French MoD Orders Thales-Cybergun Small Arms Shooting Simulators

The French Ministry of Defense awarded €90 million to Thales and Cybergun for the delivery of SINETIC (System of Instruction and Training in Combat Shooting) new generation simulators.

The companies landed the contract on May 12. It covers the development, supply and support of SINETIC, which will replace several dozen SITTAL NG2 systems in the armed forces and whose entry into service date 1995, the MoD said in a release dated June 14.

The systems ordered will be installed on around 70 sites of the three armies, both in mainland France and in overseas establishments. The first deliveries are expected for 2023.

SINETIC is an indoor shooting simulator, which allows up to 12 soldiers to be immersed in a realistic scenario and virtual environment that is highly representative of current intervention conditions. This system will provide the possibility of training on a renewed range of individual and collective weapons.

Designed for collective indoor use, SINETIC will take into account individual and collective small arms, current and future, from FN MAG and MINIMI machine guns to the new Glock 17FR pistols and SCAR-H PR sniper rifles. It will realistically reproduce the physical behavior of real weapons (ballistics, recoil) and will have the ability to integrate additional equipment (grenade launcher, scopes, light assistance system for aiming) for full training.

SINETIC includes two components managed on the basis of a single supervision tool that can be used simultaneously in the same room. In addition to the “fixed” instruction and training component, there is a “mobile” component allowing the use of machine guns on a superstructure or small arms from a moving platform. It retains support for the Army's FELIN system.

A set of exercise parameters, as well as the actions performed by trained soldiers (number of hits, alignment of sighting organs, etc.) will be recorded during the session. Automated processing of these recordings will allow instructors to carry out an after-action analysis phase, adapted for each fighter, trinomial or combat group, with objective indications on the positioning of the shooter and his armament, detection / reaction times when faced with a threat, the adequacy of the response to a threat, etc.

The SINETIC system will be deployed in schools and garrisons of the Army, the French Navy and the Air and Space Army, on nearly 70 sites in mainland France and overseas.