MASA Group and BISim Announce Strategic Partnership

MASA and Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim) have entered a product sales and technical cooperation agreement to further develop MASA SWORD for the North American market

Paris, France - The strategic relationship between MASA Group, a leading developer of Artificial Intelligence-based simulation software, and Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim), a global developer of simulation and training software, will be reinforced this month following the signing of a reseller agreement. This agreement will confirm BISim as the official reseller of MASA SWORD in North America.

With many global military powers already using both SWORD and BISim’s Virtual Battlespace 3 (VBS3), the companies identified an opportunity to bring their complementary technologies together. The collaboration will enable MASA to respond to growing requirements for cost-effective simulated training, broaden its international reach and provide a truly comprehensive simulation package for command staff training.

This formal cooperation follows a period of successful collaboration, including the development of Proof of Concept (POC) integration examples for MASA SWORD and BISim’s VBS3. With many military customers in common, the companies have also teamed together at international trade shows to feature their joint offering.

MASA products are successfully in use worldwide, including with the French, Brazilian, New Zealand, Swiss, Bangladesh and Colombian Armies. BISim’s products are used extensively in most NATO military organizations including all branches of the United States military, both the UK and French MoD, Bundeswehr, Swedish Armed Forces, Canadian Forces, Australian Defence Force and in 50 separate countries in total. 

This major collaboration between two of the training and simulation sector’s key players brings significant benefits to the North American market. Primarily, the constructive training experience provided by SWORD can be further enhanced by using VBS3 as a visualisation system. For example, command staff training with SWORD can order an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to collect intelligence and this activity will be simulated, as usual, by SWORD. However, the integration of VBS3 in this exercise would give trainees a virtual three-dimensional view of the operation, seen through the UAV camera.

The combination of SWORD and VBS3 also has the advantage of adding richness to virtual training environments. For example, when training a platoon with VBS, the surrounding units in the scenario can be effectively simulated by SWORD. The effectiveness of training is further enhanced if VBS3 is used with SWORD for after action review, which enables users to analyse their operational decisions and the consequences of those actions. 

"The key driver behind this integration is to provide a more complete offering to the global training and simulation market, while maintaining cost effectiveness and ensuring low training overheads for our military customers”, said David Chouraqui, CEO, MASA Group. “SWORD supports both military and civil exercises spanning all aspects of defense, civil security and emergency management, while BISim’s notable VBS technology already has a strong customer base in North America. There is great potential for developing this joint offering for future international military requirements”. 

“Together SWORD and VBS3 will provide users with a joint training capability previously unavailable with any other product combination,” said Arthur Alexion, Co-CEO, BISim. “With VBS3 and SWORD users can train from commander through individual entity-level simulation at unprecedented levels of detail.” 

MASA Group and Bohemia Interactive Simulations will be exhibiting at ITEC 16-18 May, Ahoy, Rotterdam. Please visit MASA on stand 8. Visit BISim at stand 24.