An IDF soldier moves forward during a training exercise. Photo: IDF via Wikimedia Commons.

A first-of-its-kind drill was held last week at an IDF base in southern Israel to mentally prepare a group of elite special forces soldiers for the horrors of war — including disturbing sights, smells and sounds — they might face in future battlefield scenarios, the Hebrew news site nrg reported.

As the soldiers fought their way through the training facility, they encountered life-like fake body parts, bloodied and burned, strewn about on the ground — products of the Xtreme Simulations startup company.

“This is the closest thing to the real situations fighters will experience in the field,” Yonatan Bahat — the chief operating officer of Xtreme Simulations and a lieutenant colonel in the reserves — was quoted by nrg as saying. “After an exercise like this, the readiness of fighters to deal with such circumstances, which we all hope they never come across, will be better.”

Technologically-advanced dummies made by Xtreme Simulations enable medical personnel to practice how to treat battle wounds in combat conditions, the report said.