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Virtual war: The army and technology
James Gorbold joins the British Army at its high-tech Land Warfare Centre to see just what the military are doing with the most expensive computer games in the world.
One of the key skills for a British Army soldier is marksmanship - the ability to spot and safely engage an enemy with their personal weapon (rifle, pistol or machine gun). However, range training isn't only costly, but it's also limited by weather conditions, and is extremely slow-paced. After each shot, the shooter and instructor have to walk down the range to examine the target, so that the shooter's technique can be analysed and corrected. Although the British Army still conducts live range training, soldiers are now also trained using simulators.
At first glance, the Dismounted Close Combat Trainer (DCCT) doesn't appear to be any more sophisticated than a fairground shooting alley or arcade game in which you point a gun at a screen and blast away. However, rather than use plastic mock-ups or BB guns, the guns in the DCCT are actual service weapons, such as the SA80 assault rifle and L7 GMPG (known in Army slang as the 'Gimpy'). Instead of firing live ammunition, these modified weapons fire a laser beam at a projector screen; this, along with a set of sensors in the weapon, allows the PC to track the point at which the weapon is being fired. In addition, the computer can analyse how quickly individual shots are fired, how hard the weapon is being held into the shoulder and whether the weapon is being tilted left or right. This information means that instructors can not only assess the accuracy of the shooters, but also note if they keep missing the target, and then identify and correct errors in their technique. Another aspect that separates the DCCT from an arcade game is the physical realism of the simulation. Not only are real weapons used, with the same weight as their live firing counterparts, they also sound identical to them and accurately simulate recoil. This is achieved by pumping high-pressure gas through a long pipe into the firing mechanism, causing it to operate just as if a live round had been fired.
At its most basic level, the DCCT is simply a set of firearms connected to a PC and projector, so it can also be used for judgemental shooting training. This important aspect of military training teaches soldiers when to fire. This is critical as the British Army becomes increasingly involved in peacekeeping and counter-insurgency operations, where the rules of engagement strictly control who is a valid target. For example, in Iraq, the current rules of engagement are that a person simply holding a rifle can't be fired upon - they can only be targeted when using the weapon.
The DCCT is used to teach judgemental shooting by playing back video footage on-screen, with actors playing the role of insurgents and civilians. One scenario involves an infantry patrol being harassed by a group of angry civilians throwing rocks and bottles. Two insurgents armed with AK-47 rifles emerge from the crowd and engage the patrol. Soldiers not only have to judge for themselves when it's legally permissible to shoot insurgents, but they also need to learn fire control, so that they don't hit any civilians. In addition to the usual marksmanship training staff, the Royal Military Police also oversee such training exercises, and check the legality of any shooting. Such scenarios are, the Army claims, very useful in acclimatising soldiers, as the scenarios can be tailored to specific world locations, down to the language spoken by the actors and how they're dressed. Many of the soldiers currently serving in Afghanistan and Iraq were trained in the DCCT before leaving the UK.
