Training with static targets can only get you so far. In the real world, bad guys don’t stay still, which is why elite (and some not-so-elite) outfits rely on force-on-force training.
Now, veteran-owned IT company SimIS is offering another way to simulate real-world scenarios for those professionals who need to be ready for anything.
“Human Type Targets” (HTT) are more-or-less what they look like. HTTs are mannequins mounted on four rubber wheels, and those mannequins can be controlled via a remote or set to automatically complete a variety of circuits.
But they’re also reactive. When a shooter hits a vital area (head or chest box), the mannequin responds by rotating backward 90 degrees. If the mannequin is hit outside a vital area, the mannequin rotates 45 degrees. In either case, after a few seconds, the robot rotates back to its original position and continues moving.
It doesn’t matter which direction the mannequin is facing when it gets hit. Unlike steel reactive targets, the HTT responds the same no matter which angle the bullet strikes it.
When we tested the system at the SHOT Show 2022 Range Day, it appeared to function as advertised. While we couldn’t verify where our shots landed, the mannequin responded as it should have every time we felt like we made a good shot.
Durability is obviously a concern, and we didn’t try putting any rounds in the areas below the mannequin. The internal mechanism is plated with AR-500 steel, and the rubber wheels should absorb any stray bullets. Still, only extensive testing could verify the long-term durability of the HTT.
Not that most average Joe’s will get a chance. If the cost is any indication, SimIS is pricing the HTT with an eye towards those fat law enforcement and military contracts. A single unit costs $100,000 to purchase, $70,000 to lease for a year, and $2,000 to rent for a day.
Maybe you can convince a range owner in your area or your firearms instructor to splurge on an HTT. For the rest of us, we’ll have to be content with steel and paper.
Click HERE to learn more about the HTT from SimIS.
I’ve fired on something similar a couple times. The difference is that these react to the shots but stopping and turning. The robots I shot would still keep moving according to what the guy managing the remote was having it do.
The first time I shot at it the cost was $10 which included a tee shirt that the put on the robot and 10 rounds of 9mm ammo. I really felt great about hitting 9 of 10 in the area of the heart. 1 round was off to the side but would have definitely made breathing difficult.
The next time the cost went up and the rounds count was lower. Only 5 rounds and $15.
These are great training aids and I would love to see more of them in action. It was definitely more challenging than a static target and worth doing.
I built one of these about 25 yrs ago, and it was about $10.00. What we did was take a rotary lawnmower deck from a junk push-type lawnmower (not self-propelled so we weren’t fighting the mechanism when pulling it) and removed the engine and handle leaving only the flat deck and 4 wheels and welded a receptacle over the engine hole in the deck so we could attach and remove and change a sillouette target easily and we put an eye bolt on each end of the deck so we could attach a long rope and pull it from the firing line without danger to the one pulling it. We made full sized and 1/2 width cardboard sillouettes to simulate a person turned sideways when moving. Then we mixed in stationary and no-shoot targets just to keep it fun. I made up some cardboard sillouettes of AK 47s and knives and stars on strings and painted them silver so the shooter could see them easily when he turned around to first face the scenario we changed each time while his back was turned. We could randomly hang these around the necks of the targets. The shooter could not watch us set up each scenario by turning his back to the targets, gun holstered and hands on top of head, and had to assess the situation immediately upon turning around and take out the most immediate threat first (AK47) then the knives and not shoot the badge targets. Yep, some stars have neat holes in them.. Try taking out a knife target partially hidden behind a badge target hostage, all while watching the dude with the knife charging you. It isn’t as easy as it seems when shooting at speed to finally get the mover before he reaches you with the knife. The knife usually went around the neck of the mover when it was charging you. But you had to eliminate the AK 47s and then the knives first and then try to get the mover before it reached you without killing any good guys by mistake. The scenarios you can create are only limited by your imagination! God it is fun! We could charge the shooter or pull it sideways in front of him by anchoring a stake downrange to pass the rope behind. Then we simply walk or run backwards pulling the rope from safely behind the shooter and the target has the same speed that a person would have. Stop, start again, run. walk. anything you like. Make the shooter earn it. And great training on a shoestring budget. And very light and portable to take with you. Build as many as you want, each will need about 100 feet of 1/16 inch cord rope on a reel or cord winder for storage. Yes, you have to walk out and reset it each time, or attach another rope and anchor on the other side and just pull it back and forth, but for $100,000? I need the exercise anyway and we patch the holes then too. I was amazed how little lead is needed when firing at a moving target like this. Actually, at 15 yds or so, just aim at the leading edge of the 1/2 width silouette and keep the handgun moving. It ain’t like pass-shooting ducks. We wasted some ammo until we figured that out. But that is why we train… Build this. You will become addicted, believe me, and so will your buddies. Just remember. Each mover needs a puller. The more the merrier. The adrenalin rushes and laughing and grinning will be worth it.
Actually, Clay Martin’s father in law is a good friend of mine here in Boise. If you are reading this Clay, call Dan and he will give you my phone number. We can go out in the desert and shoot this setup some time and maybe film it and have a ball..
Only a federal government agency with LOTS of money to burn would even consider trying these puppies out I am surprised the company even invested the R&D in it. Rich is right for this kind of moola if the targets were responsive and reactive i could understand federal government agencies with lots of grant moola to burn would go for it
unless these things are shooting back at the shooter, then it is not real life, or life like training,