What does the proliferation of larger platforms mean for the UGV market?
A surge in heavier, combat-focused uncrewed ground vehicles is emerging, although operational demand remains uncertain.
US Army Reserve orders EST 3000
The US Army Reserve has awarded a $1.3 million contract to Cubic Global Defense for the supply of additional Engagement Skills Training (EST) 3000 virtual training systems, simulated weapons and services, the company announced on 31 August.
The EST 3000 is a portable small arms training device that can be used for indoor training in ‘shoot-don’t shoot’ judgement, marksmanship, and offensive and defensive collective firing skills. The system uses high-fidelity game-based graphics and provides immediate feedback from cant, pitch, and trigger pressure indicators as well as 3D targets.
The army reserve is combining Virtual Battlespace 3 (VBS3) laptop trainers and Cubic’s EST 3000 system into a Mission Leader Trainer (MLT) containerised configuration. These modified MLT containers will support the army reserve’s three core training functions: tactical operations or leadership training; VBS3 laptop trainers, and EST 3000 for marksmanship.
Bill Toti, president, Cubic, said: ‘Cubic’s EST 3000 uses the ballistic accuracy of the EST 2000, which is the only marksmanship system certified by the US Army to be an accurate simulation of the live-fire ballistics of actual small arms weapons. The smaller, versatile and portable capabilities of the EST 3000 not only maximise the available time as it moves the system to the soldier, but also increases the training effectiveness to the point of need while reducing costs.’
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