ARTAK Block 3: What's New in Eolian's 3D Staff Planning Environment

ARTAK Block 3 is the release that turns ARTAK from a shared 3D map into a full staff planning environment. Block 1 put a high-quality 3D map in an operator's hands at the edge. Block 2 let units build those maps themselves, without a network. Block 3 adds what a battle staff needs to work on top of the terrain: doctrinal symbology at higher echelons, weapon systems that carry their real ranges and refuse to be placed beyond them, an eye-level Immersion Mode, and six new base maps.

The one-sentence version: in ARTAK Block 3, you cannot drag a weapon farther than it can actually shoot.

This post covers what changed, why each change matters to a planning cell, and how to get Block 3. For the platform itself — what ARTAK is, what it runs on, and how it federates with the TAK ecosystem — start with What Is ARTAK?.

The Weapon Inventory: fires planning that enforces physics

Block 3 introduces the Weapon Inventory: 200+ U.S. weapon systems — the top ten in each category, from surface-to-air to bombs — each carrying its real range, engagement envelope, and blast radius.

The data is the easy half. The feature is the enforcement. ARTAK will not let a planner place a weapon beyond its actual range. A fires plan built in Block 3 behaves the way the physics does, which means coverage gaps show up as gaps rather than as assumptions. A plan that does not close is obvious to everyone standing in the terrain before anyone briefs it.

That inverts the usual sequence. On a flat product, a seam in coverage is something a fire support officer finds by checking — sometimes after the rehearsal, sometimes not at all. In Block 3, the seam is visible geometry. Nobody has to catch it, because nobody can draw over it.

Engagement areas, final protective lines, obstacle belts, and target reference points all sit in the same volumetric space as the terrain that masks them, so terrain masking is something the plan accounts for instead of something the plan discovers.

Doctrinal symbology built to MIL-STD-2525E

Block 3 adds thousands of new icons, nodes, symbols, maneuvers, and control measures built to MIL-STD-2525E, including the Table L-XXI mission and operation task symbols. The emphasis is on higher-echelon graphics, so brigade, division, and joint staffs get the fidelity tactical users have had since Block 1.

The second change is render-through. Symbols and control measures now draw through buildings and terrain, so a boundary, a phase line, or a target reference point never disappears behind a ridgeline or a rooftop. In dense urban and mountainous terrain that is the difference between a graphic being present and a graphic being usable.

Products built in ARTAK are doctrinally correct, which matters downstream: a graphic drawn in ARTAK is legible to a staff officer who has never seen the software and transferable to the C2 systems the unit already runs.

Immersion Mode: walk the objective before you step off

Immersion Mode gets higher 3D fidelity in Block 3. A planner drops to eye level and walks the objective — building interiors, multi-floor structures, and subterranean spaces — in the actual terrain rather than a mock-up of it.

The practical effect is on rehearsals. A rock drill on a motor pool floor approximates the objective; Immersion Mode is the objective, at scale, with the sight lines and dead space the terrain actually produces. Every participant walks the same ground, and a squad leader who has walked the interior in Block 3 has seen the stairwell before the breach.

Six new base maps

Different phases and different staff sections need different underlays. Block 3 stops making a planner pick one. New base maps in Block 3:

• Aerial, and Aerial with Labels
• Bing Road and Google Road
• Earth at Night
• Google Satellite, and Satellite with Labels
• Google Shaded Topographic
• Cesium

An intelligence section reading terrain, a fires cell checking trafficability, and a commander briefing scheme of maneuver do not want the same base layer. Block 3 lets each of them pick.

Multi-user sync and an interface that gets out of the way

The best compliment ARTAK gets is that new users stop noticing the software. Block 3 pushes on that:

• Improved hand tracking, menu manipulation, and laser pointing
• HMD syncing across multi-user sessions, so every headset in the room holds the same picture at the same moment
• Search and filter points by category and by warfighting function — which is what makes a dense higher-echelon plan usable
• Color swatches for node colors, for faster and more legible unit and phase coding

Multi-user synchronization is the quiet one. A planning session where two headsets are a half-second out of agreement is a planning session where two people brief different plans. Block 3 closes that gap.

See Block 3 in motion

A short walkthrough of Block 3 is on the EolianVR YouTube channel. It is the fastest way to see the release without putting a headset on — though the headset is still better, and we will bring one to you.

How to get ARTAK Block 3

Existing customers. Block 3 is available under current licenses and support agreements. Contact your Eolian POC to schedule your update and new equipment training.

New customers, through 30 September 2026. Eolian is running a license bundle that includes the headset at no cost. Kit 01, for a single operator, is $3,400 for one year and includes one ARTAK Meta Quest 3 license, one ARTAK PC license, and one Meta Quest 3 headset free. Kit 02, for a two-seat team, is $6,800 for one year and includes four licenses and two headsets free. Both bundles sit under the $15,000 micro-purchase threshold, which means a Government Purchase Card holder can buy one without opening a contract action.

Larger configurations. The ARTAK Squad Kit — eight XR headsets, a Samsung tablet, a WiFi/LTE network node, an edge server, and the software subscription, with training, support, installation, and case customization — is priced at $234,683 as of 31 July 2026. That is below the $350,000 simplified acquisition threshold. Custom configurations and software-only licenses for hardware a unit already owns are also available.

If the obstacle is the contract file rather than the budget, eolianvr.com/acquire is a full walkthrough of buying ARTAK under Simplified Acquisition Procedures: a six-step field guide for the unit, an eleven-step version for the contracting shop, the cited regulatory basis, a KO Fast Start guide with SF 1449 block-by-block setup and a sample CLIN, a FAR 13.106-1 single-source justification template, and email templates for the S-4 and the KO.

To see Block 3 on your own terrain, in person or remotely, write to mike@eolianvr.com or use the contact form. Thirty minutes is usually enough to know whether ARTAK belongs in your planning cycle.