NEW ORLEANS — Haptech, a New Orleans-based company that makes electromagnetic recoil systems for training, said it has been awarded three contracts to develop and deliver weapon simulators for use by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. These three contracts, awarded since last July, will bring over $11 million in new U.S. military contracts to downtown New Orleans before the end of this year. The company has expanded to 20 current full-time, local staff members and plans to add 10 more positions before the end of the year.
“We spent almost a decade perfecting Haptech’s electronic recoil system to enable training without using live rounds. These three contracts will accelerate our development efforts and get our technology into the hands of more U.S. soldiers and Marines sooner. We are excited about the opportunity to support our nation’s military by making training safer and more engaging, while simultaneously modernizing training and reducing cost,” said Kyle Monti, CEO and founder of Haptech in a press release. “We are proudly developing this technology in our home state of Louisiana to improve training for our nation’s military.”
Headquartered in downtown New Orleans, Haptech, creates warfighter training technology and specializes in the development of full-sensory training devices, including surrogate weapons and drop-in kits that feature the company’s proprietary Electromagnetic Recoil System (ERS). The ERS is a scalable system that uses electromagnetic linear motors to provide battery-powered, hard-hitting recoil with a suite of sensors and wireless communication for the collection of training data. Founded in 2014, Haptech’s portfolio includes 77 patented technologies with 11 more pending.
The three new contracts will supply weapons training capabilities that feature Haptech’s ERS and data tracking technology. Drop-in kits for the M4 rifle; M249, M240, and M2 machine guns; and the MK19 fully automatic grenade launcher transform a service member’s live weapon into a training tool that can be used in synthetic or live training environments. Haptech’s surrogate weapons, built exclusively for training, include M17 and M18 handguns, M4 and M110 rifles, and the M240 and M2 machine guns. A Haptech spokesperson said these proprietary innovations bring weapon skills development to a level “far exceeding any experience U.S. Army and Marine Corps trainees have had before.”
“Given the emerging strategic landscape, budgetary pressures and the costs of various ammunition types to support a realism in a live training experience, a training alternative that provides an immersive, realistic training experience for our soldiers and Marine counterparts is imperative,” said retired Lt. Gen. Pete Vangjel, U.S. Army V3 Strategies and Solutions. “The chief of staff of the Army recently indicated there would be a push for increased emphasis on simulations training at home stations. Haptech delivers a portfolio of capabilities that provide those realistic experiences for users with surrogate weapons or drop-in kits for a user’s organic assigned weapon – a cost-effective technology breakthrough that will save the Army money, time and avoid negative training.”
Haptech said it will continue engaging with all branches of the U.S. military and industry partners to fill weapons training needs and to continue developing disruptive technology solutions.