Army Combat Vehicles Get First Embedded Trainer

BAE Systems OneArc has been awarded an Other Transaction Agreement contract by the U.S. Army to integrate its Embedded Collective Training (ECT) solution on a platoon of combat vehicles at Fort Hood, Texas, as part of the Army's Force Development Innovation & Assessment (FDIA). The integration marks the first commercially available embedded trainer installed in a U.S. Army combat vehicle.

"Crews need the ability to train wherever the mission requires, without being tied to fixed simulator facilities," said Sergeant First Class Patrick Muir, 1st Cavalry Division Standardization Master Gunner. "The ECT supports Army FDIA by providing a single, adaptable system that enables precision and collective training across geographically dispersed locations using organic platform controls and procedures. This gives commanders greater flexibility to build and sustain readiness while reducing the costs and infrastructure requirements traditionally associated with dedicated facilities."

During FDIA, Army crews will train on precision gunnery progression tasks in support of platform qualification. Historically, embedded training has arrived years after a platform enters service, forcing units to rely on live-fire ranges or standalone simulators.

"By integrating a commercial embedded trainer directly on a combat platform already in the fight, the Army gains a repeatable model for pairing new equipment with training capability from day one, rather than treating training as a follow-on program years down the road," said Rahul Thakkar, President, BAE Systems OneArc. "For a force under pressure to modernize on compressed timelines, the shift, from training as only a pre-deployment activity to training as a built-in capability, is central to what FDIA is designed to prove out."

The ECT kits are designed to scale to platoon-level collective training and distributed tactical maneuver in later phases, and to other crewed and uncrewed ground platforms.