The new Noptel ST-2000 Expert revolutionizes the shooting training in the military bases. The same unit can be used throughout the training in all training exercises, whether indoors or outdoors, static or moving, day or night. A number of automatic functions together with user friendly software and easy user interface make the unit an ultimate tool for any shooting instructor and shooter. The Noptel ST-2000 Expert thoroughly supports Marksmanship Training Programs and provides complete coverage of training aids for basic, advanced and field training.

Background

The Finnish shooting training company Noptel Oy has introduced recently a novel comprehensive training solution for the training of shooting skills for military use. Noptel’s background in shooter training dates back to eighties, when Noptel presented the first training device for the military professionals. Now, 25 years and many product generations later the company has been able to join their expertise and the experiences from the customer projects all over the world to bring to market a revolutional product, which supports all training phases from basic training indoors to advanced training scenarios and situational training outdoors. Now the first time in the history the same product can follow the shooter throughout the complete shooting training period.

Shooting training procedures vary in different countries sometimes a lot and military organisations have their own ways and traditions to realise the training practices, but that does not change the principles and essentials of the training. What ever the realisation of the training practice and exercise will be, the first step is to learn the basic shooting skills well, zeroing, positions, holding, aiming and trigger release. And the training continues with more advanced training exercises with real military shooting distances and targets, fast shooting, multiple targets, night shooting and judgmental training. Finally the training ends up to situational training and manoeuvring with buddy pair or in troop, in the field or urban area, to learn to meet the hostile targets and to work together with other soldiers in hostile situations.

ST-2000 Expert optical unit

The great benefit of the new ST-2000 Expert is that it will support all these training exercises, how and where ever they will be performed. It suits as well to static indoor practices simulating the shooting disciplines and getting real time information in the PC screen to the shooter with comprehensive shooting analysis as to field exercises where the shooter is attacking towards the hostile targets and using the weapon in the move. The unit will work with small simulated targets as well as with normal size military targets, static or moving.

The unit has two main operational modes: classic and dynamic. Classic operating mode is used in marksmanship training in rather stable conditions, i.e. distance to the target remains the same from shot to shot. Classic operation automatically maintains the difficulty level of shooting according to selected distance/target combination, regardless of the actual shooting distance used. Dynamic operating mode allows very quick, military type, instinct reaction type shots with varying target distance to be recorded. Dynamic operation automatically scales target according to the distance, as shooting gets more difficult with increasing distance, just like it is with real shooting.

The unit can work connected to PC via USB or as a stand alone unit. In connected modes the Expert Unit works under PC control.  In Dynamic Connected operation the hit (or miss) point will be shown immediately in the PC screen after a shot takes place. In Classic Connected mode there are replays and shot analysis available as well.

Stand-alone mode means independent operation without computer. When Expert operates as a stand-alone device, shooting training data is stored to an internal memory of the device. Later, all shots can be downloaded to a PC via USB connection. The Expert Unit can store about 250 ‘classic shots’ or 1000 ‘dynamic shots’.

The graphic display in the back panel shows the shooter information during zeroing, training and setting. The information displayed is obvious and easy to understand.

The device is equipped with internal, high performance rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which has wide temperature range and high capacity. Whenever the device is turned on using the main switch or PC, an automatic voltage check is performed. The result is shown by a battery power icon in the back of the device. Typical operating time (per charge) exceeds 48 hours which enables extended training periods with minimal recharging annoyance.

Basic training

Basic marksmanship training can be performed with either a single Expert Unit or in a multi-user system, where all units are connected to PC(s). In classic mode shot analysis is done instantly and all shots are stored into the PC. Usually, the training sessions are performed indoors with special scaled targets. With suitable ruggedized computers and targets the training can also be held at shooting range out of doors.

Advanced training

Advanced training at longer ranges and more dynamic environment can be implemented as stand-alone or connected to PC. Training can be done out of doors at the shooting range or indoors. All shots during the action will be stored into internal memory of the Expert Unit and can be downloaded to PC for later analysis. When connected, all shots are stored into the PC and shot review can be seen on PC screen instantly. Specially defined training targets can be implemented using NOS Pro application program. The Advanced training can include practically any type of training, very fast shots, multiple shots, multiple targets, varying target distances and night shooting, for example.

Field training

The actual Field training session is usually performed stand-alone. All shots during the action will be stored into internal memory of the Expert device. If needed, the setups are done in advance with PC computer. After the training action, all shots can be downloaded to a PC via USB connection for reviewing, if needed. Special silhouette and ring targets for assault rifle training can be implemented and uploaded to Expert device using NOS Pro application program. The device will store all targets ready for next training session, until they are rewritten by the instructor.

Targets

Silhouette figures can be used as the target equipped with prism reflector, which is placed to the desired centre point of the target. At longer ranges in advanced training more prisms are needed in order to retain precision. In classic mode the difficulty of training is practically independent on distance to the target. In dynamic mode the unit will automatically recognize the target distance and optimises the hit and miss results.

Conclusion

The new ST-2000 Expert really makes the training easy and comprehensive. The unit supports the training in an optimal way and helps the soldier to efficiently develop as a marksman in the limited period of time available for training.

Noptel Oy
Teknologiantie 2
FI-90590 Oulu, Finland
Tel. +358 40 181 4351
Fax. +358 8 556 4101
www.noptel.fi