Project WARDEC

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Recently ,The Army Training Command signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Gandhinagar-based Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) to develop a ‘Wargame Research and Development Centre’(WARDEC) in New Delhi. 

About Project WARDEC

• It will be a first-of-its-kind simulation-based training centre in India that will use artificial intelligence (AI) to design virtual reality wargames.
• It will be used by the Army to train its soldiers and test their strategies through “metaverse-enabled gameplay”. 
  • In the metaverse, the players will get a realistic experience of the actual situation.
• The wargame models will be designed to prepare for wars as well as counter-terror and counter-insurgency operations.
• The centre will come up in a military zone in New Delhi.
• The RRU will join hands with Tech Mahindra to develop the centre in the coming three to four months, officials added.
  • The RRU, an institute under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), specialises in national security and policing. 
  • Located in Gandhinagar’s Lavad village, it is an “institute of national importance” – a status granted to it by an Act of Parliament.
• Apart from the armed forces, the BSF, CRPF, CISF, ITBP and SSB can also use the metaverse-enabled simulation exercises for better training.

Significance 

• The use of AI can provide a totally immersive training experience as it can simulate a battlefield close to reality and map several eventualities in the probable event of a war.

How many countries use such wargaming drills?

• Since the 9/11 attacks, use of information technology-enabled wargaming is preferred by several countries like the US, Israel, the UK to prepare for possibilities in case of terror attacks or war.

Source:IE