The US Air Force and California-based SimX have signed a $1.7-million contract to expand the service’s virtual reality (VR) medical training.
The project upskills the air force’s special operations medical personnel on prehospital combat casualty care.
Under the agreement, SimX will supply the US Air Force with training setups and immersive technology capabilities not offered in previous contracts.
The package includes advanced airway and ventilator management training, enhanced portable monitors, extrication tools, ultrasound capabilities, and an updated physiological model for paralysis and field sedation.
Supporting US Air Force VR Utility
According to SimX, the program expansion increases the reliability and convenience of medical VR simulation across the service, including automated self-serve familiarization and simplified training orchestration.
“We couldn’t be more excited about this project which will accelerate the rapid advancement of VR medical simulation technology as a crucial modality for training healthcare workers in every setting,” SimX Chief Technology Officer Karthik Sarma stated.
VALOR Program
The contract is part of the company’s Virtual Advancement of Learning for Operational Readiness (VALOR) program, an ongoing effort providing VR-enabled military simulation capabilities for the US Department of Defense.
“The enhanced casualty care training capabilities being developed under this project are essential to maintaining the highest level of readiness for a future of large-scale operations conducted against near-peer adversaries,” US Air Force 24th Special Operations Wing Surgeon Col. Clayton Rabens explained.
“The new capability to train these critical skills in a virtual domain will ensure that our elite operators continue to provide the highest level of care to US and partner force casualties.”