Airsoft Alternative Training | SHOT 2017

Gunpower Inc, is a South Korean company that has introduced training equipment very similar to the currently issued MILES used by a number of militaries around the world. The equipment is called the GPR System and comes with a full suite of products. The catch is that the system is purely Airsoft based. It uses a sort of flak jacket and Kevlar helmet that senses a 6mm BB hit. Once the equipment is hit, the user’s Airsoft rifle is essentially deactivated and the user is more or less put out of action. It uses a electronic frequency to sends signals between the gear and the user’s rifle to accomplish this.

Before we dismiss the company as a purely Airsoft product, the company has sold a number of units to the South Korean Army, and some Korean units have actually been using it in training. As the system is right now, I see very little value in training with AR based rifles because the ballistics of an Airsoft rifle just cannot match anything that an actual AR would be capable of. However, if the system were modified for Airsoft gas blow back handguns, I think the company would have an excellent handgun force on force training product, for a very low price compared to MILES gear, or Simunition UTM equipment. Simunitions are excellent training tools, but the cost of the unit is so prohibitive to many LE departments and even militaries that many don’t even consider training with it.

My consensus on Gunpower Inc, is that in it’s current state it isn’t conducive to legitimate force on force training. But given some modifications and using gas blow back handguns, I can see it being an effective training tool. For the Airsoft market alone, it seems like an excellent product though.