Automated After-Action Review (A3R): Instant learning, long-term results

It’s the end of a long training exercise. Your soldiers have been running drills, acting out scenarios, and making decisions for days. Every action generates valuable information, but rapidly processing such a massive volume of data to accurately assess performance is a major challenge. Until recently, much of this data went underused because of the limitations of existing systems. Saab’s Automated After-Action Review (A3R) directly solves this problem.

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Training and Simulation

Instant learning, long-term results

Rapidly analyses information from multiple structured and unstructured sources to deliver faster, deeper and more credible insights, helping improve training outcomes, operational effectiveness and readiness.

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An integrated, end-to-end solution built on Saab’s Training Data Insights (TDI) platform, A3R unlocks the full potential of training data and transforms it into immediate, actionable feedback. From sensors to soldiers, it brings all of this data together on one platform, enabling AI-driven analysis that creates richer, faster, and more credible insights while ensuring the operator always remains in control. This leads to more efficient and effective training and the development of more successful battle strategies and doctrines.

More data = Better insights

Data analysis is already a key part of the advanced live training support Saab provides through our GAMER system, which collects data on soldiers’ movements and firing events during training. Our exercise control (ExCon) software suite, ‘Expert’, gathers and analyses this data to provide feedback on factors such as individual firing accuracy and mission success. 

However, even these advanced systems have limitations in collating unstructured data, such as order and doctrine documents, or tactical radio communications. AI has the ability to ingest large amounts of training data, rapidly analyse it for patterns and correlations, and then use that acquired knowledge to make predictions relating to new data. This provides immediate training feedback that is both informed and highly relevant, from evaluating individual performance to generating exercise-wide insights. For the soldier, this means clearer feedback; for the commander, this means more confidence in decision-making; and for the trainer, this means invaluable information to help further develop and improve training. Additionally, for exercise leadership, AI can accelerate the cycle of learning by providing insights into how effective the exercise was relative to the training objectives.

Building on our effective GAMER solution to provide significant improvements across several key areas, A3R utilises AI to rapidly manage and analyse data from a wide range of sources and combines it to provide near-instant feedback and insights. It can interpret and analyse huge amounts of data: not just conventional structured data, but also unstructured data. These sources include – but are not limited to – the following:

·         Military doctrine documents

·         Battle plans and orders

·         Radio communication

·         Video data

·         Command and control data feeds

·         Weather-related data

·         Biometrics

·         Terrain data

·         Simulation data

Deeper insights, deeper understanding

One example of using AI to gain insights is combining and analysing command and control (C2) data with exercise data, comparing them with the exercise battle plan and identifying any deviations. Collating this with further analysis related to weapons fired, troop movements, and unit effectiveness, as well as weather, terrain, and biometric data, can give both unit trainers and analysts a real-time overview and a previously unattainable understanding of performance relative to the mission outcome.

The insights can be displayed in a visual representation of the exercise site, with users able to interact with the information, selecting data sets related to specific places or units, and interrogating the data for further analysis – for example, collating information on the distance most soldiers were from the opponent when they were hit.  

Bringing clarity to complexity

The insights A3R provides have the potential to help produce more effective units. Identifying issues earlier in the training process, as well as highlighting deficiencies that were previously missed, creates the opportunity for trainers to compare the attributes of different units, benchmark progress over time, and improve their own training techniques. Further applications include enabling the measurement of the strengths and weaknesses of individual units across different echelons and quantifying effectiveness.

The ability to understand how well trainees adhere to doctrines and plans during training exercises aids in evaluating the effectiveness of those doctrines. If, over time, different approaches prove more successful, then updates made to the doctrine can be based on reliable, relevant data. The technology also allows units to be taught to follow the doctrines of opposition forces, therefore creating more realistic battles and ultimately, better training. As A3R evolves further, additional functionality will become available, including the ability to compare multiple exercises and to suggest exercise setups based on previous exercises and results.

Designed to support – not replace – human evaluation, A3R utilises AI to transform data from training simulations into fast, relevant knowledge that accelerates the cycle of learning, improves decision making, and delivers a higher standard of operational readiness. By bringing clarity to complexity, Saab’s A3R solution ensures that every training exercise delivers relevant, actionable insights in real time, dramatically streamlining the after-action review process and enhancing the value of military training.

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