Are video-game reflexes enough for modern war, or is Britain falling behind on real battlefield simulation?

Anyone who has spent time around modern soldiers, especially drone pilots, knows that fast reactions, spatial awareness and the ability to process multiple information feeds at once are essential.

Games like Call of Duty or VelociDrone can absolutely help younger recruits build those reflexes and instincts.

But we should not confuse that with combat readiness. We’ve already seen Czech military instructors ask Ukrainians not to use drones during a recent training drill, due to what they called “excessive realism”.

If you’re training soldiers to fight in scenarios without drones, you’re preparing them for a war that was fought a decade ago.

Britain’s armed forces are operating in a world where war looks very different to the conflicts of the past 20 years. Nowhere is that clearer than in Ukraine, where high-intensity drone warfare, electronic interference, dispersed infantry and rapid decision-making under fire are daily realities.

In these environments, the difference between “knowing the buttons” and “understanding the weapon system” is life or death.

Video games might be a useful warm-up, but they can’t teach the muscle memory, tactical thinking, or situational awareness modern soldiers require.

You cannot learn the mechanics of an NLAW, a Javelin or an advanced UAV through hand-eye coordination alone. You need a simulation that mirrors the stress, noise, physics and split-second consequences of the battlefield.

UK company Hadean, offers war gaming simulations across multiple dynamic environments that enhance situational understanding, predictive awareness, which is crucial for mission planning.

While BAE acquired Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim) back in 2022, which is also used by the US army, has a comprehensive portfolio of products but is limited to desktop training. Arguably, neither of these would help train Ukrainian soldiers to execute their missions in the timescale demanded.

Ukraine has had to innovate under the most extreme pressure imaginable. With ammunition expensive, scarce, or simply unavailable, we’ve developed sophisticated VR and mixed-reality systems that allow up to 10 soldiers to train simultaneously across more than 50 different weapons. These are simulators built on and iterated with real battlefield data, including FPV drone swarms and the use of tethered UAVs.

In other words, soldiers in Ukraine train for war without firing a shot, but in an environment that feels as close to war as technology allows.

Companies like L7 Simulators have helped advance this capability, developing systems that train soldiers not just to react quickly, but to think tactically, work as a team, operate complex weapons and adapt to unpredictable threats.

That kind of readiness cannot be achieved with entertainment platforms, however useful they may be for early-stage skills. Britain wants to sharpen its operational edge and so the priority should be technologies that translate directly into survivability and battlefield success.

There is a growing recognition that Ukraine is not just a recipient of support but a generator of some of the most advanced military tech anywhere.

The UK has real opportunity to leverage the software and systems already developed, to train its soldiers for modern warfare without having deploy them to a warzone.

The International Defence Esports Games may encourage more young talent to consider defence careers, and that is welcome. But the next step is ensuring those people train on systems designed for soldiers, not consumers.

Video games can inspire. Realistic simulation prepares. For a modern force facing modern threats, Britain and its allies need both, but only one of them saves lives.

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Andriy Dovbenko is the Founder and Principal, UK-Ukraine TechExchange

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