Breaking news
Thales UK delivers Talisman Training System T3S to support Combat Logistic Patrols in Afghanistan.
| 2012
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Defence Industry News - Thales |
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| Tuesday, December 11, 2012, 05:50 PM | |||
| Thales UK delivers Talisman Training System T3S to support Combat Logistic Patrols in Afghanistan. | |||
Thales
UK has delivered an interactive training solution, known as the Thales
Talisman Training System (T3S), which dramatically improves the effectiveness
of pre-deployment training by British Army teams preparing to use the
Talisman system in support of Combat Logistic Patrols in Afghanistan. |
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 A British soldier from 15 Field Support Squadron operates in Afghanistan a Talon remote-controlled robot which forms part of the latest Talisman counter-IED technology. |
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Within
four months of contract award, the first training course using T3S was
delivered to the Royal Engineers, the operators of Talisman. In that period,
Thales designed, procured, built, tested, de commissioned, transported
and re-commissioned an entire Talisman troop training facility, including
six representative vehicle bays complete with ‘out-of-the-window’
views and control systems, 30 operator workstations, communications systems
and after-action review facilities. To date, Thales has delivered three
further training exercises at locations in the UK and Germany. T3S was developed using Thales’s Directed-Fidelity® concept, in which an end-to-end customised training solution is developed together with the customer. T3S was designed specifically to improve crew interaction and to practice tactics, techniques and procedures – ensuring enhanced operational readiness while offering value for money to the customer. T3S can incorporate operational experiences gained in theatre to continually evolve. Introducing new threats and testing responses enables the entire troop to rehearse complex missions in synthetic environments and to familiarise themselves with real scenarios, bridging the gap between individual equipment-oriented training and live collective training. T3S comprises over 180 PCs and 70 displays operated using gaming controls. It runs a simulation based on the VBS2 gaming engine within a synthetic wrap derived from Thales’s open Generic Vehicle Architecture (GVA) and Vetronics Infrastructure for Video over Ethernet (VIVOE) developments. T3S simulates scenarios that would not be possible in live training, such as incoming fire, combined arms actions, extreme weather, day/night operations, joint Afghan National Army operations and local population movements. Thus, the system significantly enhances readiness for final pre-deployment field training. |
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 A Mastiff 2 protected patrol vehicle with a mast-mounted camera and a remotely-operated weapon station. |
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Major
Chris Eyre, Officer Commanding TTAT, said: “Using the new training
system, ‘what if’situations can be played out and later analysed
to help improve operational effectiveness and develop new tactics. By
simulating different scenarios, introducing new threats and testing responses,
the crew members rapidly become familiar with operating as a team, while
the Command Team acquires a better understanding of the behaviours that
affect the interaction between the platforms and the strengths of individual
team members. The result is a much higher state of readiness for operations,
prior to deployment. “Another welcome benefit of the system is that it can be deployed easily; it is designed for use in barracks, so we have seen far less disruption to the domestic lives of the troops prior to deployment on operations.” The training courses are delivered by the MOD’s Talisman Training Advisory Team (TTAT). For each pre deployment course, Thales supplies all the hardware and software, installs the system and then provides technical oversight and support to the training. This involves maintaining the T3S equipment and supporting exercise control (EXCON) during exercises and after-action reviews. Alex Cresswell, vice president of Thales UK's land defence business, said: “Complementary to training using real equipment, T3S provides the Royal Engineers with the ability to exercise tactics, techniques and procedures in a classroom environment that is low risk, low cost, and highly controllable. “We are in discussions with a number of other customers about how similar concepts based on the T3S solution could be used to support their collective training requirements, for example in combined arms and reconnaissance training, especially where optimal team interaction is crucial.” About Talisman Thales was appointed by the MOD as the Mission System Design Authority for Talisman - the key industrial role that includes the management of the design, procurement, installation, test and acceptance of Talisman-specific equipment into the Mastiff 2 and Buffalo vehicles. The installed equipment includes sensors, weapon stations and a suite of UK theatre-entry protection and communications equipment. Talisman entered service in 2010. Each Talisman system consists of: • A Mastiff 2 protected patrol vehicle with a mast-mounted camera and a remotely-operated weapon station • A Buffalo mine protected vehicle, with a rummaging arm • A JCB high mobility engineer excavator • A T-Hawk micro air vehicle, with TV camera • A Talon tracked remote control vehicle, with TV camera |
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 Buffalo mine protected vehicle, with a rummaging arm. |
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 JCB high mobility engineer excavator |
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 Talon tracked remote control vehicle, with TV camera (Copyyright British MOD) |
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 T-Hawk micro air vehicle, with TV camera |
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