Babcock showcasing innovative tech solutions at AWE 21
Image courtesy Babcock
AWE is the flagship innovation experimentation programme for the British Army (Army) for the past decade, featuring the best and most innovative emerging technologies and concepts to prepare the Army for a rapidly changing contemporary operating environment and emerging threats – all with the ultimate goal of increasing soldier survival in combat.
Babcock answered the challenges outlined by the Army by showcasing three main concepts:
- Integrated threat training in live virtual and constructive environments with a prototype full sized replica BMP3 armoured fighting vehicle. This provides an affordable but highly realistic threat to train against, using an interchangeable applique on a commercial 4 x 4 vehicle and providing the essential visual, thermal and noise recognition features to transform soldiers’ live training experience.
- An innovative modular above ground subterranean training solution that provides a safe, flexible, realistic and challenging subterranean environment for soldiers - a key Army training requirement – which can either enhance existing urban training facilities or be delivered at point of need wherever the soldiers are.
- Training Insight Model which helps to make-sense of the numerous data sources which abound in technology-enabled training. Babcock’s approach integrates existing, new and real-time data to create a profile of each team member as well as the team overall. Analysis and interpretation of indicators using cutting-edge data science and machine learning, helps trainers to deliver key training insights to soldiers undertaking training, their commanders and to the designers of collective training activity. Empowering the soldier, team and commanders with performance insights allows exercises to be dynamically tailored, for example to ensure training in virtual and live environments is at the appropriate tempo to challenge the audience, maintain realism and to provide the stretch necessary to prepare for operations in the most testing environments.
Alistair Deas, Land Defence Training Director, Babcock said: "AWE 21 has provided Babcock with the platform to demonstrate our capabilities in developing and realising concepts to improve the effectiveness of collective training and to enhance the experience of the soldier. We have applied Learning and Behavioural Sciences to military training and are particularly pleased with the response to our experiment in applying our learnings to the collective training context and innovation in providing a realistic environment both physical and virtual.
“We are delighted with the interest and the positive feedback we received at the event and are now looking forward to the opportunity to work with the Army to transform collective training. Babcock is well placed to deliver novel state-of-the-art training solutions that integrate both old and new capabilities in partnership with the Army.
Steve Penver, Head of Digital Integration for Babcock, said the operation had taken months of strategic planning and collaboration to prepare for. “We know the defence landscape is changing rapidly and becoming increasingly digital – that means the challenges, the threats and technology solutions are changing too. As the second largest supplier to the MoD, the innovative approaches we are creating now will help us better prepare for that changing battlespace, protect the communities we operate in and potentially save lives.
“We’ve been looking at data exploitation and digitisation – what is increasingly at the heart of training design, and we’ve been showcasing cutting-edge training systems that can be fully integrated, interoperable and support data capture.
“Babcock isn’t just showing its state-of-the-art capabilities at this event, we’re saying we’re ready to deliver them.”
