BROADMEADOW company Applied Virtual Simulation has won a $17.9 million dollar Australian Defence Force contract to deliver training software to the Australian Army.
AVS founder Martin Carr said the company will deliver a suite of Common Simulation Software (CSS) and associated technologies. The project, Land Simulation Core 2.0 Tranche 1, will provide the Army with CSS for use by future simulators and in simulation-based combined arms training.
The former army officer said the platform will allow Army to train within an integrated virtual environment.
"Land Simulation Core 2.0 will be the most comprehensive modernisation of simulation technology in the history of the Australian Army. It will be a key enabler of Army's Future Ready Training System," he said.
Mr Carr said the ADF was making "substantial investments" into procuring new land combat platforms and it was essential that the training systems for these platforms could interoperate to achieve combined arms training effects.
"LSC 2.0 will enable this by providing a suite of CSS and associated applications which will provide a baseline for current and future simulators and simulation-based training systems," he said. "In addition to delivering the software applications, we will be creating hundreds of 3D models and mapping thousands of square kilometres of real-world terrain into the simulation. This will allow soldiers to train together whether they are using a simulator in a barracks environment or deployed to a field training area."
AVS chief technology officer Craig Williams said the contract was significant because it was a comprehensive modernisation of Army simulation technology.
"What the military are trying to do is deliver centralised capabilities that that were previously delivered through different software packages through different providers," he said.
Mr Williams said AVS would hire 20 staff to deliver the contract, which was a win for the region.
"The Hunter is becoming the hub for simulation capabilities for Defence," he said.
"This software will develop simulators for army training, and Defence is poised to spend about $650 million in simulators in the next few years and the Hunter stands to benefit."
