Bengaluru: The Indian armed forces, which are increasingly focusing on developing indigenous aircraft, including fighter jets, have been using simulators — which create a virtual environment for training, mimicking real-world scenarios without the risks or costs associated with actual operations to train crew.
Industry experts at Aero India said the demand for such machines has been increasing in recent years. Pointing out that simulators are the most effective and efficient way to train the crew, they said increasingly, simulators are designed with precision to provide real-time training.
The industry is expanding its innovation as and when new types of aircraft are inducted. “Over the past five years, the demand for simulators, especially in defence, has gone up 100%,” said an industry expert.
A representative of Zen Technologies said: “We’ve been in the industry for more than 30 years now developing simulators. The Indian defence sector is investing massively on simulators in all of its training sectors, including air force, army and others.”
The company added that it has simulators majorly to train various defence equipment, including tanks, rifles and shooting. “We design simulations in exact replicas of the original equipment and train the crew accordingly.”
Defence PSU BEL, which entered the simulation business over three decades ago, has a shooting simulator which allows a shift from traditional to modern training.
“Initially, if an army personnel was supposed to get trained in shooting, one had to hold the shooting pad and check his performance manually. But with simulation, we have a virtual live bullet shooting where one can practice on a 3D board and evaluate the performance then and there. This helps in cost and time cutting, and reduces the harm to humans or environment,” a representative said.