British Army Tests Integrated Live Virtual Training

Elbit Systems UK (ESUK) partnered with the British Army's 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team on a live virtual constructive training exercise involving over 300 soldiers, from dismounted close combat to logistics roles.

The exercise, called Pegasus Athena, used ESUK's Recce Strike Training System (RSTS), which includes the Joint Fires Synthetic Trainer (JFST), Deployable Virtual Constructive Simulator (DVCS), and Interim Indirect Fires Simulation (IIDFS). ESUK tailored each system to meet the soldiers' needs.

Run over three days, the exercise marked the first time JFST, DVCS and IIDFS were integrated together with the British Army. Soldiers used JFST to find targets and called in fires through IIDFS to strike them, with effects visible across all simulators. DVCS provided the synthetic layer recording virtual and live events, and also supported drone pilot operations. ESUK collected data throughout to measure outcomes and assess performance.

The exercise combined synthetic training with realistic operational scenarios, including ammunition resupplies, dismounted combat operations and vehicle manoeuvres. Air assets were deployed during the week, with Chinook helicopters repositioning light guns.

This was the first demonstration of ESUK's integrated Recce Strike Training Solution. It allows troops to conduct live and virtual training without external assets and at lower cost than live fire exercises, without using ammunition stockpiles.