The Air Force is helping host an esports tournament designed to help service members better prepare for complex combat situations.
The Air Force is partnering with nonprofit national security firm MITER to host a tournament that MITER believes will help the Air Force “better understand mission logistics options and priorities in the event of an attack,” Military.com reported.
MITER has opened registration for the “Drone Guardians” game, which will challenge teams of participants to defend deployed airfields from enemy attacks while still maintaining the ability to conduct aircraft missions.
According to the nonprofit, the game will mix elements of first-person shooters, strategy games, and puzzle games, with players forced to face a variety of attacks from land, air, sea, space, and even cyber—sometimes simultaneously. .
Players must work together to prioritize areas to defend while still keeping airfields operational for combat flights.
“Teams must make mission-critical decisions, such as whether to prioritize preparing aircraft for launch over defending an airbase, or devise contentious logistics strategies to ensure they have the supplies they need to complete their mission,” the game’s description reads. On the MITER website.
The game is designed to help the Air Force collect data to help keep real-life Air Force bases safe and supplied, and to save the lives of those responsible for defending them.
“Even without adversary intervention, military logistics networks can be fragile, disorganized, and at the same time A single point of failure creates a ripe opportunity for attack.” Page. “Additionally, when militaries plan and execute the movement, supply, and maintenance of their forces, they are vulnerable to attack in the next global conflict. GameX uses military and civilian participants to test which logistical decisions best achieve the mission.”
The military has a history of using video games in training, including a 1993 Super Nintendo game that was specifically designed to help the Army train soldiers in shooting skills, Military.com reported.
The Army later partnered with Raytheon to create a virtual reality combat simulator capable of tracking a soldier’s full-body movements.
MITER esports tournaments will be held at three different locations: Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina; MITER headquarters in McLean, Virginia; and the MITER regional office in San Antonio, Texas. The Shaw Air Force Base tournament will be held Sept. 22-23, the Virginia tournament will be held Oct. 13-14, and the Texas tournament will be held Oct. 20-21.
