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Ukraine’s Armed Forces Switching to Training on MILES, LAZERTAG Systems

In-classroom training will be held on brand new simulators in a cyber environment
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LaserTag system demonstrated in action during exercises held in November 2020 at Shyroky Lan Range
LaserTag system demonstrated in action during exercises held in November 2020 at Shyroky Lan Range

Commander of the Ukrainian Land Forces, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrsky spoke to Defense Express to discuss the innovations and progress achieved in combat training of the Armed Forces.

In particular, Army personnel appreciate the experience they acquired when training on the laser-based Tactical Engagement Simulation (TES) System that was fielded in 2020.

In the Ukrainian Armed Forces, LaserTag saw its first use during Ukraine’s national competition of tank platoons, held in 2020

"We’ve embarked on a sweeping campaign to put in place new means and techniques of combat training. Thus, we have brought the laser-based TES systems MILES and LAZERTAG into company-level tactical exercises.

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This provides a combined benefit of saved resources, improved level of combat training and better team coordination,” the Land Forces Commander said.

It seems that training sessions with laser-based TES systems proved to be a success, given that a decision had been taken to quickly enough field these systems to all military training centers and exercise ranges.

LaserTag system is shown here installed in a BMP-2 IFV vehicle during a training session at Shyroky Lan training facility

"Given the experience gained from exercises held in 2020, during this year we plan to field Laser-Tag systems to all of the Land Forces’ unit training centers and combined arms exercise ranges," Mr Syrsky went on to say.

On a parallel track, work has been continued to refurbish the fleet of combat vehicle driving simulators for individual and collective training. In addition, work has been underway to create collective training simulators based on the virtual training environment software facilities VBS-3 and VBS-4.

Commander of the Ukrainian Land Forces, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrsky is inspecting some training facility / of Volodymyr Patola

This will allow large units such as battalion tactical groups to be trained simultaneously in a cyber environment in real-world locations using static simulators.

Much attention has been devoted also to the creation of complex, "high fidelity" training facilities for practicing specific missions like "Urban combat", for example.

Photo Courtesy of Volodymyr Patola

The Land Forces are currently less than 10 percent below establishment in simulation and training facilities, according to the service commander. With the quality of simulation training improved, especially through the adoption of modern, innovative training methods and techniques, the Ukrainian military will be able to raise to a new level the standards of its personnel training, both individual and collective.

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