Lockheed Martin‘s [LMT] Urban Operations Training Systems (UOTS) range planning software tool, called Perspective, allows soldiers to plan and visualize exactly what the training environment will be like, a company official said.
“The range planning tool was one of the really important elements of what we were trying to offer to the Army,” Kathy Moschella, UOTS program manager for Lockheed Martin, said in an interview. “It gives [trainers] the opportunity to visualize what the training environment is going to look like.”
For example, if the troops will be training at the National Training Center, the trainer can sit in his own office or at home for that matter, pull up the Perspective tool on his desktop or laptop and look for the best spot to emplace cameras, and see what those cameras would show from specific spots.
“A lot of planning capability can go on with it,” she said.
Earlier this month, the Army Program Executive Office of Simulation, Training and Instrumentation awarded Lockheed Martin an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to provide UOTS for the Army, Army Reserve and National Guard. The contract has an initial $22,000 delivery order with a potential value of $287 million over five years.
“We believe this training program will allow us to respond quickly to warfighters’ critical requirements through immersive environments,” Jim Craig, vice president of training systems at Lockheed Martin’s Global Training and Logistics business unit, said in a Jan. 18 statement. “We aimed to deliver an affordable solution that gives trainees the ability to tailor their training experience easily and quickly.”
The range planning tool is based on a Leadwerks gaming engine that to trainers and trainees alike looks like first person shooter game environments they are familiar with. The 3D Leadwerks game engine is commercially available, Moschella said. It “gives you a very rich environment” with textures and shadow effects, as though you were in one of the first person shooter games.
Lockheed Martin invested in a developer’s license for the engine, and has been working with over the past five years or so for different programs and applications. It’s well suited for the UOTS, and is a great training and visual capability, she said.
The UOTS program itself is to support the full spectrum of operations–from traditional warfighting tactics, to nation-building, to overseas contingency operations.
The contract includes the Integrated Military Operations and Urban Terrain (MOUT) Training Systems, Mobile MOUTs and the Combat Training Center MOUT Instrumentation System.
The UOTS supports permanent and non-permanent structure facilities, including addition or expansion to existing facilities. It also supports the integration across sites and live, virtual and constructive mission domains, as well as the continuation of instrumentation and data processing growth corresponding with tactical systems.
The capability will probably first be fielded later this year at Ft. Hood, Texas.
Lockheed Martin currently provides a wide range of targetry, indoor/outdoor range instrumentation, counter-IED training and equipment integration capabilities to Defense Department forces. The UOTS program will involve integrating many of these capabilities along with other technologies into a comprehensive training system.