How modelling and simulation support continuity between exercises and operations as the Canadian Army advances digitally integrated training environments
Across the Canadian Armed Forces, readiness depends on the success of major exercises – and on what happens in the months between them.
Large collective training events remain essential for validating force employment concepts and preparing units for operations. They create opportunities to rehearse command relationships, test procedures, and confirm interoperability across formations and partners. Yet the operational environment continues to evolve while those exercises are being planned and executed. Maintaining continuity between them has become one of the central challenges of modern force preparation.
In many cases today, the distinction between training and operations is no longer clear. Operation REASSURANCE is a strong example. The training conducted by the Multinational Brigade in Latvia is itself part of a forward deterrence posture, meaning formations are increasingly training as they will fight while deployed. This reinforces the importance of maintaining continuity between training environments and operational systems across the readiness cycle.
This is where modelling and simulation play a critical role.
Training becomes part of the operational environment rather than a separate activity
Maintaining Continuity Between Major Training Events
Between major exercises and deployments, readiness gaps can still emerge between major collective training events, even as deployed formations increasingly train as they will fight. Training audiences may not have repeated opportunities to rehearse decision making at scale. Command teams may not be able to test emerging concepts in a structured way. Digital command and control systems continue to change as upgrades are introduced. Without a mechanism to maintain alignment across these moving elements, coherence can erode over time.
Modelling and simulation help sustain that coherence.
Used effectively, they allow training authorities to preserve continuity across headquarters, units, and enabling organizations. They support rehearsal of procedures in realistic command environments. They help maintain familiarity with digital mission systems. They enable experimentation with new approaches before they are introduced into collective training events. Most importantly, they allow commanders and staffs to remain connected to the operational context they are preparing to operate within.
These functions become even more important as the Canadian Army advances its modernization priorities.
As LGen Jean-Marc Lanthier (Ret’d), former Commander of the Canadian Army and CEO & President of ADGA Group, noted at the Vanguard Simulation and Training Summit this week, readiness increasingly depends on the ability to connect training environments with operational systems so formations can maintain coherence between major exercises and deployments.
This shift reflects the reality that the Army’s future operating environment depends on digitally enabled formations that can share information, coordinate effects, and adapt quickly within joint and allied contexts. Training must reflect that reality. It cannot rely solely on episodic access to major exercises. It must support continuous engagement with evolving command architectures, data flows, and operational decision-making processes.
Digitally integrated land training environments help make that possible.
Integration Across Live, Virtual, and Constructive Training Environments
Rather than treating simulation as a collection of individual tools, digitally integrated training environments connect live, virtual, and constructive elements into a coherent ecosystem — one that allows headquarters to train with realistic operational pictures, units to rehearse within the same digital frameworks they will use on operations, and distributed participants to interact with synthetic entities and scenarios that extend beyond what is physically available during any exercise window. The value is not found in any single platform, but in how these environments connect to operational systems, headquarters workflows, and the realities formations prepare to operate within.
Training effectiveness depends on how systems connect to each other, how they connect to operational networks, and how they connect to the workflows used by commanders and staffs. When those connections are in place, modelling and simulation support continuity rather than standing apart from it. Training becomes part of the operational environment rather than a separate activity.
From our perspective supporting mission systems integration, C5ISRT environments, modelling and simulation activities, and secure digital infrastructure across defence programs, this integration challenge is central to readiness. Training systems must align with operational architectures. Synthetic environments must reflect how headquarters actually function. Infrastructure must support secure participation across distributed organizations. Program delivery must keep pace with evolving requirements across multiple stakeholders.
At the same time, requirements for C5IRST systems do not always explicitly include simulation as a core component of the architecture, and where they do, those requirements are often imprecise or treated as secondary considerations. Addressing this gap is essential if training environments are to remain aligned with operational command systems and support formations that increasingly train as they will fight.
When these elements come together, modelling and simulation strengthen the connection between training and operations instead of existing as parallel efforts.
This work also depends on collaboration between industry and the training community.
Collaboration Across the Training Enterprise
Training authorities bring deep operational understanding of how formations prepare and employ forces. Industry partners contribute integration experience across systems, environments, and delivery frameworks. Progress depends on sustained dialogue between these perspectives. It also depends on shared recognition that modernization is not only about introducing new tools. It is about ensuring that training environments remain aligned with operational realities as they evolve.
We see this collaboration every day in the way training requirements intersect with digital infrastructure, mission system integration, and program delivery activities across the defence enterprise. Maintaining alignment across these areas helps ensure that modelling and simulation continue to support readiness between exercises rather than being limited to them.
Strengthening connections between live, virtual, and constructive training elements will help ensure that collective exercises remain anchors within a broader readiness continuum rather than isolated events. Continued collaboration across the training community, operational organizations, and industry partners will help shape training environments that reflect how the Canadian Armed Forces prepare for operations today and how they will prepare for them in the years ahead.
Published following participation in the Vanguard Simulation and Training Summit, where our CEO & President, LGen Jean-Marc Lanthier (Ret’d) contributed to panel discussions on training modernization and readiness continuity.