Epic just notched up another big-name licensee for its Unreal Engine 3 tech, but this one's a little different - it's the FBI.

The US intelligence agency is to use Epic's development toolkit in a simulator for its training academy.

The announcement is part of a new deal with US sim developer Virtual Heroes, which sees it licensing its technology to various departments, agencies and units of "the US and allied governments" through the newly established Unreal Government Network.

Other current UGN projects include training applications for army doctors, and custom model integrations and visualisations for a top five defense contractor.

"We recognise the growing market needs of our government customers and are excited to have Virtual Heroes provide a full spectrum of focused services and support using our game engine technology," commented Epic boss Mike Capps.

Virtual Heroes' past work includes the America's Army recruitment game, space satellite simulator Moonbase Alpha and disaster response medical sim Zero Hour: America's Medic.