A Revolution in Army Affairs occurs whenever a nations military services seizes an opportunity to transform its strategy, military services doctrine, training, education, organisation, equipment, procedures, & tactics to attain decisive military ends up with fundamentally new ways.
- Draw out from Chapter 10 of the United States Joint Perspective 2010 document
Indian Army's experience in the various fronts where it's been deployed within the last two decades, tensions on the need of militarily well trained troops who are also capable to respond to swiftly changing situations. Because of the increasing involvement of the Military in its unconventional role of Counter Terrorist Operations, there is a need of not only the traditional rigorous military trained in handling the individual weaponry along with field craft, but also how to quickly adjust to evolving situations, respond to them & form the neighborhood conditions to create the best results without causing any collateral damage to life, sentiments & property of local civilian human population. Keeping in view idea of simulator based mostly training, management of scarce tool, the need for enhancing combat effectiveness & predicated on the degrees of training requirements reviewed earlier the suitable areas & strategy for job of Simulators for armed service training is talked about in pursuing paragraphs.
Skill & Staff Trainers. It would mostly be for specific skill training of equipment that a particular group of soldier holders e. g. for nearly all the troops, specifically for infantry, managing & firing from their basic personal weapon (INSAS 5. 56 mm rifle) would come under this category, a gunnery part-task trainer simulator for a gunner & driving of his A or B vehicle, etc for a driver. This will form the essential building
block from where simulated training will start.
Task & Tactical Instructors. After attaining basic skills, the soldiers need to graduate from individual skill to working as a team. While individual skill remains important here also, what's similarly important would the impact of individual soldiers in the overall end result of the team's end result. Here the soldiers should be trained to do their job as a tiny team/crew. It might be imperative for them to understand other team member's role & tasks. The skill & coordination between each & every customers of the team would effect the final result. Such simulators build up the tiny team qualities necessary to perform various military jobs. Training of the complete crew by using an air defence weapon or a tank would come under this category. These are used to meet the needs of tactical training & to provide better tactical realism in the field training & consist of two basic components as follows:-
Combined Arms Tactical Trainer. The principal reason for this trainer is to allow tactical training conducted indoor at platoon/troop, company/squadron & battalion/combat group level. It permits all challenge group assets & their capabilities to be manoeuvred, coordinated & orchestrated in a manner that is normally impossible in the field because of security & training area constraints. This trainer provides sub devices & items with the ability of reaching keeping better degrees of tactical training so that whenever they get the chance for field training, they can commence at a higher standard.
Tactical Engagement Simulation (TES). TES training reinforces the lessons that success in warfare involves those who can outwit, out manoeuvre & out fight any enemy & provide a highly productive use of training resources. By creating increased tactical realism & awareness through more intensive & exacting guidelines, units have the ability to reach & maintain an increased standard in a shorter period of time. Included in these are Direct Fire Tool Effects Simulators (DFWES), Area Weapon Effects Simulators (AWES) & the Instrumentation Systems had a need to track record & analyse the outcome of challenge. These simulators can be better utilized in Combined Forearms Training Facility (CATF).
Mission, Command & Staff Coaches This degree of simulators allows a large team or a formation to practice their methods & struggle skills at a much higher echelon. The simulator being manned by the small team/crew would appear as an individual entity at the abstract level. The many entities can deal with a simulated struggle against each other. The participating military will be exercised on their individual skills as the staff as a team shows its put together task capacities & the commanders' exercise in their tasks as military market leaders. These trainers contain computer helped & computerised war-games mostly designed for training of commanders & staff in decision making & conduct of battles. Task SHATRANJ developed by War-Games Development Centre (WARDEC) together with Institute of System Studies Evaluation (ISSA) & Defence & Research & Development Company (DRDO) is an example of this.
As talked about above some of the simulators that ought to be employed for effective training in the various Arms & Services are the following:-
Small Arms Firing.
Anti Tank Weapon Firing.
Grenade Firing.
Mine Simulator.
Light Vehicle Driving a vehicle.
Heavy Vehicle Driving a car.
Tank Gunnery.
Tank Traveling.
Tank Navigation.
ICV Travelling.
Missiles Firing.
AD Gun Firing.
Radar Early Alert.
Aircraft Acknowledgement.
Observation & Control of Flame.
Laying & Firing of Arty Weapons.
Surveillance & Goal Acquisition.
Flight simulator
Bridging Simulator.
Communication Simulator.
Electronic Warfare Simulator.
Logistics Simulator.
Fault Diagnosis & Repair Simulator.
Present Status
Modern simulation is capable of delivering affordable training for the majority of the gear & cases, from routine to most complicated situations, to the combatants both independently & collectively. However in India, the exploitation of such a powerful & effective tool was not very motivating. Only nowadays, its potential use has been recognized & some efforts have been designed for the development & use of simulation models for training purposes in every the three Services. Slower recognition of simulation technology & potential benefits than the expectation has been partly because of insufficient cash & also insufficient awareness.
The proliferation of simulators & war game playing in Indian Army has been coordinated under ARTRAC & performed by War games Development Centre (WARDEC), New Delhi & Simulator Development Department (SDD), Secunderabad. WARDEC in cooperation with DRDO has developed a few computerised conflict gaming deals like Shatranj (a two-sided, free-play, real-time and dynamic computer war-game model having six workstations in a network) for training battalion commanders & personnel, Mechanised Forces War Game (MFWG) a Personal computer based program for training on regiment level armour warfare & Infantry Commander's Tactical Trainer (INFCOTT) for training commanders at the sub-unit level in the deployment of the infantry company. Sabre warfare game program for armour warfare produced by the Centre for Development of Advanced Processing (C-DAC) Pune, is also being used by the Indian Military, to train armoured corps officials. The Indian Navy has been using analog tactical instructors for a while for ship/submarine manoeuvring. Computer war-games, viz. , MINTAG, Manthan and Sagar produced by DRDO have also been inducted into the Indian Navy for included training. Manthan includes boats, submarines and aeroplanes as systems with different types of weapons and sensors. It is configured with three workstations and three PCs in an area area network.
Similarly, SDD is rolling out lots of Level 1 specific skill coaches in cooperation with the industry in a highly collapsed timeframe aligned to the functions & peculiar needs of the Army. The significant ones being DRONA firing simulator, Armoured (T-72) & Mechanised Infantry (BMP-II) driving a vehicle & gunnery simulators, L-70 covering trainer & Tanguska missile & driving a vehicle simulators for the Military Air Defence, ATGM simulator, light vehicle driving a car simulators, ALS & Kolos Tatra driving simulator etc.
The progress on the M&S forward in India has been alternatively slow and the benefits that M&S as an instrument can deliver in all areas of application is not fully loved by the many stakeholders. As a result, guidelines from the federal government / MoD / Service HQs are absent. Whatever attempts have been devote by different communities (experts, defence labs and R&D organisations, academia, industry, services etc) have been 'silos' work. The obstacles of limited financial power & extended induction techniques have posed serious obstacles in unleashing the entire potential of SDD/ WARDEC for producing feature-enriched, greater fidelity, higher operation world class simulators & in place it has limited Indian Military to graduate from specific skill & staff coaches to tactical instructors & Mission instructors as also offers restricted large level army-wide inductions to exploit the benefits associated with simulator based mostly training. Some of these barriers have been lowered through defence procurement process 2008 but they are not enough. There is much more wanted to meet up with the demand, aspirations & training objectives. Shrunk obsolescence cycles, extended deployments, reduced availability of training time & space, speedily changing risk perceptions, associated strategies, & ongoing modernisation emphasize the problems.
Strategy for Simulator Established Training
The conflicting requirements of interval training, conserving the life span of costly equipment/ weapon systems by limiting their job in tranquility time & to attain the required degree of proficiency at an affordable cost will be the challenges being confronted by Indian Army. Simulators are powerful tool to develop, perfect - training, technology & doctrine to accomplish breakthroughs. Fight field simulation allows creation of current or future fight situations by substituting software for pushes not present, linking dispersed pushes, minimizing weapons systems wear & rip, improving training familiarity & gives regularly the "actuality" border - of what should be expected.
However, high technology only cannot guarantee triumph or assure low casualties. While this statement is axiomatic, an extremely significant lessons from US has been their modelling of the scenarios to help reduce loss & casualties. Simulation technology is an essential part of conventional pressure planning & US defence plan. War games future battle scenarios require tremendous familiarity with computer simulation technology & profound understanding of how simulations can change conventional push planning. The recent advancements in simulator technology can be exploited to significantly improve the efficiency of training, to ensure clean technological transition & to ensure comprehensive modernisation of Indian Military. It is however imperative that a appropriate strategy is created for development, validation & induction of simulators. The relevant issues to be considered while evolving the strategy are as follows :-
Creating an Environment. All the defence establishments / institutions associated with the development and/or usage of simulation models should get together and form a forum with a target to make a common simulation environment for the campaign of simulation activities in India. The forum should occasionally conduct discussions, training seminars, etc. on simulation activities.
Identification of the Strategic Distance. Recognition of the strategic gap between your training expectations needed & the benchmarks that would be attained by following a present method of training.
Identification of Necessity. Analysing & identifying the necessity of simulators by various arms & services to bridge the distance. The respective range directorates have a significant role to try out in this research.
Requirement of Nodal Agency. There is a requirement of a nodal organization responsible for the next examination & decision making.
Development of Skills. Development of experience to coordinate & manage the development of simulators & their validation against end user requirements.
Policy Formulation. Laying down an insurance plan for development of
simulator like low priced simulators to be developed using Systems Prototype Method, whereas sophisticated & costly simulators to be developed following the Systems development Life Routine Method.
Evolving a Platform for Induction of Simulators. Like any technology founded program, fast-tracking of simulator based mostly training features of Indian Army by leveraging the great things about industry must be correctly been able. It really is thus necessary to evolve a powerful & sustainable construction that would assist in induction while safeguarding long-term organisational hobbies.
Latest Simulation Solutions. Studying modern day simulation technology available worldwide; evaluating these for effect, cost, utility, simple handling, infrastructure, changes, balance, maintenance etc with an aim to help users find the best simulators & make ideal recommendations to an individual directorates.
Evolve a Systematic Approach to Incorporate Simulators for Training by any means Levels in Indian Military. Identify areas where simulators may be employed for training at various levels (e. g. basic, crew, mission training, order & staff instructors etc), how resources could be centralized for training at various institutes & propose an idea for various hands & services to procure simulators to attain quantified brings about training at various levels.
Public Private Partnership. To formulate process of induction of simulators ex-trade highlighting the role of the nodal agency at various phases of induction in a way that nodal agency becomes an interface with industry for any specific requirement of simulator to be developed ex-trade & formulation of MOUs with all safeguards.
Utilisation of Simulators Used by World Armies. Evolving suited recommendations for consumer directorates after studying the types of simulators are being employed by world Armies, their occupation & ratio of training being conducted, their effectiveness, advantages, limitations & cost advantage analysis.
The issues being encountered by world armies in employing their technology centered learning programs including simulators & battle games clearly show that ethnical changes (people issues) & credible data are a pre-requisite to heavy ventures. Setting up a "Simulations & Modelling Directorate" & delivering all functions including development & acquisitions of conflict games & simulators under it would give the much desired impetus to simulation founded training & can help in moving to other areas of simulation like Simulation based Acquisition (SBA).
