Operator Manual.

Contents

1. 1General
2. 2Start-up and main menu
3. 3Weapon profiles
4. 4Ammunition and magazine loadout
5. 5Fragmented rifle (5.56)
6. 6Weapon calibration
7. 7Training ground
8. 8Night vision
9. 9During an engagement
10. 10Settings
11. 11Key reference
12. 12Fault finding
13. 13Support

1 General

1.1Purpose

TrueDefence trains operators to engage small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) with a shotgun or a fragmenting rifle round. The operator fires their own weapon, fitted with a barrel laser, at drones projected on a large screen. The shot camera reads the laser hit. TrueDefence then flies the shot to the target using the weapon profile: cartridge, choke, pattern, range and target speed.

TrueDefence runs on the TrueClays system and shares its setup, weapon data and language.

1.2Equipment required

• A TrueClays system (projector, screen, shot camera), installed and set up
• A barrel laser, seated straight in the weapon
• An active TrueDefence licence
• For night vision: the barrel tracker, mounted under the barrel
• Optional: a second projector for overhead engagements

1.3Terms

Operator: the person firing. Instructor: the person setting up the drill. Pass: one target flight, from where it appears to where it leaves.

2 Start-up and main menu

2.1Start-up procedure

1. Start TrueDefence from the TrueDefence icon. It opens on the main menu. No login.
2. Check the licence. If the TrueDefence licence required window appears, the weapon is disabled (2.3).
3. Check the cameras. If a camera message appears, see section 12.
4. Select the weapon under Gun profile: Gun 1, Gun 2 or Fragmented. The selected profile shows a tick.
5. Set up the profile with Edit profiles (sections 3 to 5).
6. Calibrate the weapon with Calibrate gun (section 6).
7. Start with Beginners corner (marked Start here): simple targets to get used to the system.
8. Select the scenario under Choose a scenario, or open Training ground (section 7).

2.2Main menu layout

Scenarios 1 to 5 are fixed threat presentations. Beginners corner has simple targets to start on. Training ground is the drill builder, where the instructor sets the path (section 7). Switch to TrueClays closes TrueDefence and starts TrueClays.

3 Weapon profiles

Three fixed profiles: Gun 1, Gun 2 and Fragmented. Each holds its own name, weapon data, magazine loadout and calibration.

Profiles cannot be added or deleted. Rename and set up these three. Use Gun 1 and Gun 2 for two shotguns, or for two operators. Fragmented is the 5.56 fragmenting rifle round (section 5).

3.1Editing a profile

1. Press Edit profiles. The Shooter profiles window opens.
2. Select the tab: Gun 1, Gun 2 or Fragmented.
3. Set the fields (tables below and on the next page).
4. Press Save. The window shows Saved. Cancel, Esc or a click outside closes without saving.

3.2Shooter

3.3First barrel and Second barrel

Second barrel shows for Over/Under only. On Semi/Auto the Cartridge row is hidden: the cartridge for each round comes from the magazine loadout.

With imperial units set in TrueClays, these fields show inches and feet.

3.4Factory values

Reset to factory loads these values. It asks first ("Load the factory values for this profile? Nothing is written until you press Save."), and nothing changes until you press Save.

3.5Messages

4 Ammunition and magazine loadout

A Semi/Auto magazine does not have to hold one cartridge type. Set the cartridge round by round.

4.1Principle

A drone is usually engaged first at its longest range, and closes fast. A common load is heavier shot first, finer shot after: buckshot for the first rounds at range, then smaller and smaller shot as the target closes and a dense pattern counts more than energy. Barrel and choke stay the same; only the cartridge changes per round.

4.2Loading the magazine

1. In Edit profiles, select the tab and set Gun type to Semi/Auto.
2. Set Magazine size.
3. Press Loadout.... The Magazine loadout window opens with one line per round. Shot 1 is the first round fired.
4. Pick the cartridge for a round. Press Fill down on that line to load the same cartridge in every round below it. Fill down on shot 1 loads the whole magazine with one cartridge.
5. Close the window. The summary beside Loadout... shows the load.
6. Press Save on the profile. The loadout is saved with the profile, not by the loadout window.

4.4Cartridge library

Press Edit cartridges in Shooter profiles to open the cartridge library: find a cartridge, check its data, or add your own.

4.5Key cartridge data

5 Fragmented rifle (5.56)

The Fragmented profile fires a 5.56 round that breaks up on the target, so a near-miss on a small drone can still bring it down.

5.2How a fragmented round scores

1. The round flies to the target like any other projectile, with drop and time of flight. Lead the target.
2. When it reaches the drone it breaks into 5 to 9 fragments, spread over a small area around the point of contact.
3. Each fragment that strikes the drone counts.
4. Fragments also strike hard parts that shot pellets ignore, such as propeller hubs and motors.
5. The strikes must together pass the drone's energy limit, set with Target hardness (section 10).

5.3Rate of fire

Shots closer together than the minimum interval are ignored: 0.15 s for normal magazines, 0.075 s for magazines over 15 rounds. Rapid fire with the 30-round magazine is therefore read in full.

6 Weapon calibration

Calibration tells TrueDefence where the bead or sight points compared with the laser. Without it, hits do not land where the operator aims.

Calibrate each profile once, and again whenever the laser has been removed or moved. Calibration is stored per profile.

6.1Before you start

• Select the profile on the main menu. Calibration is saved to that profile only.
• Check the laser is seated straight and firm in the barrel.
• Take up the normal firing position and mount the weapon as in an engagement.

6.2Modes

Select in the Calibration mode list on the calibration screen. The profile default is set in Edit profiles. Changing mode during calibration starts it again.

6.3Procedure

1. Press Calibrate gun. For the second screen on a two-projector system, press Second projector.
2. A cross appears: "Shoot 3 more shots, Cover the center of the cross". Mount normally and cover the centre of the cross with the bead or sight.
3. Fire. The screen counts down the shots left. The shots are averaged, so take each one deliberately.
4. In three-point mode, repeat at each new cross.
5. After the last shot, the test target opens (6.4).

Esc stops at any time without saving.

6.4Confirming on the test target

The screen reads Try your calibration on target below. Fire at the board. Each shot shows:

• Laser hit and Pattern centre. The ring is 1 m (3.3 ft).
• Pellets (fragments for the Fragmented profile), Spread and Off centre.
• CALIBRATION VALUES: the stored X and Y correction, or the three-point values.

• Not satisfied: fire into the box on the right edge, Shoot in this box to recalibrate.
• Satisfied: cease fire. The test target closes 3 seconds after the last shot.
• Check later without calibrating again: press T on the main menu.

7 Training ground

The instructor builds one engagement and the system flies it, pass after pass, until it is learned rather than guessed.

7.3Path type

7.4Direction

7.5Path controls

Distances follow the units set in TrueClays (metric or imperial).

7.6Variances

Off, every pass is identical. Switch on Allow variances and "Every target is rolled again inside the limits below."

7.7Repeat

Delay between targets: 0–15 s, default 2 s. "One target at a time. The next one is timed from the moment the last one is hit or leaves." A hit brings the next target on without waiting for the wreck to reach the ground. Wrecks are cleared after 10 seconds, so the range can run for an hour.

7.8Readout and run controls

The This pass card is calculated while the drill is built, before a round is fired:

7.9Evading path

The target flies the same nominal line as the straight path, but a new evasion is rolled for every target:

• It cruises in straight, starts jinking once it is 80 to 150 m from the operator, and settles again on the way out.
• Each jink lasts 0.6 to 2 seconds, usually to the other side, sometimes further the same way, with small height changes. Sideways movement is limited to about 2.5 g: fast targets jink wider in metres but never turn harder.
• About two passes in three include one hard break of 18 to 34 m with a small pull-up (about 3.5 g), placed 30 to 65 % along the path.
• Speed stays constant. The evasion is random, not a reaction to shots.

The readout keeps the nominal closest range.

7.10Writing the standard

Because the presentation is set by numbers, a qualification can be written down and run the same on every system. Record the drill as a card:

Progress the drill one step at a time: switch on Allow variances, then raise Speed, then Evading path, then bring Direction round to Rear. Repeat by night with night vision (section 8).

8 Night vision

Any drone scenario can be run as a night engagement. The screen goes black; the only picture is a green, light-amplified field of view that follows the muzzle.

8.2Scope size

Set the size of the field of view to match the optic the unit carries:

• Settings › Night vision › Scope size on the main menu: Narrow to Wide, 20–90 % of the screen height, default 50 %.
• In a scenario, Shift+N steps through 35, 50 and 66 % and saves the choice.

8.3Barrel tracker and alignment

The field of view is steered by the barrel tracker on the weapon, in real time, not by the mouse. The tracker sits under the barrel, so TrueDefence measures its offset:

1. During weapon calibration, if the tracker is running (section 6), or
2. On the first shot of the engagement, if it was not measured during calibration.

A change of weapon profile or calibration resets the offset, and it is measured again automatically.

9 During an engagement

Engage, read the feedback, and press Exit to return to the menu.

9.3Settings in a scenario

Settings on the HUD opens:

• Scene: Speed and Height of the targets, Low to High, where the scenario allows it.
• Environment: the sky.
• Language. The scene reloads when the language changes.

Esc closes the drawer. The HUD dims after a few seconds without input, so it does not distract during the engagement.

10 Settings

Press Settings at the bottom of the main menu. Changes take effect at once and are remembered.

Graphics and volume are set in TrueClays.

11 Key reference

12 Fault finding

Most faults come from the shot camera, stray light, or a laser that has moved.

13 Support

13.1Reporting a fault

1. Press Send debug log on the main menu or in Settings. The logs go to TrueClays support, and a copy is saved on the desktop.
2. Email support@trueclays.com with a short description: what was done, what was expected, what happened.

13.2Common questions

13.3Contacts

Screens, messages and default values may change between software versions.