Lockheed Martin, ORLANDO: Whether it's addressing a terrorist threat or delivering needed medical supplies, convoy operations must overcome challenges of a constantly changing urban battlefield. To help meet this need, the U.S. Marine Corps announced that Lockheed Martin was awarded a $52.5 million contract to develop Combat Convoy Simulators (CCS) – the next generation in a line of convoy simulators produced by the company.
“We have transformed our proven technology in an evolutionary way that meets the most urgent needs of the warfighter,” said Jim Craig, vice president of ground, maritime & civil solutions, Lockheed Martin Simulation, Training & Support. “Convoy operations are highly targeted by insurgents and continue to be a leading cause of casualties. The CCS is another example of how Lockheed Martin builds on today's technology to develop tomorrow's solutions.”
The CCS provides an immersive training environment for a variety of military vehicles. During each training mission, the vehicle commander and a crew of up to five students are presented with realistic terrain and threat environments and one or more training scenarios such as re-supply, patrol, logistics support, high-value target extraction, medical evacuation, call for close air support and call for fire. Each training mission focuses on defending against current and evolving threats.
CCS builds on technology developed for the Virtual Combat Convoy Trainer (VCCT) for the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps as well as the Army's Close Combat Tactical Trainer – Reconfigurable Vehicle Simulator (CCTT RVS). CCS improves the virtual environment, weapons and integration.
For example:
– Visual fidelity is dramatically improved by incorporating a modern, multi-threaded visual gaming image generator to provide textured, high-resolution, realistic visual detail.
– The simulator's weapons are “wireless” and no longer tethered, providing students more freedom to move around the vehicle and providing a more realistic weapon response and recoil.
– Six simulator student stations are housed in adjacent rooms in a single building allowing entire units to train together in “virtual convoys.”
– The Lockheed Martin team can also link the CCS to other Marine Corps trainers such as the VCCT, CCTT RVS and other driver-trainers for more complete training.
“The potential of this technology is unparalleled,” Craig said. “We are able to adjust scenarios presented on the convoy trainers, allowing our customers to prepare for an ever-growing range of situations. Our platform is scaled to support capabilities that can be introduced as our military customers identify additional needs.”
Since the initial deployment of the VCCT in 2004, more than 85,000 Soldiers, Marines, and Airmen have been trained in Army, Marine Corps and Air Force convoy trailers, making Lockheed Martin the premier provider of virtual convoy training.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.
