US Army selects new 'Game for Training' solution

A team headed by Calytrix Technologies will supply the US Army with a next-generation game-based training technology called the Virtual Battlespace 3 (VBS3) simulation product. The five year contract was awarded under the army’s ‘Games for Training’ (GFT) programme.

The team includes Calytrix, Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim), SimCentric and Alelo.

VBS2 was originally delivered for the US Army’s Game After Ambush (GAA) contract in 2009. Since then, the product has been continuously improved with new enhancements, and new game engine features included in the new VBS3.

With an emphasis on re-use and open standards, VBS3 is a further step towards a common virtual environment for use across all aspects of military simulation. VBS3 is backwards compatible to facilitate re-use of VBS2 scenarios and content, and will run on hardware compatible with VBS2.

In addition to VBS3 being delivered to the US Army, it will also be provided as a normal software update to the US Marine Corps, both the Australian and New Zealand defence forces, the Canadian armed forces, the Netherlands Ministry of Defence and the Swedish armed forces. VBS3 will also be provided to industry partners with a valid Virtual Battlespace Developer Network (VBSDN) subscription at the time VBS3 is released worldwide, which is expected to be in early 2014.

Peter Morrison, CEO, BISim, said: ‘BISim is committed to serving the US military, and we are confident that the new capability in VBS3 will serve the US Army superbly. We are very excited and honoured to be part of the Calytrix Team, delivering the VBS3 platform to the US Army as its new flagship game-based training tool.’