Calian knows what it takes to properly prepare warfighters for the modern battlefield
BY JAMES CARELESS
For decades now, Calian Group (Calian) has been helping to train the Canadian Armed Forces for all aspects of battle. Training is one of the four pillars of Calian’s business, along with healthcare, information technology, and space.
Jay Ballard is Calian’s Vice-President of Defence Learning. He is responsible for Calian’s military training portfolio in Canada and globally. Ballard’s duties include overseeing training development and delivery for customers like the Canadian Army Simulation Centre and NATO’s Joint Warfare Centre in Norway. Additionally, the Calian technology and innovation team that delivers interoperability solutions for military training is part of the Defence Learning Division.
In this exclusive CDR story, Jay Ballard talks about Calian’s training history; its use of advanced training tools such as AI (artificial intelligence), AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality), and how the war in Ukraine has affected the company’s approach to training.
A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
According to Ballard, Calian has been providing large, complex training exercises for the Canadian Army since the days of paper wall-sized charts, sticky-notes, and tiny flags on map boards. “The photos of this time are really striking, especially when you compare it to the digitally-driven approach we take today,” he told CDR. “That said, our fundamental approach of providing a best-in-class training event that immerses the training audience in the scenario has only gotten better with the addition of technology.”
Today, Calian’s global approach to military training is focused on working with the customer to understand their objectives, and then bringing the right team and the right technology to deliver the training they need. “We have done this for a wide range of military training exercises, including large, high-intensity combat operations; nuclear deterrence; CBRN exercises; counter-insurgency; peace support operations; domestic operations; and major event security for things like the Olympic Games or international summits,” said Ballard. “We have delivered for the Canadian Army, NATO SHAPE, NATO JFTC (Bydgoszcz), NATO JFC (Brunssum), NATO JFC (Naples), NATO ACT, and have a long-term service arrangement with NATO JWC in Stavanger, Norway. We also deliver live training support directly to the British Army through Mabway, a recent acquisition in the UK market.”
Worth noting: Calian is providing exercise design, development and delivery (E3D) for Canadian and NATO forces deployed to Latvia, including exercise scripting and exercise control (EXCON) for EX CRYSTAL ARROW 24 as well as E3D support to multinational division and brigade command post exercises as part of EX KNIGHT NAMEJS 2024.
A COMMITMENT TO READINESS
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) is facing major challenges in recruiting and retaining personnel. Helping the CAF (and other military clients) make the most of the people they have is how Calian expresses its corporate commitment to maintaining their clients’ readiness.
“Whether we are delivering individual training for newer personnel developing their personal competencies, or delivering large, complex training events to prepare unit commanders and staff, we really see ourselves as a force generation and readiness partner to our military customers,” said Ballard. “As a defence training partner, we take the responsibility for preparing military personnel very seriously. The training we deliver prepares the men and women of the CAF and of our NATO customers for the challenges they will face on operations. There is a direct link between the training we provide and force generation and readiness. This is why we strive to develop and deliver the most realistic, comprehensive, and challenging training experience possible.”
“As we are seeing in Ukraine right now, you have to train like you’re going to fight,” he added. “The harder the training, the better prepared military customers will be.”
CALIAN’S APPROACH
The true value in third-party military training lies in delivering the skills that clients need on the battlefield. To ensure that Calian delivers these skills to its clients, “we work with customers to understand their training objectives first,” said Ballard. “Everything else flows from this.”
Once the client’s objectives have been accurately ascertained, Calian designs the exercise and brings in the right technology — including virtual simulation feeds and live simulation feeds, as required — to meet the training need. “We can connect live callsigns in the field into constructive simulations, and integrate virtual simulation feeds to a headquarters,” Ballard explained. “This is powerful because it allows large formations to be exercised at the same time in a common, live/synthetic mixed environment for a more efficient training event.”
For maximum reality and relevance, Calian delivers military exercises using exercise controllers and advisors, plus role players who simulate deployed units, allies, local civilians, partisans, political leaders, NGO representatives and whoever else the customer needs. This realism enhances the trainees’ immersion into the training environment to make it more effective.
Throughout the exercise Calian’s people collect data on what is happening, so that it can be used for After Action Reviews (AAR). “The AAR process is vital to solidifying learning during and after an exercise,” said Ballard. “This is like watching a post-game video to see where the team performed well and where there is room for improvement.”
What makes a Calian training exercise stand out is the quality and depth of its details. “What Calian brings that is different is that we have large groups of highly experienced, military training experts and operational specialists that we combine with our simulation system agnostic technology to provide a unique, realistic and challenging collective training event — backed by data analytics — and we do it at scale,” Ballard told CDR. “Our customers like this approach, because it ensures that the desired training objectives carry through to training delivery and the immersive synthetic training environment improves retention and training efficiency.”
CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY
Part of what makes Calian’s training so effective is the company’s homegrown, cutting edge technology. A case in point: “We use MaestroEDE, a Calian platform, to develop and deliver all the exercise content,” said Ballard. “MaestroEDE streamlines planning, connects objectives to actions and outcomes, and centralises all exercise traffic in a single platform with a user-friendly interface. It drives exercise development and delivery, providing traceability throughout the process to allow exercise controllers to deliver a meaningful and valuable training experience. We also use ARAMIS, another Calian platform, for after action review.”
In a similar vein, Calian’s Virtual Command and Control Interface (VCCI) connects to different simulation systems, operational tools and data feeds, rationalising them so the company can drive any nation’s Command and Control software. VCCI is fully interoperable with many simulation systems used in NATO, which means that any nation, element, or organisation can be integrated into a Calian-led training exercise.
“Our newest technology, the Audio Distribution Service (ADS), connects different audio sources, like combat net radios and tactical communications, onto one computer screen for greatly improved interoperability,” Ballard told CDR. “ADS allows commanders to view their entire radio network and contact any callsign from ADS. It also transcribes voice radio calls into chat texts automatically, using a translation function where necessary. This allows for greater interoperability between NATO partners speaking different languages, facilitating clear communication and passage of information, thus enabling faster overall decision-making and shortening the kill chain.”
AI, AR, & VR
Calian is harnessing the latest advances in AI, AR, and VR to enhance the realism and relevance of its training exercises. For instance, the company’s has integrated an AI assistant into MaestroEDE to automate large sections the exercise development process.
“The impacts here are massive,” said Ballard. “Using AI, we can dramatically reduce how long it takes to write exercise traffic, which means we can develop more large exercises each year. It also makes Calian much more agile because we can customise events faster and easier than relying on human scripting alone. This is a game-changer, and we keep improving and iterating how we use AI.”
For individual level training, Calian is using AR and VR to create immersive, realistic training experiences for military trainees, including providing ‘tools’ for the jobs in a simulated operating environment. For example, using voice recognition technology, trainees learn the specific syntax and voice procedures required for communicating on the job. For tasks such as the Call-for-Fire process for training joint terminal air controllers (JTAC), using the right language in the right sequence is essential.
“AR and VR solutions allow trainees to learn faster than the alternatives, reducing the time-to-competency over traditional live training only,” Ballard observed. “AR and VR are also much, much cheaper to use than relying on live training alone. For instance, our Replenishment-at-Sea trainer allows sailors to rehearse replenishment while underway, without the massive costs of putting ships to sea. It also reduces the risk of injury to almost zero, by doing that training in a virtual environment on shore.”
All told, using AR and VR accelerates the pace of training, reduces cost and risk of injuries, and increases the transfer of training, delivering qualified people to military units faster than conventional training methods.
LESSONS LEARNED FROM UKRAINE
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has redefined the nature of military conflict, and the tools being used to wage war. Just like airplanes changed transformed military tactics in World War One, small drones, cyber attacks, and social media are changing them yet again in Ukraine. As this occurs, Calian takes note, and updates its military training accordingly.
Here’s one such example: “In Ukraine, neither side has achieved air superiority,” said Ballard. “Air superiority is something western militaries have enjoyed, almost without contest, since the Gulf War in 1991. This can no longer be taken for granted. This is why Calian integrates complex air defence and air attack content into our exercises. Long-range detection and early warning of air threats, and layered air defences are added into exercise play so the training audience can experience the pace and results of being under an air threat while trying to operate.”
Calian is also putting additional emphasis on sustainment and logistics in its most recent exercises. “The war in Ukraine has shown the importance of sustaining supplies, especially for things like fuel and ammunition,” Ballard said. “The problem of ‘shell hunger’ on both sides has been well documented, and something that Calian represents in training. This is important because it forces leaders to make decisions about what they can achieve with finite resources. This kind of training is invaluable in preparing decision-makers for the dilemmas they will face on operations.”
MULTI-DOMAIN OPERATIONS
Keeping with the theme of staying current, Calian is now incorporating the NATO concept of multi-domain operations (MDO) into its military training exercises.
“MDO is really setting the tone for how NATO and NATO members see the future of armed conflict,” said Ballard. “Nothing happens in isolation anymore, which means militaries need to develop and deliver training that reflects that reality. Being well prepared for conventional land-based manoeuvre is good, but not enough on its own in an environment where air superiority may not exist, cyber attacks interfere with data flows, electromagnetic warfare is unconstrained, mass casualties are a constant reality, and information operations seek to undermine NATO’s resolve. MDO really brings together all the challenges in one place. Customers are now asking for all of those things at the same time, and we are delivering.”
AFFORDABLE YET EFFECTIVE
At a time where defence budgets are being strained, simulation-based training allows militaries to sustain — or even accelerate — force generation while staying on budget. This is where Calian comes in. It has the know-how, the experts, and the cutting-edge technology to make third-party training a very affordable yet highly effective option for its military clients. Given that the world order has become more unstable, unpredictable and dangerous since World War Two, this is an option that Canada and its allies need now, more than ever before.
“Calian is a global leader in delivering simulation-based training for individuals and for units,” Ballard concluded. “Readiness is essential in an uncertain world, and Calian is proud to be a delivery partner of choice for Canada, NATO, and NATO member countries.”
James Careless is CDR’s Ottawa Bureau Chief
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