M&S objectives, as defined for this technology area, include development of a common technical framework for M&S; timely and authoritative representations of the natural environment, friendly and threat systems, and human behavior; and development of an M&S infrastructure to meet developer and end–user needs. These are critical for achieving the JCS vision for seamless integration of mission planning and rehearsal and effective execution required for dominant maneuver and the application of precision multinational coalition forces to overwhelming effect.

The Defense Modeling and Simulation Office (DMSO) is leading a DoD wide effort to establish a common technical framework to facilitate the interoperability of all types of models and simulations among themselves and with C⁴I systems. This common technical framework includes the HLA, and represents the highest priority effort within the DoD modeling and simulation community. HLA was approved as the standard technical architecture for all DoD simulations in September 1996.

The primary mission of HLA is to define a consistent and common picture of the battlespace and will be crucial to effective employment and interoperability of multinational coalition forces. HLA will define an infrastructure for linking simulations of various types at multiple locations to create realistic, "virtual worlds" for the simulation of highly complex interactive events. These exercises are intended to support a mixture of virtual, live, and constructive simulation. HLA will identify the interface standards, information structures, information exchange mechanisms, and other data required to transform heterogeneous simulations into a cohesive seamless synthetic environment. These synthetic environments will support design and prototyping, education and training, T&E, emergency preparedness and contingency response, and readiness and warfighting. Further international cooperation will be essential.

M&S has four technology subareas: simulation interconnection, simulation information, simulation representation, and simulation interfaces. Table E–23 and the following paragraphs summarize capabilities and potential opportunities for each technical subarea.

This subarea is concerned with the development and instantiation throughout the international community of the overarching HLA. This requires the development of an advanced runtime infrastructure (time, data distribution, and large–scale federation management); development of automated tools to support federation development, including automation of the end–to–end process of identifying candidate simulations; development and test of prototype object model development software; investigation of innovative techniques for supporting scaleable executing systems using HLA; and development of an automated HLA compliance testing capability.

Technical challenges include establishing the architectural design, protocols and standards, and security mechanisms to facilitate the interoperability of simulations; developing the supporting infrastructure software to apply the architecture to simulation applications with the needed levels of performance; and extension of the architecture to provide time management, data distribution, and federation management services.

In addition to Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand—all of whom participate with the U.S. in TTCP—France, Germany, and the Netherlands have strong capabilities in M&S, and in the underlying information systems technologies required to distribute and process the information. Japan has had an extensive program aimed at M&S and management of large, complex, distributed enterprises. Other capabilities, including those of Israel may also contribute.

This subarea addresses modeling of mission space, mission tasks, strategy, tactics, intelligent systems emulating human decision making processes, and optimal resource utilization. To achieve this ability, it is necessary to develop simulations that provide consistent and reliable results through the development of common conceptual models of the mission space (CMMS) using authoritative representations. Common syntax and semantics must be developed to specify the warfighter mission (the entities, their actions and interactions) to the simulation developer, and to formulate and define standard data structures, dictionaries, and enumeration of complex M&S data (e.g., highly derived data, command hierarchies, artifacts of legacy systems). Areas of interest include the development of an M&S resource repository; and verification, validation, and accreditation/certification standards and guidelines.

Several factors are fostering rapid growth and internationalization of simulation information and representation. Coalition operations is a major theme in the use of military force. The threat to these forces, geographically dispersed and increasingly capable technologically, demands more effective transnational mission planning and rehearsal. The same requirements and capabilities are, to only a slightly lesser extent, reflected in the operations of large multinational companies. Worldwide availability of low–cost powerful information management systems are allowing exchange of data and promoting standardization of data and models for terrain, weather, and environmental effects. The resulting advances will contribute directly to improved interoperability of coalition forces.

The challenge to developing coherent, complete, and consistent CMMS is an extensive task. The span of military M&S covers a wide range of missions, from conventional to other–than–war missions and M&S applications, and from systems acquisition activities to mission planning and rehearsal. The distributed and interactive nature of advanced M&S capability and security concerns makes the standardization and ready availability of standardized data an extremely complex technical issue.

This subarea is concerned with technologies that will enable, within the time of operational decision cycles, the generation of realistic and high–fidelity synthetic representation of the prevailing physical environment, natural and manmade, the natural and humans operating in it, and their interactions with each other. These technologies will enable developers and users of M&S applications to represent the natural environment, the performance and capabilities of warfighting systems, and human behaviors (individual and group) in a manner that promotes cost effectiveness, ready access, interoperability, reuse, and confidence. This will enhance the realism of models and simulations used in military training, acquisition, and analysis by providing authoritative representation for (1) static and dynamic, natural and manmade environments, and related effects on human and system performance; (2) the performance and capabilities of warfighting systems and their effects on natural and manmade environments; and (3) human behavior (individual and group).

Technical challenges include rapid database generation and near–real–time interaction of consistent and correlated representations. The representation of human behavior must reflect the effects of the capabilities, limitations, and conditions that influence human behavior (e.g., morale, stress, fatigue). Another significant challenge will be to provide variable human behavior for friendly, enemy, and non–hostile forces—to include CGFs that exhibit platform–based behavioral modeling and command forces models through division level.

This subarea addresses interfaces required for seamless integration of models and simulations with "live" systems, which may consist of instrumented individuals or platforms used for training, testing, or other synthetic environment applications. Interactions with C⁴I systems and simulations are a priority. Common operational planning and simulation tools and the development of a modular reconfigurable C⁴I interface will focus on these interfaces. This critical capability will facilitate the use of M&S in providing mission rehearsal capability and could augment existing operational planning processes and systems. Technical challenges include:

In the area of simulator interfaces, leading technologies are found primarily in those countries that have been traditionally strong in dynamic training and simulation—Canada (which is also developing significant capabilities in data visualization), the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, and in Japan, which is actively pursuing the development of VR for industrial applications, including visualization of complex systems and enterprises.