Tel Aviv: Israeli company Elbit Systems completed the delivery of the Command & Staff Trainer system to the Royal Netherlands Army (RNLA). The new training system operates at the Land Training Centre of the RNLA in Amersfoort. As large-scale exercises become less frequent due to cost, with logistical and environmental constraints, the new Command & Staff Trainer system provides the RNLA with a flexible and scalable solution to train commanders and their staff, together with support elements, for contemporary multi-domain warfare.
The new Command & Staff Trainer system is a constructive trainer that immerses commanders and headquarters’ staff, at both brigade and battalion levels, in high-fidelity combat situations in actual battle zone territory, and can include Operations Other Than War (OOTW) scenarios. The Command & Staff Trainer system presents trainees with a realistic operational picture, compels them to respond to real-time changes and interference with tactical communications, and enables them to operate and interact with a range of assets including Air, Air defence, Unmanned, Artillery, Logistics, Medical, Mechanical, Engineering and others. The new training system allows multiple parties to participate in the same exercise as part of joint operation scenarios, including allied forces, paramilitary organizations and others.
Based on Elbit Systems’ OneSim simulation software-infrastructure, the new Command & Staff Trainer system supports large-scale geo-specific terrain, dynamic weather and thousands of virtual entities, offering an engaging training experience for more than a hundred of trainees at a time. The system emulates the realistic flow of information between levels of command and from a range of intelligence, target acquisition and fire functions, enabling complex, joint combat scenarios to be exercised. In-service tactical communication is simulated with performance realistically impacted by cyber, bandwidth, terrain, weather and other effects. The exercise director can introduce dynamic, on-the-fly changes into the simulation, allowing commanders to test their ability to react and adapt to the challenges of battle. The After Action Review and Debrief mode offers synchronized playback of the entire exercise, providing trainees with meaningful insight into the consequences of decisions and actions.
A similar training capability by Elbit Systems (the Brigade and Battlegroup Combined Arms Mission Training Centre) is in operational use with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) since 2020. The IDF’s Brigade and Battlegroup Mission Training Centre was awarded the Commander-in-Chief 2020 Innovation Award for its originality, feasibility, scalability and extraordinary contribution for the over-all effectiveness of the IDF.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
