Thales has unveiled a new version of its Land Live Training (LLT) simulator. This more evolved system has one important novelty: drones can now be integrated into the simulator to enhance training and monitoring. Zona Militar spoke with Bruno Delacourte, Strategy, Marketing, and Product Policy Director at Thales, about this new system.
Delacourte explained that the addition of drones is “compatible with all our [training] solutions,” which Thales produces. This is important as Thales produces several live training simulators. For example, the Land Live Training System is called Gladiator, while the “state-of-the-art” tactical engagement simulation system is called Cerbere.
What Thales has developed is an entire land live training system that brings “together soldiers, vehicles, and drones into a fully instrumented live environment that supports exercises of any scale, from small-unit drills to multinational operations.” Delacourte further noted, “at the heart of the LLT system” is its Exercise Management System (EMS), which is “a powerful platform that enables commanders and instructors to plan scenarios, control live play, and conduct detailed after-action reviews.” “Complementing the EMS is LLT’s Training Area Network (TAN),” the Thales executive told ZM, which connects soldiers, vehicles, and drones to an Exercise Control Center for real-time monitoring.
The new LLT version allows operators to fly their own drones during training missions. The enhanced Land Live Training solution is drone-agnostic. Thales explained to ZM that the system includes a dedicated drone kit with its own hardware and software, featuring sensors, indicators, and telemetry. A Drone Pilot Add-On Module, also equipped with its own hardware and software, provides pilots with specialized tools for live training missions.
The new system “covers multiple drone use cases,” including “both ‘friendly’ and ‘enemy’ drone scenarios,” the company explained in a 1 December press release. For example, the drones can be fitted with transmitters to simulate loitering munitions or armed drones. Moreover, sensors and indicators can be installed “to simulate the effects of drone neutralization and provide real-time feedback on the drone’s status during training exercises.”
ZM asked Delacourte why Latin American armies should be interested in drone-enhanced training systems like Gladiator. Specifically, we asked about geography, as Latin American militaries train and engage in jungle warfare as well as mountain warfare. “As the solution is geo-paired by radio, and laser-based for counter-drone attack, it is also usable in jungle and mountain warfare training,” Delacourte explained.
The defense company provided more details about how Latin America militaries use this simulator, given the region’s unique geography. The Thales executive explained, “for jungle environments, such as the Amazon,” drone integration in live training “enables realistic scenarios for aerial reconnaissance, river monitoring, patrol coordination, and defense against hostile drones, all essential skills given both military and internal security challenges in the region.”
As for mountain warfare, Thales explained, “in mountain warfare” like the Andes “drones help extend observation range, support rescue simulations, and improve coordination between mountain units and air support.” Delacourte added that “innovative training adapts to altitude and aerodynamics, reflecting regional realities.”
The company also added that the drone-enhanced simulator can help troops train for desert warfare, like the deserts of Peru or the Atacama Desert in Chile. “Drones are especially valuable [in desert environments] for long-range reconnaissance and logistics, with training focused on overcoming challenges such as dust and high temperatures.”
Another issue that may be of interest for Latin American militaries is that “LLT scales effortlessly,” as its “architecture supports exercises involving thousands of participants, all integrated into a single control framework.” Thales explained to ZM that an entire platoon or brigade can use the drone-enhanced LLT for training.
Latin American armies are no strangers to simulators to improve troops’ training. The Chilean state-run defense company FAMAE has developed virtual shooting simulators for the Chilean Army. For example, the simulators are ideal for learning to use the Galil ACE rifle. Colombia’s CODALTEC has also developed a shooting simulator. Thalers’ LLT solutions enable not just shooting training but also the effective management of entire field exercises, and allow commanders to gain greater situational awareness of how troops, vehicles, and drones perform.
The drone-enhanced version of Thales’ Land Live Training simulators was released at the recent I/ITSEC exhibition in Orlando, Florida. ZM asked Thales whether there are any customers or users of the new drone-enhanced live training simulator. “Many customers have given us very positive feedback about our agnostic solution and already expressed a high level of interest,” the defense company told us, without discussing potential orders or negotiations.
You may also like The U.S Congress is moving forward with its efforts to save the USAF’s future AEW&C E-7 Wedgetail aircraft
