Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim), the company behind the game-based military training tool - Virtual Battlespace 2 (VBS2), is proud to announce that they have been awarded a USD $10.3m contract to further develop VBS2’s capabilities for the US Marine Corps (USMC).

Already a highly valued customer of BISim, the USMC has chosen to further invest in VBS2, an important component of their soon-to-be upgraded Deployable Virtual Training Environment (DVTE). The DVTE is a laptop-based platform for a wide variety of training simulations in the USMC. The new contract will deliver specific VBS2 enhancements and capabilities to the Marines, in addition to ongoing software support and maintenance.

BISim will continue to upgrade the call-for-fire and close air support capability of VBS2 in accordance with the needs of the USMC, and VBS2 will emulate a wider range of USMC devices related to these types of tasks. BISim will also improve the terrain capabilities within VBS2 including support for physics-based destructible buildings, improved editing capabilities in the terrain tools, improved visual appearance of 2D terrains maps in VBS2 (and printing support), and further improvement of procedural terrain generation capabilities. These enhancements will make working with, and developing within, VBS2 even faster and easier.

The contract also includes software support including the provision of a telephone helpdesk, a web portal, delivery of VBS2 training, and ongoing software maintenance to ensure the USMC stays up-to-date with the latest VBS2 technology.

Peter Morrison, CEO of BISim, said “This award highlights the mutual commitment between the USMC and BISim to game-based learning, by enhancing the capabilities of VBS2 and maintaining it as the premier military game for training. We are focused on delivering state-of-the-art game technology to organizations like the USMC, and new features like physics-based destructible buildings will deliver exciting new training possibilities to all of our customers.”