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Training with Friend & Foe Targets | Part II

Training Benefits of Friend & Foe Targets

Incorporating friend and foe targets into situational awareness training delivers several key benefits that enhance overall preparedness and effectiveness. 

1. Refining Threat Identification Skills
Realistic targets train personnel to observe and analyze their surroundings. Trainees learn to identify weapons, hostile postures, or other indicators of intent while distinguishing potential threats from non-combatants. This reduces the likelihood of errors in high-pressure scenarios.

2. Enhancing Decision-Making Under Stress
Tactical operations often require split-second decisions. Friend and foe targets simulate the complexity of these situations, forcing trainees to evaluate targets quickly and accurately. This practice helps build confidence and precision when faced with real-world challenges.

3. Improving Target Discrimination
In diverse operational environments, personnel may encounter a mix of threats and innocents. Training with lifelike targets teaches individuals to discriminate between these groups effectively, minimizing collateral damage while ensuring mission success.

4. Developing Team Communication
In team-based scenarios, realistic targets require trainees to communicate effectively about potential threats. This fosters collaboration, enhances situational awareness, and improves overall team dynamics during operations.

Configuring Training Scenarios with Friend & Foe Targets

How to Use Barricades and Realistic Models to Improve Marksmanship

To maximize the impact of realistic targets, trainers can design diverse scenarios that challenge situational awareness and decision-making. Here are a few ideas:

  • Urban Combat Scenarios: Deploy targets in a shoot house or urban layout with friend, foe, and neutral targets intermixed. This setup requires trainees to navigate tight spaces while identifying threats accurately.
  • Hostage Rescue Drills: Use friend and foe targets to simulate hostage situations. Trainees must distinguish between hostages and captors, practicing precision shooting under pressure.
  • Crowd-Based Environments: Create a simulated crowd with multiple friend and foe targets. This trains personnel to identify and engage threats in dynamic, high-density situations.
 
Regularly changing target placements and configurations keeps training fresh and challenging, ensuring trainees remain adaptable. Additionally, practicing with realistic targets helps trainees build confidence in their abilities, reducing hesitation during actual operations. They become familiar with high-pressure environments, making them more effective and reliable in the field.

NEW! Moving Targets

Recently Trango introduced its new Moving Target. 

  • Easily manoeuvrable
  • Stable, suitable for various terrian types
  • Customizable target options using the same mobile base
  • Supports both 2D and 3D target models
  • Remote control
  • Multiple speed modes

* availabe for purchase starting from March 2025.

Recent Publications

Training with Barricades

Barricades act as simulated obstacles and sources of cover, designed to mimic the obstructions encountered in real-life urban or rural scenarios.

Just-in-Case training – the key to successful military operations

Just-in-case training prepares individuals for scenarios that may never occur but are critical to be ready for. This approach ensures readiness for unpredictable, high-stakes situations, emphasizing preparedness for emergencies or rare events that demand immediate, effective responses.

Estonia and the Baltic States: Preparing for Future Challenges

As geopolitical tensions persist in Eastern Europe, Estonia and its Baltic neighbors – Latvia and Lithuania – are taking proactive steps to strengthen their defenses. With an eye on Russia’s military activities in the region, these countries recognize the importance of being prepared for any potential threats in the coming years.

Trango’s OPS Box

Trango’s OPS Box: entire shoot house and CQB training tracks plus viewing deck in a box! Ultimate setup for tactical training

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