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Spotlight on S&T - March 2004

DRDC demonstrates new land vehicle concept in collaboration with the US

A virtual vehicle technology being developed for the information-intensive battlefields of the future was showcased to VIP's and media at General Dynamics Canada in Ottawa on February 5.

DRDC, together with the US Army Tank-Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) and General Dynamics Canada, demonstrated several two-man crew station simulators linked together in a Canada/US experiment. The objective of the experiment was to explore future defence technologies as part of the Canadian Multi-Mission Effects Vehicle (MMEV) Technology Demonstration Project and the American Unmanned Combat Demonstration Project.

The MMEV is a future vehicle concept that features a single vehicle crew capable of using direct fire, beyond-line-of-sight and air defence weapons concurrently. Working within a future net-centric environment, the MMEV is able to remotely identify and engage targets using both Canadian and US Army unmanned air and ground vehicles.

Concept for the MMEV.

"This event offered a unique opportunity to Canadian and American vehicle crews, who worked collaboratively in operating their own and each others' equipment in a future combat situation," says David Saint, Thrust Leader, Combat Vehicle Systems R&D.

The simulation placed the vehicle in a future net-centric environment, performing cooperatively with US Army unmanned robotic vehicles and a Canadian tactical helicopter.

The event was part of Future Army Model Experiment (FAME) 3, a series of experiments designed to provide a future context to explore and predict the battlefield effectiveness of Multi-Mission Effects Vehicles in future cooperation with other Canadian and American combat systems. The MMEV project will result in a virtual vehicle that simulates a family of advanced technologies with futuristic performance characteristics. It will enable the evaluation of operator and technology performance, multi-mission battlefield effectiveness capability, and interoperability with US forces. This concept offers a revolutionary increase in military capability, with enormous promise for enhancing combat effectiveness while improving the flexibility of employment and reducing crew size and logistics requirements.

Results from this experiment will be relevant to Army transformation objectives in both Canada and the United States. The information gathered will advance efforts to improve Army interoperability and assess the merits of future Canadian and American technologies in a cooperative fashion, to maximize the research and development investments of both countries.

CF and US soldiers worked collaboratively throughout the demonstration.

Modelling and simulation are used to evaluate future performance.

Several simulators were linked together.