Train hard without Weakening your Punch in the Battle

While the Russo-Ukraine war currently charting itsblood-soaked path of death and destruction has thrown up multiple lessons for strategists and military commanders alike, it has once again flagged one basic reality; and that is… ‘while the Armies will march on their stomach war effort can only be sustained so long there is ammunition and fuel’. This fundamental premise explains much of Volodomir Zelenski’s worries staring at serious ammunition deficiencies in his armed forces as aid from West and US is at best sluggish and his forces are being compelled to cedeground for lack of adequate fire power (read ammunition) to push back the advancing Russian forces.

As regards ammunition, there is a vicious circle. As the war rages, while more and more rounds are required at the posts for guns to blaze and missiles to punch a hole in the will of the adversary, their availability at the home base keeps on depleting. This reality is met with a counter requirement of training more and more soldiers to be sent to the front lines. Something that also requires more and more ammunition.

It is basic to state that that in order to save maximum ammunition for war its expenditure during peacetime training must be minimalized, that too without compromising on the quality of training. Simulation-based training can address this requirement optimally.

This is how it works:-

• Today the technology available in our country enables realisation of multiple type of weapon replicas which are a near look-alike of the original combat equipment.
• By making use of the tools of artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality and the latest technologies in three dimensional displays, computation, machine learning and more, these technology-enabled platforms can create such an ‘immersive effect’ where a trainee feels as if he/she is operating the actual combat equipment.
• Such platforms can provide unlimited opportunities for simulated fire with all the attendant effects of recoil, shock, jerk, platform vibration, smoke and flash; all these with zero expenditure of ammunition.

Technology is at play to enrich the above firing experience with added reality by creating the following battle effects:-

• • Simulating realistic battle-field environment in terms of terrains, weather, environment and time.
  • Depicting air and ground threat as expected from user’s adversaries rather than any ad hoc threat.
  • Providing opportunity for two-way force-on-force opposed training with a worthwhile adversary rather than one-way unopposed training.

Besides just the saving on live ammunition that is required at the cutting edge in the battle, simulation based training results in many other benefits. Some of these include the following:-

• • It hugely saves on the time and cost of training. A recent Cost Benefit Study brings out that the cost saving can be as huge as 20 times or more depending on the weapon in use.
  • Simulation based training greatly saves on the wear and tear of the go-to-war combat equipment by saving it from day-to-day exploitation in training.
  • Such training also makes up for the skill-deficit presumably caused by the shrinking training areas and scales of ammunition and even lesser availability of the same at the cutting edge. It also corrects the erroneous assessment of skill efficiency derived from a less-than-adequate sample of training ammunition that is made available fait-accompli; thanks to the sky-rocketing cost of live ammunition.
  • Equally important is the capability of modern combat training solutions to produce a digital and an objective assessment of the trainee skills referred to as the Combat Readiness Score or CRS . This assessment, based on user-defined perimeters provides to a commander an accurate measure of the capability of force and hence itsemployability.
  • Getting to the war front, open sources report that many a new conscripts are being drafted by both by Russia and Ukraine in the current war. In September 2023, President Putin signed a decree setting out the conscription campaign with a target of some 130,000 citizens to join as new conscripts. There are also report of many jailed convicts being released by Russia to fight on the front line. All these recruits require tremendous amount of training to be combat ready. This will demand large quantities of ammunition that cannot be really spared from the on-going war.

In the above scenario simulator-based training can be a great boon to prepare combat ready soldiers in drastically reduced time frame with minimal expenditure of live ammunition and without usurping the finite operational hours of go-to-war equipment. More importantly, without softening the punch in the front line.

With Ukraine there is another issue. As per a latest report, starting Jan 2022, Ukraine has got $380 billionin aid from the West and US. Out of this, nearly $118 billion accounts for direct military aid. This has manifested in tremendous amount of new military equipment (MANPADs, Drone, anti-tank missiles, long range surface-to-surface missiles, radars, communication equipment , electronics warfare equipment and more)

Most of this combat equipment is new to the Ukrainian Army. There is an urgent requirement of training the forces to optimally exploit the new weapons; after all a weapon is only as effective as the crew that operates it. Combat equipment received as in aid is critically required at the frontline. The same cannot be spared for training of the force. As stated, simulators are ideal in such a scenario in their capability to impart realistic training without expending live ammunition or using actual combat equipment.

It is clear that Ukraine fell short on this count as with the best of weapons and equipment at hand it could not make a real dent into the Russian defensive line; a failed counter offensive was the result. One of the main reasons for such an outcome was inadequate training. And now, the situation is worsening more and more with ammunition supplies dipping sharply.

Closer home, simulation-based training can also be a great boon to prepare the Agniveers in the shortest time (and cost). In their short currency of the tenure, Agniveers need to be made combat-ready in a much shorter time so that these can be employed optimally in the units for a maximum duration of their tenure. Simulators with their capability to train in much reduced time hold an enhanced importance in this scenario.

The fact to be proud about in this scenario is, that the entire spectrum of simulator-based technology and equipment is being realised indigenously. There are several simulator companies in India. The market leader is Zen Technologies limited. This company prides itself with 100% indigenious solutions having an IP portfolio of over 300 products and a strong R&D base. Operating in the twin core-competencies of combat training and counter drone solutions, the Company has deployed over 1000 training solutions globally. Its Anti-drone System (Zen ADS) has been a great hit and is already getting inducted in the Forces, so are its several other products such as training solutions for mechanised forces, infantry and more.

In this way, the indigenous simulator industry in India is actively supporting the cause of Atmanirbhar Bharat and making our country self-reliant to meet its simulator requirement. This industry is only poised to grow further thanks to many an emerging technologies duly emboldened by the AI revolution (Industry 4.0, if you please.)

It is no wonder therefore, that Indian Ministry of Defence, way back in Sep 2021, promulgated a Policy on the Framework of Simulators in Armed Forces. This Policy is anchored on the vision of implementing simulator- based training across all military domains to achieve cost-effective, efficient, safe, fast-paced and smart training. The Policy lays down the framework for synergised and enhanced exploitation of simulators by the three Services and the Coast Guard.

TERI (The Energy and Resource Institute of India), a leading think tank dedicated to conducting research for sustainable development of India and global South, has also hugely endorsed the use of simulators in saving huge amounts of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions that greatly aid in sustaining the environment. Their report titled ‘Accelerating sustainable training in the armed forces: a simulator based approach’ presented on the World Environment Day (05 Jun 2023) was very well received by all stakeholders.

Back to the caption of this article –’Train hard without weakening your punch in the battle’; the reader now has the answer as to why simulator based training can make the forces combat ready without weakening their 'punch’ (read ammunition and firepower) in the battle and with many other significant benefits as explained in his work.

Editor's Note: The Agniveer Scheme, which is mentioned in the Article, is a "use and discard" policy that is supported by very feeble justification.