(Credit: Invenio Engineering Solutions)

The Australian Navy is looking into using video game technology to help train sailors.

It's not the first military body to do so — the US Army has been using video games for years, including a modified version of commercial first-person shooter DARWARS Ambush to train soldiers.

The Royal Australian Navy is looking at a program called REFINE (Realtime Engineering Fleet Training Interactive Naval Environment), developed by Invenio Engineering Solutions, based on the 3DVIA game engine by Dassault Systemes.

REFINE puts naval cadets in a simulation of the ship on which they will serve, where they will perform such tasks as operating navigation equipment, putting out fires, launching the ship's boat, responding to damage control and responding to a call to action stations.

And, one day in the future, if you're really good at video games, you'll be whisked away to head the defence of an alien civilisation. Nah, we're just kidding. Or are we?

Anyway, have a look at REFINE in action in the video below. It doesn't look as fun as Starfighter ...