SAAB Gamer CBRN Live Training system
Argon Electronics joined forces with Swedish military defence solutions provider Saab AB to develop a next-generation integrated interface for CBRN Live Training
Addressing the CBRN Live Training Challenge
The rapidly emerging threat posed by CBRN materials continues to fuel the need for high-quality and hyper-realistic CBRN training.
Live training systems are currently in use globally by military, police, Special Forces, and emergency teams.
To meet this need, Argon Electronics and Saab have combined their technologies—Argon’s PlumeSIM and Saab’s Gamer—to develop an advanced CBRN Live Training system.
PlumeSIM’s CBRN Live Training capability in action
The capabilities of the enhanced PlumeSIM training system were first demonstrated at the tenth international live training symposium, Levels of Fidelity, held at the Army Training Centre (AZA) in Walenstadt, Switzerland in October 2015.
In a live scenario jointly staged by Argon Electronics and Saab, a hijacked military vehicle was weaponized with a simulated CWA and then driven towards a base guard post.
As the guards approached the vehicle, a simulated CWA was released, triggering their chemical detectors (in this case, simulators of Smiths Detection M4JCADs / LCD3.2e) and prompting them to don their respirators.
Once appropriately protected, the guards were then able to continue their response using Gamer’s simulated Live Firing capability.
The demonstration garnered significant interest and positive feedback, leading to further improvements in the PlumeSIM interface.
While the Walenstadt scenario-focused solely on the use of Chemical Warfare Agents (CWAs), the PlumeSIM system can also support radiological simulation, including the use of simulated portable survey meters such as the Mirion / Canberra AN/VDR-2, AN/PDR-77 / RDS100 and simulated personal dosimeters such as the Mirion / Canberra UDR13 and UDR14.
Key Benefits of PlumeSIM
Realism
The highly realistic, practical and hands-on nature of the PlumeSIM Live Training system ensures trainees are able to experience the full functionality of their equipment and PPE
Immersion
Trainees are exposed to a wide range of psychological and physiological responses that they are likely to experience in a live setting
Safety
PlumeSIM can be used in an unlimited variety of scenarios, including urban and indoor settings, with no safety risk to personnel, the environment or infrastructure
Enhanced Learning Outcomes
Powerful After Action Review (AAR) capability enables all the actions and movements of the trainees to be monitored in real-time and recorded for post-exercise evaluation
Versatility
The interface readily supports the use of a wide range of both portable and vehicle-based simulator detector equipment, it can be integrated into any Live or Virtual CBRN training system and it enables personnel to train against a diverse variety of radiological and chemical threats
Instructor control
The portable systems enable real-time remote instructor management of plumes or hotspots, the specific substances or chemical agents that the students will train against; the environmental conditions in which the exercise takes place and different release characteristics such as duration or persistence
Efficiency
Exercises can be quickly reset and repeated without any need to decontaminate, maintain or recalibrate equipment, or wait for radioactive decay