Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/196923
Modelling & Simulation M From a collective training perspective, the real value may be in networking systems. You could have a crew on the east coast and a crew on the west coast performing the same mission together as part of a federation in a virtual environment. mented reality, they will project imagery in a virtual environment, but blended with the real environment. So, generationally, it will become embraced with simulation and training technology. But I think it will take time and there are some real technical challenges to overcome. vehicles and aircraft as we overcome some of the issues with that human-machine interface. The challenge isn't a technical one, it's more a procurement one: how quickly can you introduce new technology. Our procurement system needs to be as agile as our technology development. Q How difficult are those challenges from a military Q Beyond the cost factor, how does this impact standpoint? training and collective training? There are software and hardware issues, but security is always a concern; wireless technology is a concern. There are a whole series of accreditation and standards that need to be met first. The military will always be behind the consumer market because of that challenge of implementing new technology. For individual learning, everybody learns differently and at a different pace, so tailored or personalized learning would be the ultimate standard. But the challenge organizationally is that everybody needs to go through the same steps, the same standards at more or less the same time, so I'm not sure we're ready for that yet. From a collective training perspective, the real value may be in networking systems. You could have a crew on the east coast and a crew on the west coast performing the same mission together as part of a federation in a virtual environment. Q As a customer, are militaries aware of the art of the possible or are they still determining their needs as they seek better and less expensive ways to teach and train? I think our customer is getting smart, because of what they see online, what they can do with cell phones, etc. In some cases they are asking for things that maybe we don't have the solution for yet. Time on actual equipment is very expensive, so many are asking how simulation can reduce time on actual equipment without degrading the performance or throughput of their users. So just proving that simulation works and that it can replace some of the training on actual equipment or reduce the amount of time that that equipment is required – we're trying to expand the amount of time that people would expect the simulator to be used. Q Are there barriers to greater adoption? The military is based on tradition, certain branches more so than others, so sometimes you have to face the challenge of: this is how we have always done it. As you integrate any new technology into a system, you have to worry about organizational change – is the organization ready to take that leap? There are behavioural challenges too; it changes the way you have been doing something for quite a long time. That's probably the biggest challenge we face. But I also see more simulation being used to replace time on individual Q Do training and mission rehearsal eventually converge in a simulated environment? The key is how quickly you can modify your visual systems. Typical simulators have pre-defined terrain databases and models. But if you could quickly download satellite imagery or imagery of what a theatre now looks like hours before a mission, get it into your simulator and run through some scenarios in close to real time, it would help with mission rehearsal. When we talked of blurring the lines between training and operational requirements, that's where I see it going. Q What are the ultimate applications for this? Think of what you can do on your mobile phone. It's access to content in a mobile environment. Just-in-time information in the context of doing your job, whether it's information on now to perform a particular maintenance task or information to identify certain improvised explosive devices. I see the mobile aspect of delivering content when it is needed in the field as being quite unique. www.vanguardcanada.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2013 17