Tech Deep Dive: Modernized TACTIS for the Royal Netherlands Army

The Royal Netherlands Army (RNA) maintains a high operating tempo. While the service supports NATO and other commitments in and beyond Europe, it routinely completes a number of high-fidelity, live training exercises. Most recently a Dutch army brigade completed a four-week training commitment in the Czech Republic.

It was of interest when MS&T posted an announcement regarding an investment by RNA to modernize its TACTIS armored vehicle training center – concurrently focusing the service beyond the live training domain.

Industry Team

Thales is leading the simulation and training industry’s effort to enhance the center’s ability to train and prepare the service’s armored operators, units and staffs for increasingly complex missions. Benoit Broudy, VP Training & Simulation, Thales, took time to allow the author to complete a tech deep dive by gaining several details beyond the press release.

The current TACTIS center technology foundation includes, in part, the capability to interconnect up to 76 simulators simultaneously, allowing for mission rehearsals with up to 200 crew members. “This synergy is further enhanced by the integration of up to 2,500 virtual entities known as ‘Computer-Generated Forces’ enabling force members to conduct exercises in a combined arms environment,” the press release noted.

Thales and the army customer will elevate the center’s training capacity well beyond that baseline. To do so, the prime contractor is assembling a diverse industry team.

The new training system is adopting under license to Thales, the Unreal Engine 5 game engine from Epic Games. This is yet another instance of “cross pollination” we observe in S&T, with UE5 increasingly supporting learning in civil aviation and safety critical industries.

In addition to UE5, the executive added, Thales “will use advanced recent technologies primarily in the graphic domain (graphics cards, 3-D content and others) and in the IT infrastructure (virtualization and other capabilities.)”

Thales is also partnering with BAE Hagglunds, the OEM of the CV90 MLU IFV. The weapons platform supplier will provide vehicle simulation software to ensure the highest level of fidelity and also maintain parity with the IFV upgrades over the years. “The objective is to introduce the upgrades of simulator at the same pace as the vehicle evolves,” the corporate executive pointed out and continued, the high-fidelity simulators “are a copy/paste of the vehicles, the behavior and all the functions are reproduced. This includes the sensors, the battle management system, the communication system and so on. An ‘out-of-the-hatch’ perspective is also simulated with a 360° view.”

The goal to maintain concurrency between these army weapons platforms and the training system is a trend we continue to observe in civil aviation and other high-risk industry programs, with the intent to prevent “negative learning” and other undesirable outcomes.

Of note, there is no requirement from the Royal Netherlands Army customer to include a motion platform in any of the legacy simulators. “The 15 years of use has confirmed that there is no value for TACTIS to introduce motion platforms for the high-fidelity simulators,” Broudy explained.

TACTIS is being modernized to also allow the ability to train to other vehicles and new ground weapons platforms that will enter the army’s fleet in the future.

Following the Flow of Electrons

Thales will bring to bear HLA Evolved (with RPR FOM [Real-Time Platform Reference Federation Object Model] V2) for connectivity to other simulators and/or sites, but also as the internal communication protocol between simulation federates. Additionally, several standard data formats are used to help the creation of the virtual terrain (including GeoTiff, DTED, Openflight, and Collada) and to communicate with C2 devices (C-BML [Coalition Battle Management Language]).

Ready for Training Projection

The Thales executive concluded, “The first capability ready for training will be delivered in three years. It will include the CV90 MLU high-fidelity simulators and the new image generator based on UE5. Additional upgrades will follow right afterward, with some new generations of dismounted soldier positions and vehicle modular simulators.”