New Delhi, April 1: The first step towards becoming a gunner on the long-awaited Arjun tank may be a mere double-click.

A Defence Research and Development Organisation lab has commissioned a gunnery training simulator that provides soldiers experience of firing in a combat situation. It has been developed by the DRDO’s Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment unit in collaboration with a Bangalore-based company.

The simulators will impart cost-effective and exhaustive training to gunners who will eventually handle the Arjun tank, DRDO sources said. A batch of gunners has already undergone training at the simulator and their feedback has been noted to further improve the simulator.

The simulator will impart training in three stages. The first stage is the basic Classroom Gunnery Training Simulator and is based on a software containing features like soft panels aimed at teaching about various controls and switches present in a station inside the tank.

The software will also have online help for jawans to independently learn tank operations by clicking a mouse. The text will be available in Hindi and English.

The next stage is the Desktop Gunnery Training Simulator, which will provide hands-on experience to jawans for it replicates the tank’s hardware. Procedural operations on the Integrated Fire Control System are taught through this simulator.

The Gunnery Training Simulator is actually an air-conditioned container which gives a feel of being inside a tank. DRDO officials said it is a “full-fledged high-fidelity simulator” that helps train jawans how to track, aim and fire at targets.

The simulator is helpful because it has separate compartments for the instructor and the gunner, making the former’s job easier as he can find out immediately where a jawan is going wrong and hone his skills better.

The instructor can also plan, conduct, monitor the mock exercises and evaluate trainees based on their performance.

The simulator has all vital equipment positioned exactly the way it is in the Arjun tank. The seat for the simulator operator has a vibration unit to unleash the kind of disturbances a gunner would experience during an operation. It even has specially-developed optical equipment, integrated with day and night vision eyepieces to give a realistic view of what the battlefield looks like from the actual tank.

The DRDO is also working to manufacture special cooling jackets, which will greatly help gunners who have to work in high temperatures.