GlobalSecurity.org In the News

The first tests were conducted by the cruiser USS Ticonderoga in the Gulf of Mexico last week. If further trials go as well, the Navy plans to deploy the trainers with carrier battle groups during the next two years.

In reality, the ship fires only on open sea. But the system uses computers and global positioning to determine where weapons would have landed if the virtual “image” were actually there.

The technology — dubbed the Virtual At Sea Training system — could ease the Navy’s dependence on real-life firing ranges, such as its controversial Vieques facility in Puerto Rico, which local activists are fighting to close.

“This technology is in response ... to continuing developments in weapons technology,” said Barry Higginbotham, spokesman for the Atlantic Fleet in Virginia. “You can’t shoot over populated areas when you shoot a missile or a shell that goes miles and miles.

“Does this have an application to Vieques? Yes, because it’s a small target, and with these long-range weapons, you can’t use them,” Higginbotham said.

President Bush has pledged the Navy will close the Vieques range by May. However, under the National Defense Authorization Act of 2002, the sea service must prove it has an equal or better alternative before leaving Vieques.

Whatever that outcome, the Navy is excited about the new technology. The service already has three of the trainers, and plans to produce another 10 over the next two years.

“The software is very smart,” Higginbotham said. “...I think the brilliant thing is the concept.”

Although the Navy has not announced a price, Higginbotham said the system costs very little, because for the most part, it uses equipment already aboard ships. The trick was to write software that could use sensors and global positioning to create a virtual war environment.

The Office of Naval Research did just that.

Sensors triangulate not only where a weapon splashes down, but it’s entire flight through the buoy field. This three-dimensional view means VAST determines what the weapon would have struck on its way down.

During the recent tests, the Ticonderoga fired its 5-inch gun at virtual enemies. The Air Force 46th Test Wing, based in Florida, also dropped 18 non-exploding bombs from an A-10 Thunderbolt II tank attack plane.

In both cases, the VAST system appeared accurate.

“While the results are preliminary, the data looks promising,” Col. Dennis F. Sager, commander of the test wing, in a statement. “We’re encouraged by the capability this system brings to our testing efforts and to our pilots. It’s exciting to think that we’ll be able to use this portable system, and convert these wide open spaces to valuable testing areas.”

A defense and intelligence expert said he believes virtual reality training is particularly fitting for the Navy.

“With the Navy, they’re fighting in a virtual environment, so it’s easier for them to train in a virtual environment,” said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org. “They never actually see the target. All they see is a display.”

On the other hand, the Navy has an especially disciplined training regimen, Pike said, that the service does not want to jeopardize. At a range like Vieques, the Navy can practice combined attacks from sea and air-as well as conquer a beach with waves of Marines.

“That’s the place where actually having an island you can blow up becomes an issue for the Navy,” Pike said. “That’s why the Navy has environmental problems right now that others don’t have ... for the amphibious part of it, they’re always going to need a piece of beach to go after.”

Sensible enough, it’s difficult to imagine Marines storming an empty bit of sea surrounded by sensor buoys. But the Navy’s Higginbotham refuses to discount the minds of military engineers.

“It wouldn't rule it out,” he said. “These guys are right smart.”

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