The Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS) and Indian Military Review will jointly organise a seminar cum exhibition on "Military Simulation & Training" in New Delhi on 19-20 September for the armed forces and industry.

Training Philosophy
The joint doctrine of the 1.3 million-strong Indian Armed Forces and the service-specific doctrines of the Army, Navy and Air Force lay great emphasis on individual and collective training and technical and HR development, taking into account the likely environment, technology, battlefield scenarios, threat perception and internal security situations in the years ahead.

As the Indian Armed Forces modernise and induct new platforms and complex surveillance and delivery means, the need to transform training philosophy, modify and improve the present training infrastructure and methods, introduce new training technologies to save costs and get better results in terms of skill sets and efficiency has never been greater.

Over 50,000 young aspirants are drafted into the Indian Armed Forces every year and put through training of varying periods from 20 to 65 weeks. Over 1,500 officer cadets join four different colleges for commission into the armed forces every year. Thousands of officers undergo post-commission training in 40 different institutions. At any one time, at least 6,000 officers remain under training.

Simulated Training

The Army will continue to be deployed for fighting in sub-conventional operations in the foreseeable future. Therefore, desired capacities have to be built into the recruitment system, training philosophy and methodology, training infrastructure in training academies, regimental training centres, divisional training schools and schools of instruction to produce highly capable officers and soldiers to meet the future warfare challenges efficiently.

The most cost-effective methodology for training is simulated training. This creates a realistic environment to generate near-real responses to various contingencies as well as handling of complex weapon systems, without the need to go outdoors and use operational equipment. It also saves transportation costs and ammunition.

Sustained training and a better grasp of next-generation equipment with new technologies is required. Emphasis is on enhancement of technical levels, dual-trade training, multi-tasking and training the trainers. Modern methods of training are being introduced with enhanced use of simulators.

Wargaming

The Indian armed forces are pursuing the idea of wargaming, simulators and high cost training aids with the seriousness that they deserve. Until a few years ago, they could not afford the luxury of such aids. The inventory of these toys was rudimentary - manual driving simulators, pyrotechnics, indoor ranges, manual jury-based wargames, sand model wargaming and so on.

Today, the armed forces boast of full motion cockpit simulators, computer assisted wargames, virtual battlefield modelling and so on. But, has the investment been worth it? Does it provide the bang for the buck? Has it improved efficiency and combat capabilities? Have we done enough? And are we laying enough emphasis on wargaming and simulation?

The Indian armed forces suffer from too much higher level training - even young officers are involved in planning for operations at the brigade and division level at the cost of their training in platoon level tactics. It is at that level that wargaming is practical and helpful.

The Indian Army took a 'bottoms up' approach. It concentrated on developing unit level wargame - ‘Shatranj’. The machines used were top of the line at that time but rudimentary. Thereafter, it focused on graduating to the brigade level and evolved ‘Sangram’. It was developed in the backdrop of sanctions which followed India’s nuclear weapon tests. Simultaneously, it continued development of CDR (Combat Decision Resolution) packages, which are extensively used in formations and training establishments for exercises and wargaming.

Computerised wargames are an excellent means to simulate as-close-as-possible scenarios and conditions of war through a system of capability ratios, multiplication factors, movement tables, random numbers and so on. But the armed forces lack quantified data, compilation of which is a scientific process involving great deal of study and research.

The biggest challenge is access and affordability. State-of-the-art computing requires that simulators be large dedicated systems residing in specialised facilities. But advances in computers have made it possible to deliver some of the experiences to the desktops. There are stringent controls on military IT systems which have to be taken care of.