Ternion

Brad Spearing, Ternion | Aerospace Defense Review | Top Military Simulation Solutions ProvidersBrad Spearing, Co-founder and President
Success in the defense and military sectors is a constant balancing act, relying on strategic foresight and the agility to respond to ever-changing challenges. Survivability in tactical scenarios hinges on readiness and how well-equipped warfighters are to tackle every possible challenge. Here, custom military simulations are critical in preparing soldiers to face the unexpected with confidence.

Ternion, a creator of a custom simulation development framework, recognizes that military modeling and simulation (M&S) users have distinct and evolving needs.

As Brad Spearing, co-founder and president of Ternion, puts it, “Custom simulations aren’t just a preference but a necessity. The military needs custom simulations that are immersive, precise, adaptable and designed to replicate the complexities of modern warfare.”

Yet, building these custom simulations requires big-ticket investments and outdated software can quickly tip the scale toward inefficiency, obsolescence and wasted resources.

Ternion emphasizes that flexible, modular software frameworks are the way forward and has built its flagship product — FLAMES — to address these challenges.

Developed as a framework for custom simulations, FLAMES enables military and defense agencies to create user-friendly, accurate and reliable simulations in the most economical and time-effective way. It provides pre-built tools and functionalities, saving clients up to 75 percent of development time and costs.

Game Changer in the Industry

“We are essentially the Unreal Engine of the constructive simulation world. Rather than building a complex simulation from scratch, developers can use FLAMES,” says Spearing.

Custom simulations aren’t just a preference but a necessity. The military needs custom simulations that are immersive, precise, adaptable and designed to replicate the complexities of modern warfare

FLAMES cut down the work required to build a simulation, including writing the software — the most tedious job. It is an open and flexible framework that provides developers with complete control over their source code. The well-defined class hierarchy and development tools simplify the creation of specific software classes, reducing complexity and minimizing code requirements. FLAMES accelerates the simulation creation process and overall efficiency by eliminating unnecessary coding and streamlining essential development.

Its off-shelf offerings, such as a scenario editor, after-action review and scenario database for managing scenario data, lay the groundwork for developing simulations. In addition to its core simulation capabilities, it offers advanced features such as checkpoint restart functionality, improved analytical tools, and collaborative database editing features. FLAMES also integrates Unreal Engine to create cutting-edge 3D graphics for simulations. These tools, coupled with an integrated interface to Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS), High-Level Architecture (HLA), and support for CIGI compatible image generators, make FLAMES compatible with a wide range of training needs.

The company ensures that every aspect of the simulation lifecycle, from development to maintenance and debugging, is fully supported. As a result, FLAMES excelled in creating simulations for command, control, communications and intelligence (C4I) training, including the USAF C2WSPTT, NATO ITC and the US Marine Corps FLAMES Automated Simulation Trainer (FAST).

Echoes of Success

Building on this success, Ternion collaborated with Korea Aerospace Industries to develop a helicopter flight simulation using FLAMES and Unreal Engine, garnering worldwide recognition. This collaboration received significant attention at the Interservice/ Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference, further solidifying FLAMES reputation as a groundbreaking innovation.

Over the past three decades, Ternion has developed over fifty custom simulations used by aerospace, defense and transportation organizations around the world. The company is transforming the military simulation industry by spearheading the development process, providing unmatched speed, affordability, and customization.

Deep Dive

Military Simulation That Keeps Pace With Mission Change

Military simulation buying has moved beyond whether a training or analysis tool can reproduce a narrow scenario. Aerospace and defense leaders now need software that can keep pace with changing doctrine, new platforms, contested domains and pressure to train personnel before real capability is fielded. The difficulty is that many military modeling and simulation programs still begin from a blank development effort. Every scenario editor, database layer, interface, review function and visualization pathway can become another bespoke task. That approach can produce useful systems, but it also stretches budgets, extends schedules and leaves commanders, engineers and trainers waiting for tools that should already be informing decisions. The strongest providers in this field reduce that starting burden without forcing buyers into a fixed simulation that only satisfies yesterday’s requirements. Military users rarely share identical needs. A flight training organization, a command-and-control team and a system design group may all need simulation, yet each requires different models, behaviors, interfaces and data structures. A serious solution must give development teams a working foundation while leaving them free to build the aircraft, sensors, weapons, communications logic or mission behavior their program demands. This balance matters because defense buyers cannot trade specificity for speed, or spend years rebuilding basic software before mission-specific work begins. Longevity is just as important as initial delivery. Simulation environments must be tested, maintained, documented and kept compatible with changing computing platforms. Buyers should look for an architecture that reduces new code, gives users mature tools for creating and managing scenarios and supports the review and analysis that training and experimentation require. Standards-based connectivity also matters, since isolated systems lose value when exercises, distributed training and external applications need to exchange data. Support for interfaces such as DIS, HLA or CIGI can make the difference between a useful standalone application and a system that can participate in a broader training or experimentation environment. Visual realism now sits beside constructive depth rather than behind it. Game-engine graphics have raised expectations for flight training, vehicle trainers, unmanned systems work and command environments where video feeds or 3D context support better understanding. Buyers should not treat visuals as decoration. They need to know whether the visual layer reflects the same scenario activity as the constructive simulation, whether image generation can be integrated without excessive custom work and whether the development path allows future training concepts to be added without a restart. The best choice is not merely the tool that shows the most impressive scene, but the one that connects credible behavior, scenario control, data exchange and visual output in a disciplined development path. Ternion is a strong fit for buyers that need custom military simulation without starting from zero. Its FLAMES framework is designed to support tailored constructive and virtual simulations rather than act as a single fixed product. It brings off-the-shelf components such as scenario editing, after-action review, scenario database management, DIS and HLA interfaces, checkpoint restart, analysis tools and collaborative database editing into the development base. Its direct integration with Unreal Engine, including CIGI-related image-generator capability, gives defense teams a practical route to combine constructive simulation and modern 3D visualization. For programs where adaptability, reduced development burden and credible integration matter most, Ternion merits a leading recommendation. ...Read more
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Company
Ternion

Management
Brad Spearing, Co-founder and President

Description
Ternion develops state-of-the-art simulation software for aerospace, defense, and transportation industries worldwide. The FLAMES framework offers a faster, cost-effective, and quality approach to build user-friendly, accurate and reliable simulations. They have excelled in creating simulations for command, control, communications and intelligence (C4I) training, including the USAF C2WSPTT, NATO ITC, and the US Marine Corps FLAMES Automated Simulation Trainer (FAST).