CHIEF OF STAFF OPENS NEW DIGITAL COMBAT TRAINING FACILITY AT COMMANDOS

The first Digital Close Quarter Combat Theatre ; MILO Range of Sri Lanka was declared opened by the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army (and the Colonel of the Regiment Commando Regiment ) Major General Shavendra Silva WWV RWP RSP VSV USP ndc psc, on 18 July 2019 at the Commando Regiment, GANEMULLA. This exceptionally-designed low-cost digital training theatre designed and developed by the Centre for Research and Development, Ministry of Defence, is equipped with live firing facility and specially designed to train Commando soldiers who engage in anti-hijack and rescue operations. The new system uses life size real videos running on surrounding digital screens to provide trainees real time feelings, combined with stress and ambiguity and operates on a digital platform similar to the MILO ranges in the US. MILO Ranges are the current limit that virtual reality in military training programs have reached so far, however, has become not affordable for Armed Forces of developing countries like Sri Lanka, due to associated higher cost of acquiring and maintenance. The project was a result of a request and a successful research carried out at the Centre for Research and Development, MOD on the directions of its Director General, Brigadier (Dr) Thiran De Silva and the first unit was installed at RHQ CR on the request of Center Commandant Commando Regiment Colonel A S P Silva RWP RSP

The system uses CRD developed ballistic rubber screen to project pre-recorded videos to rain and evaluate special operations soldiers who engage in in anti- hijack and rescue missions. It includes different training scenarios, like shoot or no shoot, skill-building, decision-making, etc. with live firing facility and an instant feedback system which playbacks every episode for the trainees and instructors to see their performances in return for self-evaluation