Norwegian military begins training with Fidelity’s Joint Fires Advanced Training System

The Norwegian Defence Material Agency’s (NDMA) Norwegian Air Ground Operations School (AGOS) began training with Fidelity’s Joint Fires Advanced Training System (JFATS) simulator for its Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) and Joint Fires Observer (JFO) training programs. Fidelity says this makes Norwegian AGOS the most technically sophisticated Joint Fires Center of Excellence in Northern Europe.

The JFATS simulator was designed using the FidelityFires™ software application to meet the Norwegian Army’s technical requirements. Its seven-meter dome display system lets the four-man Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) train simultaneously in an immersive environment comprised of 16 edge-blended, geometry-corrected channels. Each channel is driven by Fidelity’s FIDViewEX™ Rendering Engine and projected to the designated area of the dome surface by a Barco FS35 IR WQXGA projector. The resulting contrast, brightness and pixel density – in conjunction with full National Vulnerability Database (NVD) – facilitate training in any simulated time of day or weather condition. The NVD is the U.S. government repository of standards-based vulnerability management data represented using the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP). This data enables automation of vulnerability management, security measurement and compliance. The NVD includes databases of security checklist references, security-related software flaws, misconfigurations, product names and impact metrics.

The virtual environment used by JFATS is powered by the FIDViewEX™ Rendering Engine, an image generator specifically designed for Joint Fires training to meet the Detection Orientation Recognition Identification (DORI) visual requirements of the JTAC Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). FIDViewEX™ uses commercial standards and formats to create game-quality graphics at any scale – simultaneously providing image details of blades of grass blowing in the wind, while rapidly rendering large areas of terrain for the fast-moving pilots-in-the-loop providing Close Air Support (CAS) at altitude.

JFATS scenarios and entities are driven by the FidelityFires™ software application that provides scenarios against near-peer threats operating in contested and degraded operations and provides a clean, intuitive User Interface allowing anyone to operate the simulator and make real-time changes to the scenario in-game with minimal training.

Fidelity also delivered a pilot-in-the-loop role player station that offers a 180° x 20° field of view and lets the training team transmit and receive digitally-aided CAS messages from the JTAC just as they would on the battlefield. The station also lets the pilot provide the feed to a Video Downlink (VDL) screen for the JTAC to facilitate talk-ons, also in accordance with the JTAC MOA.

The Norwegian AGOS facility also received two Mobile Satellite Classroom systems used by the Norwegian Artillery, JTACs and Special Forces to conduct CAS and Call for Fire missions. These mobile classrooms provide the same realism and training capabilities as the seven-meter dome display and can replace live controls. The two interoperable classrooms let AGOS students debrief training events –viewing every button push from every device, all pilot-in-the-loop head-up display (HUD) feeds, listen to every communication made and observe what the devices were oriented on. The information is stored and provided to the students in the form of a take home package so that students can review and practice on their own time.