PC-based simulators incorporating gaming industry technology hold much promise for military training systems. Such "personal simulators", when combined with distributed simulation technology, can create training systems that support a broad hierarchy of training needs. This paper reports on the research, development, prototyping, and transition of one such personal simulator.

The Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) is an air cushion vehicle that enables high speed delivery of payloads of tens of tons from ship to shore and across the beach. A Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) is currently underway that will produce a SLEP LCAC with upgraded engines and a new glass cockpit. The first of these SLEP LCACs has already been delivered to the fleet. However, the LCAC Full Mission Trainers will not be updated to the SLEP configuration until late in the decade. This has resulted in a gap in training capabilities.

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) Virtual Environments and Technologies (VIRTE) program has been conducting research on networked virtual environments in the context of expeditionary warfare training. One component of this effort is a Virtual Environment Landing Craft Air Cushion (VELCAC) simulator. This simulator applies VIRTE virtual environment technologies to the SLEP transition training challenge. Key technologies employed to create a VELCAC simulator capable of supporting a hierarchy of training requirements include the NetImmerse visualization engine from the commercial gaming industry, the DMSO developed Agile FOM Interface, a Windows/C version of the Full Mission Trainer craft dynamics software, and key pieces from the DARPA STOW and DMSO EnviroFed programs.