It was an usual sight in Canberra as a live-fire range arrived on the back of a semi-trailer at Russell Offices.
The Video Positive Identification Range (ViPIR) turned up for an evaluation from May 13-24.
ViPIR’s Sergeant Robert Brooks, a reservist on loan from Adelaide Universities Regiment and working for Army Land Simulation Program, said the range used a high-definition video projection system with real weapons and live ammunition.
“This range allows soldiers to be immersed in a training environment where they’re using in-service weapons and the new lead-free frangible close target round in highly realistic scenarios,” he said.
“This assists in building a ‘pre-combat veteran’ with the ability to use live fire in real-life HD video-based scenarios played by actors on the screen who react to the soldier’s actions or inaction.
“It also allows our soldiers to build positive combat behaviours, so when they are faced with similar situations on operations, they have the experience to draw on to enhance their likelihood of a successful outcome.”
Sergeant Brooks said using this type of equipment aligned with the Small Team Integrated Combat Training System experiential learning model, which is based on learning through doing.
“They’re firing a number of rounds to target effect, not, ‘During this serial you will fire two rounds’.You’re firing until you see a target effect on the screen,” he said.
“If the enemy combatant on the screen is wearing body armour, we can force the soldier to make a cognitive decision to fire lower or higher, or even punch through the body armour.
“As the box is limited to one or two firers at a time, it allows the learning experience and the feedback loop to be individualised to each firer.”
“There’s no need for signing out ammunition and returning unexpended rounds or any of those time-consuming activities that take time away from soldiers actually training.”
Sergeant Brooks said the beauty of the ViPIR was its simplicity and the concept of ‘turn up and shoot’.
“It significantly reduces the administrative overheads of live-fire training. Range operators hold all the ammunition, so when the officer in charge arrives in the morning he gets a quick brief from the operator, signs for the range, briefs his soldiers and can start shooting within 10 minutes,” he said.
“There’s no need for signing out ammunition and returning unexpended rounds or any of those time-consuming activities that take time away from soldiers actually training.”
Sergeant Brooks said the system’s technology also allowed users to upload video footage to create their own scenarios.
“Imagine we’re going into a new area of operations and the first patrols take video footage that could be sent back to Australia and turned into scenarios for the next rotation to train on as part of their mission rehearsal exercises,” he said.
“Soldiers would get to undertake live training in the same environment they’ll be operating in before they even set foot in country. Additionally, having a ViPIR in the FOB for soldiers to train during their downtime would be beneficial.”
Australian Target Systems are providing this product, also known as the Live Fire Range in a Box (LFRiB).
The ViPIR/LFRiB will also visit the School of Infantry, Singleton; Enoggera Barracks from June 10-14; then Townsville (via Darwin for a couple of weeks) for a 12-month evaluation.
Question: Would technology have made a difference when you were in?
