Systematic has launched a new virtual training platform that enables students to interact directly with its SitaWare Command and Control Battle Management System (BMS).
Known as SitaWare Aspire, this new eTraining system embeds the SitaWare application into the training environment to provide a realistic, hands-on training solution.
SitaWare Aspire builds on the classic e-learning environment of textual and video resources but adds an extra training dimension to it. The new training platform has the SitaWare application integrated into the training environment, offering in-app exercises, with a digital instructor supporting students as they learn how to use the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I) software. Users develop their C4I skillset hands-on, navigating and operating the actual interface.
“They have the application right in front of them – they don’t have to wait until they’ve conducted the training before they can use it,” said Gauri Varma Heise, Director of Service Product Management, Systematic Defence.
SitaWare Aspire features a range of courses, updated with each new release. A digital instructor delivers lessons through an ‘info box’, which explains what steps the user needs to take. An icon on the screen continuously directs the student through the training. The digital instructor assesses a student’s responses and provides immediate feedback. This ‘train as you fight’ concept ensures students receive the most realistic experience possible through learning by doing, accessible at any time and place.
SitaWare Aspire teaches students the basics of the software, though tailored courses could then be developed for individual military needs. The courses are developed and validated by domain experts, ensuring the lessons reflect real workflows.
The training solution provides standardized, validated and certified training for military teams, offering a strong foundation for further development and learning. Heise said that in a conventional teaching environment, “you’re highly dependent on your instructors’ qualifications, in a good and a bad way.” With SitaWare Aspire’s digital instructor the student is presented with a, “consistent learning environment, with no deviations from the curriculum.”
The new tool will allow military operators to cut down on the training burden, training multiple users efficiently and at their convenience. The system means that instructors can focus on more complex training, with SitaWare Aspire used for the more basic lessons. For example, in a standard-sized NATO brigade of 3000-5000 people, about 1000 would need to be trained to use SitaWare, with up to 12 instructors conducting the training.
“If an instructor no longer has to conduct a two-day course for 1000 students, you can quickly calculate how many hours he or she could save,” Varma Heise explains. “That time saved is better spent on more complicated training, instead of simple application training.”
