In a typical scenario presented aboard USS Michael
Murphy (DDG-112), the lookouts on the bridge spotted a group of fast
attack boats in their augmented reality goggles. They passed the information
to the gunner on the deck, also wearing the same goggles, who fired
his 0.50-calibre heavy machine gun against the targets.
The attacking boats were part of the augmented reality
environment where the threat was presented in the real environment,
with many real ships being present in the surrounding. The system
allows the trainers to simulate enemy jamming resulting in degraded
communications and sensors capacity, different weather and visibility
conditions, the involvement of air assets or even people speaking
other languages.
Nevertheless, the functions being served with an augmented
reality training system are not only restricted to simple forms of
combat scenarios. It could be used to train staff in navigating a
ship, in maintenance, in landing a fighter aircraft, in logistics
or whatever scenario will be required.
Once fully developed, the new system will allow the
US Navy to train its crews even during deployment. Until now it is
shore-based but the Service aims at bringing it to every ship in order
to provide the best possible training during deployments.
According to the Office of Naval Research data, the
training system can offer huge savings to the Fleet. Considering that
the cost of getting an aircraft carrier out of base costs USD250,000
or USD6 million for the whole of the strike group, the cost of acquiring
and using the software and the necessary systems is much lower.
Augmented reality systems become increasingly popular
in training in times of restrained budgets. The United States Marine
Corps recently tried one. In September 2015, Marines at the Infantry
Officer Course first tested augmented reality technology.
Augmented Immersive Team Trainer (AITT) was developed,
once again, from the ONR to train forward observers and tactical air
controllers in force on force tactics. Some of the most demanding
scenarios to simulate in an augmented reality environment and some
of the most expensive in real training situations. The USMC has received
three systems and is testing them before deciding on whether to take
them into the procurement process.
