According to a former F-22 pilot who spoke to Fox News, an Air Force training simulator that resembles a video game will provide pilots a significant advantage in actual combat operations.
According to former U.S. Air Force pilot Dan Robinson, the military metaverse is a virtual environment where soldiers communicate and train with their comrades utilising artificial intelligence and augmented reality, which superimposes digital content over the actual world. His business, Red 6, creates augmented reality training technology that allows pilots to see campaign-length combat simulations on digital displays while operating their aircraft.
Robinson suggested imagining it as a massively multiplayer video game played over several days. “That now allows us to do some campaign-level training, exercising national command authority from tactical operators on the ground or in the air all the way up through the government.”
“That’s what we’re thinking about in terms of the metaverse,” he said. “A persistent, continuous, synchronous environment in which we can go train.”
Military training has long included many forms of entertainment, including video games. A 1994 U.S. Government Accountability Office report noted that computer simulations “enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of joint military training,” adding that they “can save time and money.”
According to a 2019 RAND Corporation estimate, the cost of training fighter pilots ranges from about $6 million to over $10 million. In addition, according to the Air Force, operating an F-22 flight costs over $33,000 an hour, compared to $28,000 for an F-35 and $8,000 for an F-16.
Pilots can quickly learn from the results of their military activities thanks to the augmented reality simulations, according to Robinson.
“You go and you fly a mission on day one, you exert effect,” the ex-Air Force pilot told Fox News. “The enemy adapts, end quote. You are presently flying mission two.
“Traditionally, as fighter pilots train, we go up, fly, we train, we come down, we land, we debrief the mission, and then the next day we’ll go fly another mission,” Robinson explained.
According to Air & Space Forces Magazine, the Air Force has experienced difficulties completing pilot training this year because more than 900 personnel are waiting to begin their training. Air Force authorities recently worked with a nonprofit national security organisation to hold esports tournaments on military facilities because they are aware that video games and digital simulations provide pilots with efficient training.
“I envision a future in which all warfighters across all domains are connected together in a joint synthetic training environment outdoors,” Robinson stated to Fox News. The military metaverse is ultimately defined as an extension of that.