Marine Corps Retiring Older Training Systems To Pursue New Tech.

• Author: Mayfield, Mandy

ORLANDO, Fla.--Facing dynamic and challenging future operating environments, the Marine Corps is betting big on new training technology to better prepare warfighters for the unexpected.

Col. Luis "Lou" Lara, Marine Corps Systems Command's program manager for training systems, said the service is employing a live-virtual-constructive paradigm to maximize unit readiness.

LVC training leverages virtual reality and other computer-generated entities to supplement live training.

The command's No. 1 training priority is its Force-on-Force Training Systems-Next program, Lara told National Defense on the sidelines of the National Training and Simulation Association's annual Training and Simulation Industry Symposium in Orlando, Florida.

The Marine Corps awarded Saab a single award task order contract worth up to $ 128 million in June to produce the system. The capability will allow Marines to "train in realistic, scenario-based, simulated environments against live, role-playing opponents," according to the service.

Marines will be equipped with a harness fitted with sensors and transmitters that link to various weapons systems such as an M4 machine gun, Lara said. The weapons use blank ammunition that, when fired, emit lasers that register when a trainee's vest is hit. The data gathered during the sessions is recorded and can be played back later to provide Marines with individual and unit performance metrics to determine areas of improvement, according to the service.

The system can also be used to train with indirect fire weapons such as grenades and mortar rounds, Lara said.

Through its contract, Saab will provide equipment deliveries for individual Marine weapons and vehicles, as well as logistics and maintenance support and training exercise support for all of the Corps' installations worldwide.

The new training system will replace the Instrumentation and Tactical Engagement Simulation System, or ITESS, platform. ITESS was not designed to support large-scale exercises, such as those performed at Marine Air-Ground Task Force Training Command, according to the service.

Marine Corps Systems Command plans to field the Force-on-Force Training Systems-Next between 2023 and 2026 at bases in California, North Carolina, Hawaii, Virginia, Japan and Guam.

Over the past year, the command's range training systems office has also been busy upgrading legacy platforms, said Lt. Col. Jon Mohler, product manager for range training systems at the office of the...