A New Era for Call For Fire Training

Oct. 31, 2023
Seamless simulation enhances Call for Fire training while maintaining image quality.
Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim^TM) has a long-standing relationship with Laser Shot which continues to their very latest developments using VBS4 in Call for Fire (CFF) training. One of Laser Shot’s newest solutions is LS FIRES, an adaptation of CROSSHAIR Magnified Optics Simulator technology, which provides an immersive solution for CFF training with emulated versions of real-world devices like M22 binoculars or the AN/PED-1 Lightweight Laser Designator Rangefinder (LLDR).

Laser Shot manufactures these Emulated Military Equipment (EME) devices from scratch based on their real-world design, outfitting the simulated versions with their infrared tracking system. This produces an extremely precise tracking point and integrates their emulated equipment with VBS using BISim’s Software Development Kits (SDKs).

The EME device’s position and orientation are tracked by the infrared lasers to synchronize its real-world position with a virtual view. The virtual view renders the terrain and simulated entities with the correct magnification, field of view, and reticles as would be seen by a trainee using a real-world equivalent of the EME device. The virtual view is then displayed on a micro-display built into the physical EME device, seamlessly incorporating magnified CFF devices into a virtual environment without sacrificing focus or image resolution.

The simulation and imagery powering this virtual world is supplied by VBS4, which completes the package, providing all of the virtual assets at the necessary exceptional fidelity for this application, and the software tools required for CFF simulation suitable for the highly demanding Forward Observer (FO)/Joint Forward Observer (JFO) training.

Technical challenges of previous CFF training systems
Traditional CFF training systems were built on older technology that had the burden of requiring a high level of technical knowledge to operate and provided a low level of training fidelity. This frustrating situation led to innovative service members sourcing their own inventive ways to train. For example, the U.S. Army Games for Training program was quickly adopted by their service’s forward observers as a highly capable simulation that produced good results for both individual and collective training.

To complete the requisite simulation training, comparatively simple desktop-based solutions have increasingly been chosen instead of hard-to-use, dated simulations. But while these solutions are reliable, desktop solutions lack the total immersion and some of the training missions that only simulated devices with true-to-life form, fit, and function can provide.

Laser Shot’s LS FIRES was developed to take the best of desktop-based solutions (VBS4) and combine this with the best simulated devices and tracking system available, while ensuring the final package is reliable and easy to use by CFF trainers and trainees for individual and collective training.

How LS FIRES enhances the training experience
LS FIRES is an advanced and user-friendly CFF training solution that adapts Laser Shot's existing CROSSHAIR Magnified Optics Simulator. Originally designed for weapon optics, LS FIRES combines Laser Shot's tracking system, simulated optic devices and VBS4 to offer exceptionally high-fidelity and reliable training for FO/JFO recertification.

BISim’s VBS4 is a fully-featured military simulation platform, containing a massive content library, powerful mission editor, terrain editing tools, and, of particular importance, a built-in Fire Direction Center (FDC) providing an intuitive GUI for simulating artillery fire during training.

VBS4 is an inextricable part of an overall package that provides high-fidelity, easy-to-use, and most importantly, effective CFF simulation training.
VBS4 has been approved by the U.S. Army as a simulation platform for CFF training tasks, which allows LS FIRES to be used for JFO recertification. Potential customers are likely to be familiar with VBS as many military customers already own enterprise licenses.