From field manoeuvres to synthetic battlefields. Calian explores the evolution of military exercise training ahead of DVD 2026.
Stand: BP-01A
Large-scale live exercises have long been central to military training, bringing together troops, vehicles, aircraft, logistics and support personnel to prepare forces for operational demands. While these exercises remain essential, advances in technology and the complexity of modern warfare are changing how armed forces build readiness.
Today’s training environment increasingly relies on live, virtual and constructive (LVC) training, which integrates simulation technologies with traditional exercises to create realistic, scalable and cost-effective preparation for combat.
The changing nature of military training
Historically, large-scale exercises allowed commanders to rehearse operational plans, units to build collective skills and forces to validate tactics, techniques and procedures. Exercises such as REFORGER during the Cold War showed how militaries could mobilize and operate at scale across entire theatres. However, these events required extensive planning, significant resources and substantial financial investment. Environmental considerations, safety constraints and the complexity of modern weapon systems have added further challenges.
At the same time, warfare has evolved. Modern operations involve multi-domain effects across land, sea, air, cyber and space. Commanders must process large volumes of information while coordinating dispersed forces and coalition partners. Replicating this complexity using only live assets has become increasingly difficult and, in some cases, impossible.
This challenge has accelerated the adoption of LVC training architectures. In live environments, soldiers, vehicles and weapon systems operate in the field. Virtual training places personnel in immersive simulators that replicate operational conditions. Constructive simulation adds computer-generated forces and scenarios, creating large-scale battlespaces that would be impractical to reproduce physically.
Combined, these elements create a powerful training ecosystem. A tank crew on a live training area can interact with virtual aircraft flown by pilots in simulators, while constructive forces generate additional friendly and adversary units across the wider battlespace. Participants experience a realistic operational environment without deploying every asset in person.
Preparing forces for modern operations
The benefits go beyond efficiency. Simulation enables militaries to train for rare, complex or highly contested scenarios that would be unsafe or prohibitively expensive to recreate live, including missile engagements, cyber attacks, electronic warfare and multi-domain command and control. Training data can also be captured and analyzed in detail, supporting stronger after-action reviews and faster lessons learned.
Simulation is not replacing live training; it is enhancing it. Soldiers must still experience the physical demands, uncertainty and human factors of real-world conditions. What has changed is the ability to augment live activities with synthetic capabilities that expand realism and scale. This blended approach allows forces to train more frequently, effectively and flexibly.
As NATO nations strengthen preparedness in a complex security environment, LVC training is becoming a cornerstone of collective readiness. Industry partners play a critical role in this transformation by delivering the technologies and integration expertise needed to connect live forces with virtual and constructive environments.
Calian has been at the forefront of supporting NATO and allied nations with advanced simulation, interoperability and exercise support solutions that help create a connected training ecosystem. By enabling forces across the alliance to train together, regardless of location, Calian is helping shape the next generation of military preparedness, where synthetic environments complement live operations to deliver more representative, effective and mission-ready training.
