Australian Army acquires immersive countermine training solution

The Australian supplier of training solutions, FLAIM Systems, announced at the SOF Week 2024 exhibition in Tampa, Florida, that it was awarded a $1.32 million contract from the Australian Army to further develop its Sweeper, a fully immersive countermine and explosive hazard awareness training system.

The agreement covers the purchase of multiple FLAIM Sweepers to conduct an extended trial and user evaluation across the service’s School of Military Engineering and its Combat Engineer and Special Operations Engineer Regiments.

The deal also comprises additional developments to enhance the capacity of the software and add more scenarios and targets to the system.

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This solution uses virtual reality (VR) to simulate mine and explosive hazards as well as diverse deployment scenarios without exposing personnel to dangerous environments.

Speaking to Shephard, Bill Sowry, FLAIM’s director of customer relations, claimed it can replicate 'any target, any device pretty much anywhere in the world' covering the 'full spectrum of all sorts of hazards'.

It includes landmines, anti-personnel mines, vehicle mines, IEDs and explosive ordnance like mortars and artillery shells.

'In the virtual world, they [operators of demining equipment] can clear a street in the Donbas in Ukraine or a beach in the Solomon Islands with mines or explosive ordnance left from World War Two,' Sowry highlighted. 

'It can replicate contemporary combat operations and humanitarian demining operations to remove landmines in areas that have previously been a battlefield.'

FLAIM Sweeper allows for land mine detection and clearance training for combat engineers and explosive ordnance operators, in addition to awareness training for all deploying personnel and even civilian people who might live in mined areas.

'You are literally saving time and money for every activity that you are doing because there is no paperwork, no transport, no ration,' Sowry noted. 'It is a fully deployable solution and takes 10 minutes to be set up.'

The system is intended to help build procedural muscle memory and tactical proficiency while facilitating the delivery of an after-action review following each training session.

'It provides immediate visual feedback of what you did, what you did wrong. So, it is a far more comprehensive training outcome,' Sowry said.

FLAIM also provides tailored options for the Sweeper in order to replicate specific systems operated by its customers.

VR training solutions for firefighters are other products in the company’s portfolio. Currently, FLAIM System has 400 customers in 46 countries, including the US Air Force and US Marine Corps.