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	Director, Operational Test & Evaluation
FY97 Annual Report

CLOSE COMBAT TACTICAL TRAINER (CCTT)

	Army ACAT IIIA Program 12 fixed sites (34 simulators per site) and 24 mobile platoon sets Total program cost (TY$) $600M Full-rate production 1QFY98 Prime Contractor Lockheed-Martin (Orlando, FL)

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION & CONTRIBUTION TO JOINT VISION 2010

The Close Combat Tactical Trainer (CCTT), the first of a series of combined arms tactical training simulators, will assist armored and mechanized infantry units in preparing for combat. The use of Abrams Tank and the Bradley Fighting Vehicle simulators to train soldiers in maneuver and in command and control while operating in a combined arms environment is a central component of the dominant maneuver force.

The CCTT mission is to train active and reserve component armor and mechanized infantry crews, scouts, and leaders to perform critical battlefield tasks and skills. The CCTT will simulate, in real-time, the conduct of combat operations in a representative environment under varying conditions of visibility and weather with an appropriate and challenging opposing force that will require realistic individual, crew, and staff actions, placing stress on all participants. This simulation will permit soldiers to train with reduced real world restrictions caused by weapon effects, safety, and terrain limitations.

The CCTT system consists of a group of fully interactive networked simulators and command, control, and communications workstations, replicating Abrams Tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, scout vehicles, supporting artillery vehicles and other weapon systems and dismounted infantry of an armored or mechanized infantry maneuver company operating on a simulated real-time battlefield. CCTT is designed to support a primary maneuver training audience from individual crew through company/team level enabling focus on: battlefield synchronization between command and battle staffs; coordination between crews through company/team; hazardous battlefield conditions that cannot be duplicated outside of actual combat; and the sustainment training of tactical skills. CCTT can also support limited training of selected battalion staff tasks. The system will exist in both fixed-site and mobile versions. The fixed-site version is capable of running five simultaneous exercises. The mobile version is road transportable within the USA to provide reserve forces platoon-level training.

The CCTT mission is to train active and reserve component armor and mechanized infantry crews, scouts, and leaders to perform critical battlefield tasks and skills. The CCTT will simulate, in real-time, the conduct of combat operations in a representative environment under varying conditions of visibility and weather with an appropriate and challenging opposing force that will require realistic individual, crew, and staff actions, placing stress on all participants. This simulation will permit soldiers to train with reduced real world restrictions caused by weapon effects, safety, and terrain limitations.

During May 1992 the Army authorized CCTT to proceed into the engineering and manufacturing development phase of acquisition. During 1996 the Army conducted pre-production qualification testing. The mobile set of CCTT underwent pre-production testing during the first six months of 1997.

The DOT&E approved the CCTT TEMP in January 1997. The IOT was originally scheduled for April-June 1997 but was delayed a year primarily because of software immaturity and poor system reliability. A limited user test (LUT) was conducted during the same time period to assist the program by assessing software maturity, system reliability, and the training scenarios. During this test, maneuver companies conducted eight days of training at the Fort Hood, Texas, fixed site. Each unit's training consisted of familiarization training, a pre-test scenario, platoon and company training scenarios, and a post-test using the same scenario as the pre-test. The results of the pre-test and post-test were compared to determine any performance improvement.

The IOT concept is being revised. The Army will train maneuver companies of a battalion at the Fort Hood fixed site from March to May 1998, and then follow the companies to the Army's National Training Center to evaluate training effectiveness. The battalion will utilize CCTT as an element of its initial training; then the unit will be observed during the rotation to determine whether its performance is as good as those battalions that trained without the use of CCTT.

The week after the LUT, a battalion task force level training demonstration was conducted. The issue was whether a battalion task force can train at a fixed site by using all the assets available plus using the CCTT computers to simulate vehicles below platoon-leader level.

CCTT showed a marked improvement in reliability performance and software stability over its status at the end of pre-production testing. The soldiers responded positively to surveys seeking to measure realism and training effectiveness. Unit performance improvement in some tasks was observed. The use of the after-action-review (AAR) subsystem assisted the training process and closely matched sophisticated field training. However, the subsystem's capability to review training can be improved further by providing better training to the individual conducting the AAR, and incorporating information on ammunition usage, fratricide incidents, and loss exchange ratios experienced during the training exercise. Observations of performance and survey data did indicate that the various workstations used to support training are difficult to use and may lead to some negative training. Overall, the limited user test demonstrated that CCTT has the potential to be an effective and suitable simulation training system that can increase the maneuver, command, control, and communications skills of armored and mechanized infantry platoons and companies.

Although CCTT lacks some of the functionality required to train a complete battalion task force, it did demonstrate that a fixed CCTT site has the potential to support effective task force level training.