Argon CBRNe / HazMat Training News

US Marines enhance CBRN readiness with Argon’s PlumeSIM

Written by Steven Pike on 05 Oct 2017

The United States Marine Corp (USMC) has awarded a contract for the delivery of PlumeSIM, Argon’s instrumented CBRN training system. Due for delivery early 2018, the system will include a number of training simulators and will significantly enhance CBRN exercises and student learning for the Marine Corp.

PlumeSIM enables users to implement both Tabletop and Live Field Exercises based upon both GIS mapping and “home-made maps” with ease, and incorporates a powerful after action review (AAR) capability that enables both command decisions and survey team activity to be practiced, verified and refined.

Read More...

PlumeSIM provides Steel Beasts Pro with CBRN / HazMat capability

Written by Steven Pike on 18 Aug 2017

It is of increasing interest to both civilian and military organisation to incorporate support for CBRN Hazards into their training. In some instances this can be achieved by a standalone system such as Argon’s PlumeSIM. In other instances the desire it to have this capability incorporated into their own, existing systems, especially if the user is a military organisation with a need to simulate a scenario that includes a combination of hazards, including but not limited to CBRN.

Argon recognised this need and also acknowledged that it was not practical for these organisations to develop such a system; along with the broad and expanding range of physical simulators for all of the major CBRN detectors. The solution developed by Argon is the PlumeSIM API (Application Program Interface). This is a software component that enables PlumeSIM to be interfaced to third party Live and Virtual simulation systems.

Read More...

Argon celebrates 30 years in business and releases a new eBook

Written by Steven Pike on 13 Apr 2017


Argon Electronics, the global leader in Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) and HazMat training systems, celebrates 30 years in business this month and, in commemoration, has released an eBook that explores the three key types of Chemical Warfare Agent (CWA) training: Live Agent Training, Simulant Agent Training and Simulation Training.


“It seems only a relatively short time ago that discussions with Essex County Fire and Rescue Service relating to their desire to enhance radiological hazard training after the Chernobyl reactor accident resulted in Argon entering the field of CBRN simulation” reflected Steven Pike, Managing Director and Founder of Argon. “Fast forward some 28 years, and our training systems, underpinned by numerous patents and commercial relationships with many of the world’s leading detector manufacturers, are in use throughout the world to enhance CBRN training.”

To celebrate this achievement, Argon has launched a new website and has also released an eBook, which will help those organisations reviewing their CBRN and HazMat training consider some of the options available. “This is our first eBook, and the contribution from David Butler BEM, a former military officer at the UK Defence CBRN Centre Winterbourne Gunner has ensured interesting reading. At a time when hardly a month passes without mention of a CBRN related incident in the news, the need for organisations to ensure they are well prepared has never been greater.” affirmed Pike.

The eBook considers a number of factors relating to effective Chemical Warfare Agent training - including health and safety, regulatory burdens, the environment and costs.

The new eBook is available to download, free of charge, from the Argon website.

Read More...

How to stage an effective CBRN response training exercise

Written by Steven Pike on 25 Jun 2014

Following a highly successful exercise staged in the UK at Bristol City Football Ground, Steven Pike, Managing Director at Argon Electronics, has offered a list of tips to get the most out of a CBRN response training exercise. Key to the success of the event was the innovative use of electronic CBRN detection simulators, which, integrated with a series of further measures, established a degree of realism that has significantly enhanced training for police in the South West of England.

Read More...

How simulation can enhance Military battlefield training

Written by Steven Pike on 04 Jun 2014

Argon Electronics has released a new white paper that focuses on enhancing chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) military response training. Written by Tim Otter, ex-military officer and CEO of Lutra Associates, the paper, titled ‘How Simulation Can Enhance Battlefield Training’, examines the advances in training technology that enable the military to prepare for modern day conflicts.

Read More...

CBRN: Ensuring The Right Response

Written by Steven Pike on 12 Apr 2013

In the past, training personnel for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) incidents was relatively straightforward. Today, however, the task is far more complicated.  The emergency services are faced with many different challenges and no two incidents are ever the same.  This is largely due to the fact that, in recent years, the range of potential incidents has increased considerably, spanning from the dangers of entering meths labs to dealing with the threat of terrorist attacks, especially involving devices such as so-called dirty bombs.

Read More...

Boris Berezovsky CBRN police search

Written by Steven Pike on 28 Mar 2013

The sudden death of Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky captured the attention of the UK and global media over the weekend and into this week. Initially, there was speculation that Berezovsky’s death might have shared similarities with the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006, who was poisoned by the radioactive substance Polonium-210.

Read More...

Why wider CBRN response training is more urgent than ever

Written by Steven Pike on 13 Sep 2012

The recent CBRNe World article by Jim Murphy MP, UK Shadow Defence Secretary, made some interesting observations on the state of UK security and the position of the current government, many of which underline the urgency for wider CBRN response training.

Read More...