Nicholas Fiorenza Dresden, Germany

Rheinmetall has partnered with a Russian company to build a Russian army training center (RATC) in Mulino, 350 km (217 mi.) east of Moscow. The project began in June 2011 and the facility is expected to be ready for training in June 2014.

The RATC is based on the Bundeswehr's GUZ army training center operated by Rheinmetall. The company will supply equipment for the RATC to its Russian partner, JSC Oboronservice, which will run the training center for the Russian armed forces.

Rheinmetall will develop and supply the live combat-simulation system and be in charge of technical implementation of the project, including commissioning and quality assurance. It is delivering the training management and information system, laser engagement systems for 1,000 players—both vehicles and soldiers—the exercise control center, Tetra data communication system, instrumentation for three military operations in urban terrain (MOUT) facilities, and the warehouse and fitting facility.

The 500-sq.-km (193-sq.-mi.) training center will comprise a MOUT “city,” two MOUT “villages,” live combat simulation area, live and tactical training areas, live firing ranges and RATC headquarters.

The Mulino facility will be the most advanced system of its kind in the world, according to Rheinmetall. Michael Kriewitz, vice president of sales for land simulation, says it will be the first training center combining live, virtual and constructive training.

The live training will involve soldiers and vehicles moving in a 200-sq.-km exercise area, which includes the MOUT facilities. Before conducting this training, laser simulators, GPS and communication systems will be mounted on the players' original equipment and their tactical vehicles in the warehouse and fitting facility. Eye-safe laser simulators will be used to simulate weapons ranging from small arms and light anti-tank weapons to tank guns, artillery and vehicle-mounted automatic cannons. Battlefield events will be transmitted to the exercise control center in real time and displayed on an electronic map. Virtual training will be added: Using vision equipment, soldiers in vehicle replicas or the exercise area will have the impression they are on the exercise.

Constructive simulation (using software agents, not real troops or weapons) will be provided for commander training, with battlefield events calculated in real time by simulators and represented by symbols on electronic situation maps displayed on workstations. Officers can give commands through their keyboards and mouse clicks.