Engility [EGL] is looking to offer its new virtualized “shooting range in a shipping container” to military customers in 2019 following a recent selection to compete for Department of Homeland Security work, company officials told Defense Daily.
Peter Joyal, division director of Engility’s Hollywood, Maryland facility, said the company has had discussions with military customers interested in its QuickRange modular live-fire range as the services express continued interest in acquiring a virtualized, contained weapons training capability.
“We’ve had potential customers come down and shoot live fire inside. Within the business development side, they’ve been having discussions with the different military branches,” Joyal told Defense Daily. “You’re shooting live. You’re not shooting blanks, so you’re getting it as real as possible with simulations.”
Engility was one of four companies included in a $207 million DHS indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract awarded in December to compete for future modular fire range task orders, along with Meggitt Training Systems, Shooting Range Industries and Laser Shot.
Joyal cited QuickRange’s shipping container configuration as key to future military interest, with the prefabricated, armored offering meeting on-base training needs.
“Being modular, we can configure it to any shape, any size the customer is looking for depending on their weapons training requirements,” Joyal said.
QuickRange would be considered a piece of equipment rather than a permanent facility for potential military contracts, which would allow the company to work around the longer permit-focused Military Construction process to build on-base, according to Joyal.
Officials also highlighted the container’s virtualized environment, which allows operators to put users through different scenarios via controls on a tablet, and bring in customizable video simulations.
“Having a virtual environment is going to be the key thing moving forward. Think of costs and availability, as well as the safety and convenience involved,” Joyal said. “The idea that we have live shooting simulation seems to be an added feature that maybe some others don’t have.”
The armored container allows for the use of live ammunition rather than laser simulation weapons, officials said.
QuickRange uses the PRISim Suite 5.0 video system to run its approximately 400 to 500 simulation scenarios that can be escalated or manipulated based on user actions in real time, according to company officials.