Presented at SMi's 7th Annual Future Armoured Vehicles, Central and Eastern Europe - 18 May 2021

1. of ###
1
Training
and
Simulation
Trends
Andy Fawkes
7th Annual SMi
Future ArmouredVehicles
Central and Eastern Europe
18 May 2021
Credit – American Rheinmetall

2. The
Presenter
Twitter
@andyfawkes1
LinkedIn
andyfawkes
email
andy.fawkes@thinke.co.uk
Before Now

3. Presentation
Overview
• Operational trends
• Future Soldiers
• Training Systems Trends
• XR – eXtended Reality
• Some Other Technologies…

4. Operational Trends

5. The
Character
of Warfare
& Future
Threats
29 Apr 2021
(Edited)

6. A Mixed
Fleet for
Many Years
to Come

7. The nature of warfare
No battle plan
withstands
contact with
the enemy

8. Future Soldiers

9. (Digital) Soldier of the Future?
•Who will they be?
•What will they do?
•Where will they be?
•How will they train?
•Will we need them?

10. (British)
Army Age
Distribution
UK Defence Personnel Statistics - CBP7930, 12 June 2018

11. “Digital Native”
Over 2/3rds of the Army are Digital
Natives and 95% by 2030

12. Video
Games
•The $175bn video games
ecosystem is vast and
constantly evolving
•Serving 2.8bn gamers
across the world

13. 93% of Children Play
Video Games
Children's Commissioner for England (2019)

14. COVID-19
Digital Acceleration
British Army
of 48
14

15. Skill Fade

16. Tip of the Spear Innovation

17. Training Systems Trends

18. Enduring
Training
Requirements
Faster
Cheaper
Better
Flexible
Interoperable

19. Simulated
Real
Live
Virtual Constructive
People
Equipment
Simulated
Real
Simulation
Categories
(LVC)

20. Live
Training
• It is generally perceived that the newer recruits have different aspirations and learning styles to those of previous
generations. Recruitment and retention are significant issues in several nations so it is vital to understand what
recruits are seeking from a military career, how they learn best and how to maintain their motivation. Excellent
training, transferable skills and a working environment which supports diversity will become increasingly
important.
Times Photographer
Richard Pohle

21. • Computing
• Games
• Networking
• Graphics
• Audio
• Human Interfaces
• Sensors
• Data
• AI
• 5G
Training & Simulation Technology Drivers

22. Live & Simulation Based Training
Training Type
X Y Z
Trend
Simulation
Live

23. Why Use
Simulation
in
Training?

24. Training
System
Availability
Part Task
General Purpose
Devices (e.g. VR)
Full/Platform

25. Embedded
Training
Bradley AFV
Credit - Oasis Advanced Engineering

26. UK Combined Arms
Tactical Trainer
(CATT)
Image Credit – Lockheed Martin

27. Simulation
Everywhere

28. Simulation Now - Land, Sea, Air, Anywhere

29. Whole Earth Simulation

30. Do You Need High Physical Fidelity?
2019

31. Combat Support – Training & Ops?
Credit – Kognitiv Spark

32. Decision
Support
UK MoD
“Single
Synthetic
Environment”

33. Simulation
(VBS3)
Experimentation
APS
+
Autonomous
Systems

34. Military Access to Simulation
1990 2000
Numbers
10’s
100’s
1,000’s
2010 2020

35. Future
Emphasis?
Now Future
Training Centres Training Hubs

36. XR

37. XR

38. VR-Based
Training at
Scale
(2019)
• 18,500 Lufthansa cabin crew practice
safety-related training required by the
authorities in 18 VR cabins located in
Frankfurt and Munich
• Trainees receive a short introduction
from the digital assistant, and during
the entire exercise a single panel
operator can monitor multiple cabins

39. Safety
Critical VR-
Based
Training

40. Mixed Reality
in Operations

41. Decision
Support

42. See What the
Machine Sees
Through AR
(Augmented
Reality)
Iviz

43. UK VRLT
Battlesbury
Barracks,
Warminster
UK

44. UK Virtual
Reality in Land
Training (VRLT)
Pilot - 2019
The aim of the VRLT pilot was to
identify the opportunities that
Virtual Reality technology offers the
Future Collective Training System

45. VRLT’s Principal Training Audience
Dismounts
Warrior
1
Warrior
2
Warrior
3
Challenger 2
Tank 31

46. VRLT
ORBAT

47. Collective Training Teamwork Taxonomy
• Leadership – character, knowledge and action that inspires
• Situation Awareness – shared mental model of team situation
• Decision Making – team collectively makes a choice
• Communication – right information, right people, right time
• Co-operation – team goals over individual’s

48. Why VR for Collective Training?
• Immersive environment creates a
challenging environment
• Can rapidly rehearse and repeatedly
practice in a variety of scenarios
• Flexible, scalable, deployable and cost
effective
• “in desktop simulation you look at the
virtual world, in VR, you are in it”

49. Comprehension
Perception Projection
SITUATION AWARENESS
Decide Act
Based on Endsley’s SA Three Level Model
World
! !
!

50. Practice, Practice, Practice!
Individually and in Teams

51. VRLT1
The Video

52. VRLT1
The Video

54. Some Other
Technologies…

55. Training as
a
Process…
eg.
Recruits
eg.
Simulator
eg.
Data

56. Wearables

57. Eye
Tracking

58. Digital
Twins & the
Temporal
Use of Data

59. Next-Generation User Interfaces
• Gesture Interfaces
• Tangible User Interface
• Emotion Sensing
• Brain-Computer Interface

60. World
of
Tanks

61. Towards the
“Metaverse”
Metaverse is a term for the concept of a
virtual shared space that converges with
actual reality
The convergence of virtually enhanced
physical reality and physically persistent
virtual space, including the sum of all virtual
worlds, augmented reality, and the Internet

62. The
Challenge
•Innovation and Agility
Vs?
•Long Term Support

63. of ###
63
Questions?
Andy Fawkes
7th Annual SMi
Future ArmouredVehicles
Central and Eastern Europe
18 May 2021
Credit - BISim