Point of Attack 2 (HPS Simulations): The Ultimate War Simulation

Point of Attack 2 (PoA2) is a simulation of modern warfare by Scott Hamilton that was made for the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research. It is a turn-based, tactical level simulation featuring regular armies (US, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Syria) and irregular forces.

The level of detail of PoA2 is very deep. The screen-shot above shows a Combat Phase Report window (you will have to click the screenshot to be able to read), where every move and fire is recorded. Taking into account that this simulation is used by the US Air Force, the algorithms used to solve fire and movement must be really top-notch.

One could spend a lot of time trying to summarize all the gadgets and goodies this simulation has. Yet today I want to show you something that I have never seen in other off-the shelf simulation.
Take a look at the screenshot below (again, you will have to click the screenshot to be able to read).


The window on top shows tabs for all type of staff officers. The "Commo" (communications tab), has a detailed summary of the communication status of every unit. Yes, the simulation keeps track of communications sent back and forward, and if the comms network is saturated, the messages start to fall within the cracks. The highlighted unit in the screenshot (1st AP Section) could not send its SITREP (situation report) and as a result of that, the 1st AP Section position shown in the map will not be accurate. This is called "friendly fog of war", something in the lines of "you don't know where your forces are unless they have an effective communications means with you".

Before I end this entry, a very important clarification: PoA2 is not for everybody. This is not a "beers and pretzel" game. Indeed, I don't even think this is a game in the entertainment sense of the word. I would label PoA2 as an analytical tool to simulate warfare at a very realistic level.

Cheers,

2009 Joint Services Open House: Assorted Images (Part 2)

Some more images from the event.

The cockpit of an F/A18

This close-up of the cockpit didn't work out very well ...

Awesome bird ...

The F/A 18 from where you can admire it at all its splendor

The HUD of a USMC's Super-Cobra attack helicopter

Next year I promise I will get a better camera! :)

Cheers,

DCS Black Shark Review by RAES Includes Comments by Ed Macy

In its latest Aerospace International issue, the Royal Aeronautical Society has published a review of DCS Black Shark (link downloads a pdf file).

Ed Macy, the attack helicopter pilot and author of "Apache", has been consulted for this review and his comments are basically a big thumbs up for the flight simulator.

Mr. Macy commented on the Ka-50 pilots' high workload, and the dangers of target fixation. His expert advice includes also tips for how to use the Ka-50 in air-to-air combat. He also praised the mission editor's flexibility. About scenario editing, his comment on how to add an RPG ambush in an scenario caught my attention. Accoring to him, the RPGer should pop up when the helicopter steps within 1,000 meters. This scenario-editing trick has been scolded many times before, but I always felt it was right. Ambushes are not supposed to be seen until they fire at you.

The following comment by Mr. Macy really made my day:

"I would recommend the Army buy a few copies of this and study it and learn its weaknesses"

DCS Black Shark is a product that warrants praise and recommendation as a study tool from a professional attack helicopter pilot.

On a side note, Ed Macy is a member of the official DCS Black Shark forums. I am looking forward to read more of his expert opinion on how the Ka-50 should be used in different combat situations.

Cheers,

Armed Assault 2 (Arma 2): The German Version is Out

People in Germany have already started receiving their Armed Assault 2 (ArmA 2) DVD copies.

Arma 2 (German version) is also available for download from this webstore. Cost is Eu 49.99. The release in the US is going to be on June 19th.

First impressions are being posted in dedicated forums all around the globe. The sim is receiving a big thumbs up so far. The out of the box German version of ArmA 2 had some issues. But a patch has been released to address the most serious ones.

Can't wait for the US release. I'm debating with myself about getting the German version rather than waiting until June 19th.

Marines in Chenarus. Screenshot above is from Bohemia Interactive's Press kit.

Cheers,

Counterinsurgencies, Should We Keep them "Short and Lively"?

In the last entry of his blog, Dr. Jack Kem (US Army Combined Arms Center) has a great recoup on how the armed forces of Sri Lanka had defeated the Tamil Tigers, who controlled vast regions of the country's north.

A side note: Dr. Jack's blog is listed in this page at the "blogs of interest" section. I encourage you to visit Dr. Jack's blog frequently, the information and insights there are superb. Please also check his entries on design applied to operations planning, this concept is very new to US Army doctrine.

Long story short, there was a decades-long insurgency that was defeated in a couple of years after a politically-backed strategy was put in place. The armed forces also changed tactics accordingly. Hasta la vista ... Tamil Tigers.

This is a conflict that I definitvely need to dig more into. Any pointers from the readers will be appreciated. But the speed by which this insurgency was defeated is impressive.

Frederick the Great once said that wars should be "kurz und vives" (short and lively). This is an approach the Germans have been very keen to as they ravaged Europe during the first two years of World War II. What would a "counter-insurgency blitzkrieg" look like?

Cheers,

Armed Assault 2 (Arma 2): Preview at Eurogamer.com

Armed Assault 2, the sequel of the award winning first person shooter, is close to being released (there are reports of ArmA 2 being shipped in Europe right now). This simulation engine is almost the same as the one used by VBS2, the military-grade simulation.

Eurogamer.com has a preview of this simulation.

The wait for us in the USA is on.

Cheers,

"Apache" by Ed Macy: Modern Attack-Helicopter Missions Recounted by a Real Pilot

"Apache" by Ed Macy, recounts the author's missions as an Attack Pilot of the British Army Air Corps deployed in Afghanistan.

The author has managed to write an action-packed book without compromising a military-level narrative of his missions.

At least for me, "Apache" felt somehow a miss-guiding title for this book. Certainly the attack helicopter is a very important part of the story. Yet the stories of the men flying them into battle are what makes this a superb book. The war against the Taliban is a nasty business. The sacrifices of the British forces in Afghanistan are enormous. The enemy is always elusive and merciless. The soldiers and airmen in "Apache" are portrayed at the level of deepness that only brothers in arms can get.

The climax of the book is the rescue of a Royal Marine, which went MIA in a Taliban stronghold. For this mission, Ed Macy and his flight members received the Military Cross for Bravery.

For the flight simulator enthusiast (yes, you flying DCS Black Shark), this is a must-read. Even when the helicopter is not the one you are flying in the virtual skies, you will find plenty of valuable information here. How to make a rocket-run, how to ingress to a hot area, employment of weapons, fuel economy, deconflict of indirect fires, you name it. The book also has a map section and pictures of the target areas that make following the missions even more engaging. The most detailed chapters of "Apache" are the ones where missions are recounted. These parts of the book are a detailed, button-press to button-press, narrative. It is almost like being in the cockpit with Macy.

Ed Macy has written the ultimate debriefing, the one describing his life-changing combat experience in Afghanistan.

Cheers,

Biohackers, an Imagined Threat Brought to you by the Mainstream Media

The possibility of an enemy using bio-weapons against us is no joke. There is a threat out there. How big it is I don't know.

William Lind's latest "On War" column features a commentary about amateur scientists (biohackers) having acquired an edge sharp enough that it can hurt us now or in the near future. This commentary is based on a front page story ran by the Wall Street Journal on May 12, that plainly implies bio-hackers have accumulated enough know-how to create bio-weapons.

Before I go any further, some clarifications about my background so to add more credibility to this entry. I have a Ph.D. in molecular biology. I have published in peer-reviewed journals, including a book chapter and two reviews. I've been a professional scientist, a mix of microbiologist, cell-biologist, geneticist and biochemist, for the last 15 years.

The story ran by the Wall Street Journal is a disgrace. It falsely puts science enthusiasts, with the cool name of "biohackers" at a level of know-how enough to create a bio-weapon.

Science reporting in mainstream media has gone from mediocre to just plain bad lately. I don't know what's happening. Maybe it's because the sorry state of science education? We live in a media-driven world where the image of a scientist is closer to a character from the TV series CSI than to any of the thousands of great scholars this country has produced.

Letting this story out in the front page of the WSJ without checking facts first is irresponsible. Sure, the so-called biohackers can grow bacteria and bacteriophages (virus that attack bacteria) in a makeshift incubator. Biohackers can amplify a few hundred base pairs in a thermocycler bought from EBay (the equipment at the bottom of the closet in the picture shown at the WSJ's article). Biohackers can buy a few thousand base pairs of DNA online.

So what?

Biotechnology is both expertise and capital intensive. There is no chance these enthusiasts will ever come out of their closet with an engineered organism. Even a biologist equivalent of the genius tycoon that built himself an Iron Man suit, with no shortage of money and ideas, would have trouble to do something as humble as such a bio-weapon. Scientific research is a social activity, not the lone wolf venture the WSJ is reporting about.

Mr. Editor of the Wall Street Journal: thanks for alarming and making us dumber,.

Cheers,

2009 Joint Services Open House: Assorted Images (Part 1)

The Joint Services Open House is held every year during the second week of May at the Andrews Air Force Base in MD, USA. It features both a great airshow and static displays from the US Army, the US Air Force, the US Navy, the US Marine Corps, the US Coast Guard and also civilian organizations.

I visited the show on May 16th and took some pictures of the static displays. Unfortunately, the ceiling was very low and many of the air performances were delayed to times after my departure.

The C-17 Globemaster, a gargantuan transport.

The AC-130's arsenal is nothing to kid about

The AC-130's target acquisition system. You can run, but you can't hide ...

Nimble and versatile. What's not to like about this classic?

The cockpit of the air-assault heli above


A USMC's AH-1W Super Cobra

Another angle of the Cobra ...

Rocket launchers of the same Cobra

"The pilot's office". USMC AH-1W Super Cobra.

More to come in a future entry. Stay tuned.

Cheers,

Panther Games Offer an Unrivaled Command Experience

Panther Games is a small war games developing company based in Australia. They developed a series of war games in which you command troops at a level of warfare situated between the tactical and operational (divisions and brigades) during WWII.


The games from Panther are not your average WWII war game.

To start with, the representation of time and space in this series has no pre-set boundaries (no hexes, no turns). The games are also historically accurate and the mechanics of real-life combat and movement are exquisitely modeled.

But in my opinion the most revolutionary feature of this game series is how it implements a command structure in which you can delegate tasks to a virtual staff that will carry them on. Carry them on very efficiently, I must add because the artificial intelligence of these series is outstanding. You can order a brigade, a battalion, a company (whatever your choice down to the smaller unit represented, the platoon) to move, probe, attack, etc., and the virtual staff will execute such orders, moving accordingly all the units involved. No need for you to push around every single icon in the map.

It doesn't end there: you staff will need time to execute your orders. If you order a battalion to attack a hill, they will need an hour at best to organize themselves for such a tactical mission. If they are under fire, or if you have been giving too many orders (simulating staff overload), it may take even more. This orders delay system is unique and forces the player to think ahead on time about how the battlefield is continuously changing.

Panther Games newest production, "Battles from the Bulge" is in advanced beta-test stage right now. The release is planned for this year.


Cheers,