MINSK, July 27 (AVN) - The Borisovsky repair plant of the Belarussian Defence Ministry is getting ready for batch production of a computer trainer system intended for preparing tank crews, the plant's director, Colonel Vladimir Sakach, said on Thursday.
The trainers were designed by Belarussian tank repairers in co-operation with the Russian Nuclear Research Institute and the Slovak Metropol company, Sakach told the Military News Agency. Their latest electronic components and original software enable to imitate tank movement on cross terrain with natural and man-made obstacles, as well as with appearing and moving targets.
The system also enables the instructor to alter weather conditions, wind direction and speed, inject smoke or fog on the battlefield, or even effect a change from winter to summer and vice versa in a second. The computer estimates actions of each crew member, registers their mistakes, and calculates ammo spending in accordance with the training conditions. The collected data is available in print.
According to Sakach, the system has passed tests in a Belarussian army unit, and its use helped improve the quality of training and save a considerable amount of money.
The trainers have been recently shown at the Idea 2000 exhibition in Slovakia and highly appraised by specialists. The plant received first orders for the system's production right after the show. However the Defence Ministries of both Russia and Belarus are so far unable to purchase the trainers due to lack of financing.