DARPA's PROTEUS program gamifies the art of war

The nature of war continues to evolve through the 21st century with conflict zones shifting from jungles and deserts to coastal cities. Not to mention the rapidly increasing commercial availability of cutting-edge technologies including UAVs and wireless communications. To help the Marine Corps best prepare for these increased complexities and challenges, the Department of Defense tasked DARPA with developing a digital training and operations planning tool. The result is the Prototype Resilient Operations Testbed for Expeditionary Urban Scenarios (PROTEUS) system, a real-time strategy simulator for urban-littoral warfare. When the PROTEUS program first began in 2017, "there was a big push across DARPA under what we call a sustainment focus area, and that included urban warfare," Dr. Tim Grayson, director of DARPA's Strategic Technology Office, told Engadget, looking at how to best support and "sustain" US fighting forces in various combat situations until they can finish their mission.