The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) is modernising the Swedish Armed Forces' combat training facility STA MOUT in Kvarn (central Sweden) with new technology to create a more realistic training environment and improve the capacity for analysis and after-action review.
STA MOUT, which stands for Stridsträningsanläggning, Militära Operationer Urban Terräng (Combat Training Facility, Military Operations in Urban Terrain), is used for training in urban combat, where soldiers and units can practise movement, fire combat, communications and command in realistic city environments. The facility is used by both Swedish and international units.
According to FMV, the modernisation includes upgrades to the facility's camera and audio systems. Hundreds of cameras are used to document and monitor exercises in real time, providing improved capacity for analysis and evaluation. The audio system has also been equipped with so-called bass horns and an expanded sound library to increase realism and recreate effects such as explosions in the urban environment.
"The goal is to create training conditions that are as realistic as possible, while also giving the Swedish Armed Forces better opportunities to follow up and develop activities after completed exercises," says Fatanhe Hasani, systems engineer at FMV, in a press release.
She also describes the aim as increasing the cognitive load and decision-making demands during exercises.
"It is about increasing realism, stress and decision-making during training. The closer the training comes to reality, the better the conditions soldiers and units have to act in live situations," says Hasani.
FMV states that technical development in this area is progressing rapidly, and that the modernised systems will give the Swedish Armed Forces better conditions to analyse completed training elements and identify areas for development ahead of future combat environments.