The Naval Training Systems Center is developing a Weapons Team Engagement Trainer that will allow up to nine people to practice and rehearse close combat training exercises such as low-intensity conflict, light infantry, SWAT and security operations. Typical events might include security operations, hostage rescue, shoot-no-shoot, ambush training situations and routine law enforcement operations in a common team scenario environment. The trainer requires no live ammunition or aggressor actors and is safe.

This paper highlights new technology that was developed to make this trainer more realistic than similar currently available trainers. Improved realism is achieved in this trainer by causing the targets to interact when killed. Killed targets disappear from the scenario and permit branching of the video scene, based on the teams performance. Targets shoot-back at the trainees who wear infrared sensors to detect if they took sensible cover when the aggressor shoots. If a trainee is wounded or killed by the aggressor, an alarm warns him and his weapon is disabled. Interactive targets and aggressor shoot back serve to increase training realism and stress. To eventually accommodate up to nine shooters, a high speed infrared spot tracker was developed to allow all nine team shooters to operate in a common threat scenario.