three months later. This in turn was driven by Army’s need to meet its desired effect on the exercise for certification of foundation warfighting skills at formation level.

Five months earlier CDNZ had presented its new Personal Area Network (PAN) system to a stakeholder meeting as the logical progression should the existing system be expanded. This would normally take 12 months for manufacture, delivery and integration.

Confidence in its product and the level of interest shown worldwide decided CDNZ to begin PAN production prior to receiving any orders. When the Commonwealth decided last February to proceed with the expansion, it was the system’s launch customer.

“We’d decided to start producing kit immediately in order to be ahead of the game should we actually get a contract,” explained Mark Horn, Townsville-based general manager of Cubic Defence Australia, who works with CDNZ on their CTC-LIS contract.

“We delivered the equipment from Auckland in late April which was pretty much unheard of. But before that we got the entire system out onto an old airfield near Townsville, we tested every harness one by one, and then all together. Then we went to the exercise and instrumented about 1,200 sq km.”

PAN utilises a unique radio protocol similar to Bluetooth that enables a large number of modules in close proximity, operating at very low power, to communicate with each other without interference.

Unlike LIS, the soldier is not encumbered by connecting wires, meaning the harness modules can be attached to the more recent MOLLE (Modular Lightweight Loadcarrying Equipment) harness, with soldiers having more flexibility in the placement of instrumentation.

“The previous harness was worn over the soldier’s equipment as an overlay. We worked with Diggerworks through the design process to provide a solution that minimises obstruction to the soldier. What was achieved in such a short timeframe was pretty amazing,” Horn said. “It’s not an overlay so it’s cooler, and it’s much more user-friendly for soldiers like armour crewmen who have to jump in and out of their vehicles.

“Soldiers don’t want to be told in the old way that you have to wear this here or there, so we decided to give them three basic ways to fit the equipment and let them figure it out from there.”

The new harness weighs in at about 3.5 kilograms, slightly lighter than the LIS unit. It involves very little fabric, meaning it’s noticeably lighter when wet and the battery life of the radio that advises Exercise Control of the soldier’s status has been extended from three to four days or more dependent on the rate of use.

New and old gear

A contractual requirement was that the PAN system retained compatibility with existing and legacy ADF instrumentation systems – in this case LIS and the earlier TESS (Tactical Engagement Simulation System), whose capability is limited to recording hits on soldiers, but may nevertheless supplement the newer systems in Exercise Talisman Sabre 2013.

Both PAN and LIS offer the same output for after-action review, performance management, situational awareness and adjudication. LIS harnesses can be upgraded to the same build configuration as the PAN but this is yet to occur.

When a soldier is tagged by the laser projector on another soldier’s weapon, the event information is sent via a radio signal to the nearest ground relay station. This is then passed along other such stations until it reaches the Exercise Control Centre, where the data is interpreted by the system and provides a visual depiction on a computerised map.

At the micro level each LIS/PAN-equipped soldier is represented by an icon which is updated every four seconds. When he is killed or injured the icon changes to show this, and the exercise controller can click on the icon for more detail.

The participant is informed by an audio signal on his harness that he has been killed or injured.  If the latter, the injury is classified and the soldier then deteriorates in line with that injury’s characteristics.

If the tag is registered as a kill, the soldier’s laser projector is disabled so that he can not engage other soldiers, his harness continues to emit a tone indicating that he is dead, and if he continues to move or remains upright, this is automatically reported to Exercise Control as potential cheating.

Although this element was not utilised in Hamel 2012, virtual medical aid can be applied to the soldier and his rate of deterioration will be slowed or stabilised. If the incorrect treatment is applied or no treatment is given, the rate of deterioration will increase.

With artillery fire, the system monitors reports from the gunline to the fire command post. It then fires a matching electronic fire mission and maps the coordinates and characteristics of the fire mission against the positions of individual soldiers and advises via their harness if they have been affected.

LIS on vehicles

Combat vehicle tactical engagement tracking kits are in demand.

“We have the capacity to instrument 40 and ideally 120-150 vehicles would be more reflective of operations”, comments Major Troy Stevens, the Combat Training Centre LIS liaison officer.

“For Exercise Talisman Sabre, we’ll attempt to track another 35 by attaching GPS tracked observer-trainer harnesses.”

An unintended benefit of the GPS tracking system is Exercise Control’s ability to direct a vehicle to a genuine casualty and reduce the time taken to provide medical treatment. During Hamel 2012 this capability was used to locate two soldiers (reportedly with American accents) who found themselves geographically embarrassed (lost).

In addition, Hamel 2012 saw interim instrumentation for the first time of the Abrams M1A1 main battle tank, with a full solution for the Abrams and Hercules recovery vehicles expected to be ready for evaluation by the end of the year.

The interim solution allowed GPS tracking of the tank and engagement with instrumented soldiers and vehicles, removing the need for manual adjudication by umpires. Manual reporting of the event to Exercise Control was still required.

The Army has 300 LIS and 800 PAN harnesses and the Exercise Control Centre can handle 1,000 participants as a matter of routine, and up to 2,400 with changes in the reporting cycle. Existing live simulation resources thus provide an instrumented capability for a full battlegroup – in essence, a battalion with supporting elements – with this capability able to be more than doubled if required.

The PAN system sends messages to a participant’s harness every second, while messages from the player to Exercise Control are currently transmitted every four seconds, although this would be changed to every eight seconds should more harnesses be acquired.

“Australia has one of the world’s most developed system. Nobody else operates a system where modules are operating at the reporting rates we are able to achieve across the battlefield in Australia,” comments Horn.

Future development

Future development paths may include an interface to allow LIS and PAN data to be fed into the Elbit battle management system being delivered under Land 73. A further area for development may be the inclusion of aviation, in particular the Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopter, UAVs, and other effects such as combat air patrol and close air support that are beyond the scope of the existing project.

Nevertheless the enhancement of the instrumented live training system to its current status saw Hamel 2012 deliver the largest simulation-enabled instrumented exercise yet undertaken in Australia, together with some worthwhile pointers on rapid project management.

An Integrated Product Team (IPT) grouping representatives from DMO, CDNZ, Cubic Defence Australia, Army Headquarters and the CTC was established in February 2012, a month before contract signature.

IPT members agreed on open communication and sharing of information, including a common risk register. Risk tolerances, adherence to agreed scope, cost and schedule were closely monitored and payments were clearly linked to key capability milestones.

“We’ve got the technical and analytical staff working on the range with Army in every exercise, we have a very close relationship, they didn’t have to sit down and write a new requirements paper because the existing Land 134 Phase 1 requirements remained valid,” Horn commented.

“CTC and the DMO were under pressure to deliver effective instrumentation to Army for Exercise Hamel 2012. If Cubic had let them down it would have been unforgiveable”.