XR Training wins further ACV simulator prototype award

An early version of the XRT Crew Gunnery Trainer, with the driver station on the left, vehicle commander in the centre and gunner on the right. (XRT)

The US Marine Corps (USMC) has awarded US simulation specialist XR Training (XRT) a six-month USD5.1 million other transaction authority (OTA) contract to develop a prototype crew gunnery trainer (CGT) for the corps' Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) which will include an artificial intelligence (AI) capability.

This award follows XRT's development and fielding of the Wave Rider ACV driver training system (DTS), of which 81 systems are now in service worldwide with the USMC. The DTS is based on a lightweight two-degree of freedom (2DoF) motion platform and incorporates vehicle control hardware (steering wheel, pedals, gear and propulsion mode change levers, vehicle switches, and controls) and a mixed reality (MR) head mounted display (HMD) with hand and head tracking.

For the CGT, XRT is leading the same consortium that developed Wave Rider: Talon Simulations (hardware), Enludio (software development), and Theory Studios (modelling and visuals), plus Redshred which is developing the AI. The project will leverage XRT's PRISM system architecture that “[integrates] AI with the latest advancements in technology, Extended Reality (XR), and adaptive learning methodologies”, the announcement said.

Neil Levin, XRT founder and chief executive officer, told Janes that the CGT will expand the spectrum of training from driver training through crew training to mission rehearsal. “Gunnery is not just a single person operation,” he said. The prototype CGT will expand on the DTS by adding two more positions, the gunner and the vehicle commander, both based on the same motion platform, to provide a networked simulator for a complete vehicle crew.