Rheinmetall instrumental in assuring smooth Combat Training Center operations
Bits and bytes for realistic training
The Combat Training Center of the German Army (GÜZ) developed and built under the leadership of Rheinmetall Defence is one of the world's most advanced military training facilities. In an environment combining realist maneuvers and IT-based live simulations, soldiers can train different scenarios ranging from anti-tank operations and urban warfare to situations involving political or social unrest. Working under contract to the Simulation and Training Systems division of Bremen-based Rheinmetall Defence Electronics GmbH (RDE), Rheinmetall Dienstleistungszentrum Altmark GmbH (RDA) has been tasked with the industrial operational support of the Combat Training Center located in the Altmark Training Area to the north of Magdeburg since September 1, 2008.
The tasks of the German forces have changed considerably since the 1990's. Where military policy used to be tailored to national defence and the guarantee of mutual assistance for Nato members, out-of-area missions have become increasingly important in recent years. Integrated in multinational units, German soldiers participating in such missions help to secure peace in different regions like Kosovo, Afghanistan or the waters of the Horn of Africa. To give soldiers the best possible training and protection, the German Bundeswehr applies simulation-based training methods to assure maximum realism, efficiency and cost-effectiveness. A direct fire weapons effect simulator that simulates firing and fire effect in the target with the aid of laser pulses is at the heart of the training system.
The 23,000 hectare large Combat Training Center terrain has been used by the military since the 1930's. The area was taken over by the German Bundeswehr after the departure of Russian troops (who had been stationed there in the German Democratic Republic) and gradually transformed into a highly modern combat training center.
"The biggest difference between a normal training range and the Combat Training Center is that we don't use live ammunition", says Colonel Gerd Josef Kropf, the commanding officer who has been in charge of the Training Center for the last two years. The advanced simulation technology helps soldiers to accept their training environment and training subjects. "Twenty years ago we used to discuss what happened during a training exercise, today we talk about why something happened and how we can be better next time." It is thanks to this immediate training success that the Combat Training Center is highly appreciated by the German armed forces.
The training facility is used not only to train members of the German Army but also personnel from the other services and military organizations. Preparatory training tasks, i.e. to prepare soldiers for missions in many hot spots around the globe currently make up for about two thirds of the 21 training sessions per year with a total of around 240 training days. Further training activities relate to combined arms combat training in which different units like tanks, sappers, the artillery and air force jointly participate in training exercises. "We are thus able to cover many tasks ranging from peace-keeping activities through to traditional battlefield scenarios with armies using the most modern equipment," says Colonel Kropf.
The Combat Training Center is used by German soldiers and military personnel from other countries, such as Austrian Kfor soldiers assigned to Kosovo, French units of the Franco-German brigade and members of the EU Battle Group from Belgium and Luxembourg. Since the Training Center has a railway link, combat vehicles can be transported to the fitting hall directly by train in order to be equipped with the simulation technology and then participate in training exercises.
Some 25,000 soldiers participate in training programs at the GÜZ Training Center each year. In addition to the special simulation equipment supplied by Rheinmetall Defence, about 1,150 people support training activities. Of these, about 700 soldiers of whom 500 are serving in the training unit which covers regular military tasks as well as police work, members of organized crime or ethnic minorities. To allow military personnel to concentrate fully on their training work, all activities are conducted in cooperation with an industrial operator under a public-private partnership scheme.
This task was assigned to Rheinmetall Defence in September 2008. RDA which is headquartered in the Combat Training Center was created specifically to provide the necessary support in situ in close collaboration with the commanding officer.
Jens Heusmann, the managing director of RDA points out: "As part of the Combat Training Center, we share responsibility for smooth training operations." The tasks – referred to as work packages by the German Bundeswehr – of the industrial partner are defined in a 130 page specification and various annexes. These include the operation and support of the Training Center, the laser direct fire weapons effect simulators and the entire communication network including the computer hardware, maintenance and repair of combat vehicles, numerous services associated with the issue, return, servicing and storage of the simulation equipment and the fleet of vehicles.
Thanks to the Simulation and Training division's wide-ranging experience in connection with the development, construction and initial industrial operating phase of GÜZ and numerous technical extensions, it was possible to transfer the tasks of the former industrial operator to RDA during running training operations without any hitches.
The organization of the company whose personnel is largely from the region is tailored to the work packages defined by the German Bundeswehr and is designed to deal with future tasks such as mission scenarios in an urban environment. Since some of the commercial and administrative tasks are being conducted by Bremen-based Rheinmetall Defence Electronics, administrative resources at the Combat Training Center are minimal. "This allowed us to get going immediately. The short transition phase served mainly to transfer operation of GÜZ and not so much to set up a new GmbH-company", says Heusmann.
Operation of the Combat Training Center poses quite a challenge to the RDA team. After all, up to 1,500 soldiers and more than one hundred wheeled and tracked vehicles can participate in a training session. To integrate such large numbers of equipment and personnel, the same number of kits has to be taken from the automatic high-rack warehouse with up to 2,400 positions.
Such a kit consists of a laser transmitter, a data radio set with GPS antenna, triple prisms and detectors as well as a power supply unit, for soldiers this is an accumulator pack. Vehicles are additionally equipped with optical displays such as stroboscopic lamps, signal lights or devices for pyrotechnical effects. Additionally, technical devices need to be maintained during the training sessions which generally last about two weeks and defective components have to be replaced. "The technical prerequisites for battlefield simulation are met in this way", says Heusmann.
The industrial operator has to do a lot more besides providing technical gear and maintaining the simulation systems. Further tasks include the provision of vehicles with drivers for the training sessions. Camera teams record the training event. And the entire radio communication process – 35 intercom radio channels and 12 digital channels (Tetra radio) are available – is documented 24 hours a day. Furthermore, RDA operates the entire IT infrastructure of the Combat Training Center with hundreds of computers and servers. Heusmann points out that military training relies on the connection of data and simulation technology including e.g. the ability to immediately transmit data from an exercise for multimedia debriefing sessions with the troops in the evaluation center. This allows instructors and soldiers alike to analyze combat exercises immediately in mobile auditoriums. All data is stored and can be reproduced as and when necessary.
Close collaboration between the Bundeswehr and industrial operator calls for a good understanding of military requirements by RDA personnel. "It is useful that many of the employees are ex-army personnel who can use their competencies to the mutual benefit of both parties", remarks Heusmann. This is also true for Heusmann himself who joined the armed forces after leaving school and took up a career as a commissioned officer. In this period he took a degree in economic and organization sciences. He was assigned to the Combat Training Center as an instructor in 1996 while the Center was being set up and joined the industry in early 1998.
Like Heusmann, the Simulation and Training division of Rheinmetall Defence as a supplier of advanced system technology has been involved in the GÜZ Center from early on. The entire development and construction including all the extensions implemented in the meantime have all been performed under the leadership of Rheinmetall Defence. As reported, the data processing systems and audio-visual installations of the command and evaluation center were renewed in the middle of last year. Additionally, the communications network of the training facility, the operations technology of the communication and the instruction terminal were modernized and further mobile video systems and vehicle target systems were delivered. The southern part of the training facility that has not been used so far is currently being connected to the command and evaluation center. The addition of a mobile MOUT training system to train Military Operations on Urban Terrain is further proof of the fact that the Simulation and Training division of Rheinmetall Defence is well geared to deal with future training scenarios in GÜZ.
Ulrich Sasse, director of the Simulation and Training division in Bremen, sums up: "The Combat Training Center project GÜZ has once again demonstrated that Rheinmetall Defence is not only able to develop and deliver highly sophisticated, demand-oriented, state-of-the-art training facilities but can also provide the full set of services needed to meet the relevant demands for modern and effective training."
Dr. Thomas Oelschläger
