DSEI UK 2025: 4GD modernising Copehill Down training village

4GD is installing a new suite of special effects and after-action review cameras at the British Army’s Copehill Down urban training facility. The new systems, designed to enhance training realism, could pave the way for a significantly enriched training experience in the future. Calibre Defence met with James Crowley, business development director at DSEI UK, to learn more. 

“It’s the first time that a project of this scale has been delivered,” James explained as we sat in the DSEI Media Centre. “We are installing after action review cameras around the outskirts of the village, covering approach routes and so on,” he explained. The 4GD system,which is being delivered with in partnership with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, together with Landmarc Support Services and the Land Warfare Centre, will cover 96% of the village outskirts.

“Hopefully over time it will expand into internal cameras. But at present the system will enable after-action reviews so a brigade or battle group commander can conduct a general review or a zonal review,” James explained. This is an important piece of training as it can be used to show soldiers the routes that they used and how they could be improved. 

The project is currently scheduled to finish early next year, “and a lot of the delivery is already complete; the team have done an amazing amount of work getting all this started.”

Lights, cameras, action

In addition to the after-action review cameras, 4GD is installing new special effects designed to enhance the training experience with sound, lights, and smoke. “Copehill down was built some time in the 80s for training to defend against the Soviets. It has had some changes for deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, but it is essentially the same as it was then,” James explained, drawing on his own experience of the facility as a Royal Marine. 

This means it is essentially a collection of buildings with very little happening. The British Army will add actors to provide some depth to the facility, but 4GD’s additions of lights and speakers will add some much-needed life and depth to the facility. “It’s very quiet and inert, so we are adding a bit of diversity to the village. There are speakers, lights, smoke machines being integrated into the village designed to make the village feel lived-in.” 

This again is an important element of training. Prior to an assault, a battlegroup commander will examine the pattern of life in the village and try to understand which buildings are occupied or lived-in. “The sound system can simulate a school or pub being used. With the idea being that you can draw more out from the training experience by doing it,” James added. 

He went on to add that “instruction in the British Army is excellent, but there is always more you can get from it by using effects. We need to try and turn our environment into one that is closer to where we are going to operate.” 

Looking ahead

4GD specialised in blended training environments, where its SmartFacilities can integrate virtual effects generated through simulators located elsewhere. This can enable a number of interesting training modalities. “We are essentially building out a digital backbone of Copehill Down that can be used to merge virtual and augmented reality into the facility. The hope is that over time we could draw in synthetic capabilities that the Army has to call in pre-fires and the sound and smoke of the explosion would be simulated. You could realistically replicate pre-fires from 105 or mortars at an engagement range that really makes sense,” he said. 

“That is where we would ideally like to take this, utilise those synthetic trainers to really immerse our soldiers and do so in a way that is relatively safe and cheaper than live simulation.” 

During the Battle of Marawi, the Philippine forces found that their supporting airpower could be inaccurate, causing them to withdraw several hundred metres before close air support was brought in. ISIS fighters would then fill the area that they had vacated, forcing them to fight through it once more. This is why it is so important to understand the effects of combined arms capabilities, and integrating different simulators into Copehill Down, like the Joint Fires Synthetic Trainer simulator from Elbit Systems UK.

“Understanding the capabilities of combined arms is a perpetual challenge. Our forces sit in silos and it can be difficult to understand the capability of other arms and what effects they can deliver,” James added. Another element to consider is communications. The British Army is diverse, with soldiers from across the Commonwealth and throughout the UK, and accents that reflect that broad geographic range. Combine this with individual radio habits and you have a recipe for radio difficulties if those relationships are not practiced. 

“It is really important to have relationships between the forward infantry and their fire support teams. There are nuances to the way people communicate and their accents can create further challenges, so getting them to talk to each other in a simulated environment could help facilitate that.” 

Calibre comment

Training is an expensive and difficult topic. With strict safety cases it can be almost impossible for a force to properly exercise and test its capabilities in a realistic way. Added to this, for the UK at least, are vehicle maintenance practices with a centrally maintained fleet and each regiment rotating one regimental set of vehicles for training. This leads to excessive wear and tear on a small number of platforms, which can reduce training availability and opportunities. Blended simulated environments like that offered by 4GD appear to offer a potential solution to part of this challenge, enabling an armed force to simulate much more of its world more realistically. 

By Sam Cranny-Evans, published on September 9, 2025. Credit for the lead image, which shows Copehill Down village, is 4GD.