M&S technology development is carried out throughout almost all budget activities, making a distinction of efforts by program elements dubious. This chapter focuses on M&S technology developments customarily associated with 6.2 activities, but not necessarily carried out under 6.2 category funding.

The Army Science Board (ASB) 1991 Study on Army Simulation Strategy unequivocally conveyed the reality, "Increased automation of our forces and materiel, including its acquisition and operational utilization, provides the highest payoff potential as a force multiplier to offset the ongoing force reduction."

To optimally exploit the opportunities offered by the emerging automation technologies, the ASB put forward the concept of the EBF. This concept has been adopted by the Army. The long–term objective of the EBF concept is to develop and implement a single, comprehensive system of synthetic environments for operational and technical simulation that can support combat development, system acquisition, developmental and operational test and evaluation, logistics, training, mission planning, and rehearsal in Army specific and joint operations.

A watershed event for DoD and Army M&S was the designation of the HLA as the standard technical architecture for all DoD simulations. In an effort to move toward execution of this policy, each service is reviewing all of its simulation projects and programs and establishing plans for near–term compliance.

The near–term priority—establishment of the simulation infrastructure—is being addressed by the Army Digitization Office and the Force XXI initiative. To ensure timely M&S support, the Army has streamlined its M&S management by establishing the Army M&S General Officers Steering Committee co–chaired by the Vice Chief of Staff, Army (VCSA) and the Army Acquisition Executive (AAE), the Army M&S Executive Council co–chaired by the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans (DCSOPS) and the Deputy Under Secretary of the Army (Operations Research (DUSA(OR)), and the Model and Simulation Office, which oversees all major Army M&S activities through the three management domains.

The majority of M&S technology base developments support multiple domains. To use the Army M&S management structure but avoid repeating common technology developments at multiple places, the capability requirements to be provided by the technology base are summarized in the individual management domains, and the S&T programs that are needed to attain these capabilities on a timely basis are described in the M&S subareas of the DTAP information systems and technology area.

Army M&S technology development in support of the Force XXI combined arms training strategy (CATS) is the responsibility of the Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation Command (STRICOM) and is discussed in Chapter NO TAG. Technologies must be provided that will enable substantially expanded use of simulators and simulations to train the soldier in a seamless synthetic environment as part of crew drills, routine deployment exercises, and live fire exercises.

Army M&S technology base development in support of military operations is coordinated by CECOM. The Army space and missile defense M&S technology development and technology base development are the responsibility of the Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC). Technologies must be advanced that provide faster than real time interactive, predictive, continuous running simulations in support of dynamic automated planning and execution control systems to increase the tempo of operations of the integrated force and enable the most efficient use of all resources—mobility, power projection, operations, and people. The following elements are key:

Army S&T in this domain mainly supports brigade and below echelon aspects of the tactical force and materiel modernization requirement analyses, while simulation technology development for strategic, operational, and upper echelon tactical force analyses is addressed by DARPA. The Army space and missile defense ACRs are the responsibility of the SMDC. M&S technologies must be advanced that will foster the realistic simulation of structure, employment and tactics, dynamics, and performance of organizational and materiel unit building blocks in a combined arms environment with the level of details and fidelity, parameter variations, and statistical accuracy specified by analysis and concept definition requirements and within the action/response times of the interacting live simulation constituency.

This domain, coordinated by Army materiel systems analysis activity (AMSAA), provides the technology base for the two preceding domains and the acquisition of materiel. The Army space and missile defense RDA is the responsibility of the SMDC. Technologies have to be advanced that will enable embedding the total technology development and materiel acquisition process, from cradle to grave, in a system of networked synthetic environments that can seamlessly be linked with each other and the other domains. This includes technology base development, concept formulation and evaluation, ATD, DEM/VAL, EMD, production, upgrade, demilitarization, and associated processes such as T&E, operational T&E (OT&E), logistics support assessment, cost estimation, performance and cost tradeoffs, scheduling, cost and progress monitoring, and program management.

M&S is an information technology subarea—information is used to generate new knowledge from available knowledge via modeling and simulating logical interrelations. This is manifested in the 1998 DoD DTAP where decision making, M&S, information management and distribution, seamless communications, and computing and software technology make up one technology area—information systems and technology (IST). To provide ASTMP–to–DTAP connectivity, the M&S structure of the DTAP IST—simulation interconnection, information, representation, interface, and individual combatant and SUOs—is maintained and interrelated to the ASTMP technology areas.

This subarea is concerned with the architectural design, protocols and standards, MLS, survivability, interoperability among simulations at different levels of resolution, and common services (application gateways, databases, time and workload management, servers, and translators) to conduct collaborative simulations over the information network. The Army relies mainly on DARPA and on private enterprise for technology advancements. Army M&S S&T programs on information network architecture and infrastructure for distributed M&S are delineated in Sections IV–G and IV–H.

The Army, through STRICOM, has DoD responsibility for DIS standards and protocols and, thus, plays a major part in their development. Now that HLA is the DoD standard architecture, the standards developed and lessons learned for DIS environments will transfer from DIS applications to non–DIS and HLA applications. DIS is not a subset of HLA, but there is considerable overlap between the two. The goal is to make this migration from DIS to HLA seamless and successful. Until the DoD synthetic environment technical reference model becomes available, building blocks will rely on DIS–based protocols between simulation infrastructures to supply the functional network control and management. DIS–related programs are contained in Chapter NO TAG.

Algorithms, models, associated software, and even databases lack connectivity and real–time information processing capability, and the run time infrastructure for HLA is still evolving. Architectural design, protocols, standards, and MLS are required to maximize interoperability among simulations at different levels of resolution. The unavailability of mathematical algorithms to automate the conversion of discipline–specific simulation systems and subsystems for use in synthetic environments on a heterogeneous communications and computation network is a technical barrier.

This subarea addresses development of common conceptual models of mission space (CMMS) using authoritative representations to provide DoD users the ability to cost effectively develop simulations providing consistent and reliable results with the objective of providing warfighters worldwide access to conceptual models of DoD processes.

These tasks are inherently scenario–dependent, multistep, multifaceted, hierarchical processes involving complex evaluations at different information aggregate levels. Current planning capability is cumbersome, manpower intensive, time consuming, and judgmental. The infrastructure to support rapid automated mission planning, simulation–embedded mission rehearsal, and real–time simulation–aided execution management aids is evolving through the digitization of the battlespace. Missing are the computational methods, AI algorithms, architecture, logical relations, and associated software that are necessary for the formulation and evaluation of scenario–dependent, complex military situations in the context of higher level command and control instructions and within the operational tempo. While DARPA is the major player in advancing technologies for simulation–based tactical decision making, Army S&T concentrates on their application and filling the gaps.

The long–term goal of this subarea is to provide the synthetic environments for automation–assisted C² throughout the evolving C⁴I infrastructure. While near–term emphasis is on information overload reduction, mid–term emphasis is on mission and route planning for lower echelon assets and aggregation of the individual plans into integrated company and battalion level plans. This also includes mission sustainment (e.g., logistics, maintenance and repair, soldier services).

Computation–aided operational planning requires algorithms that translate military C² instructions into computer language and integrate these with battlespace environment, battlespace situation awareness information, and mission specific doctrines. Predictive, networked, simulation–based planning will be possible within the next 15 years.

Computation–aided mission rehearsal requires the same technologies and databases as mission planning, as well as virtual reality. Within the next 15 years, technologies will support implementation of materiel embedded training, where individual units and their aggregates are fully immersed in synthetic environments, with horizontal and vertical synchronization throughout the operational forces in the rehearsal using in–place equipment.

In order to increase automation in operational execution control management, AI technologies are needed that speed up and improve decision, C², and information flow processes based on situation and resource knowledge. This includes technologies for automated revision of mission and route plans for the fighting units as well as their support, area–controlled, hierarchical information management over combat communications networks, and application–tailored information display and network interface. Near–term emphasis is on providing information management technologies tailored to the needs of the digitized battlefield infrastructure. Model and computation optimization technologies and use of scalable massively parallel processors will enable dynamic, simulation–assisted, C⁴I node execution control management within the next 10 years, followed 5 years later by adaptive management that is fully coordinated throughout the battlespace.

Advances in both hardware and software allow for higher resolution and fidelity representation of M&S synthetic force applications. This level of detail requires a significant increase in personnel to "control" these entities within the simulation. There is a need for synthetic forces to conduct their own C² functions and behave in a validated manner. Modeling cognitive human behavior is emerging as one of the most important leading edge needs for future M&S applications.

Future synthetic forces must perform course of action analysis, and mission, enemy, troops, terrain and time (METT–T) analysis without human intervention. When fully developed, synthetic forces will be capable of generating operations orders at multiple echelons, dependent on the orders they receive from higher echelon synthetic forces. In order to meet this challenge, the Army must pursue work that advances the state of the art in collecting, verifying, validating, and storing information and data that enable cognitive reasoning modeling.

Although progress has been made in some simulation areas, the technologies are not yet completely available to enable fast and situation–adaptive operational planning with optimal use of resources throughout the hierarchical task force structure, including support elements. Of particular challenge are operational rehearsal (and training) of force components in a virtual environment that projects the most likely battlespace situation and operational execution, with intelligent system–aided C² oversight. Both must be able to quickly adjust mission plans to changing situations. Algorithms must be advanced for integrating the individual synthetic environments (e.g., for elements of the operating forces and their support) into an aggregate system and for scaling the CGF and support from entity level through any level of hierarchical echelon, while preserving the dynamics and behavioral aspects of aggregation and disaggregation. Also, realistic/trustworthy accounting and forecasting of the state and ability of human resources—ours as well as the foe’s—are necessary. This includes the effect of battlefield stress on human performance and casualty and incapacitation from battlefield hazards.

DoD policy requires that all new major system developments be carried out embedded in open architecture simulations, using DoD–specific and COTS engineering, software engineering, and life–cycle management tools to reduce acquisition time and life–cycle cost. M&S S&T in support of engineering designs and analyses are intrinsic parts of the noninformation technology areas and described in that discussion. Development of technologies to integrate individual M&S software for system design and manage the engineering process is mainly commerce driven, with active participation of Army RDECs and the SMDC in their area of acquisition support responsibility.

The long–term goal is to establish a capability to produce synthetic prototypes of systems with complete electronic documentation of the products, engineering models, and software tools used, manufacturing and assembling instructions, and performance.

In support of ACR, M&S technologies are being developed that will provide, within the next decade, the capability to:

Rudimental systems are already in place to integrate realistic synthetic system mockups (virtual prototypes) into operational simulation environments via DIS.

In the materiel development, engineering, and production area, technologies are required that allow highly automated utilization of engineering models in the design of components and their integration into a system, employing concurrent, automated software configuration management with or without physical simulators in the loop, in support of and tailored to the development of specific materiel or ATDs in both the tactical and the strategic arena.

Considerable progress has been made by the Army RDECs, the Air Force Manufacturing Technology Directorate, DARPA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and other organizations in developing and demonstrating virtual prototyping and manufacturing for application–specific problems. These technology advances are now being exploited in various Army M&S projects to systematically formulate the process of designing and building simulation substructures in a modular fashion with adaptable, flexible interfaces. Emphasis is on simulating the manufacturing process of materials, their machining into components, and their assembly into virtual prototypes.

The Army S&T programs in support of this area are detailed in Sections IV–P and IV–T.

T&E of the design and performance of components, subsystems, and systems are an integral part of the materiel acquisition process. Even though physical simulators are increasingly used for components, hardware, and software in–the–loop testing, the current T&E methodologies are nevertheless labor, time, and cost intensive and do not support the concept of rapid configurational prototyping through synthetic environments. The virtual proving ground, now in development by the Test and Evaluation Command (TECOM), will (1) increase the synthetic environment capability for components simulation, (2)shorten the human in–the–loop design, test, and fix cycle, and (3) enable networking of T&E, OT&E, and other databases. Ongoing S&T work supports the development of a flexible open architecture that will seamlessly link constructive, virtual, and live T&E simulations.

Apart from technologies for the synthetic operational environments, the development, engineering, and manufacturing M&S technologies and tools used in the acquisition process are basically the same as for similar commercial products. Most of the tools are standalone software packages lacking open architecture; hence, software and repository integration into domain–specific synthetic environments and their embedding in an integrated, networked acquisition process and management environment is a tedious and difficult endeavor.

The technical simulation models in use today are mainly general scientific and engineering analysis computer programs for application–specific system components and physical processes. The majority lack rapid interconnectivity with each other and with operational M&S and require software reengineering for efficient use on parallel processors. To replace the current prototyping/testing approach with virtual prototyping, and thereby attain the potential large savings in cost and development time, the evolving methodologies—first principle models, performance data prediction, and system simulation—must first undergo a rigorous VV&A process.

This subarea is concerned with technologies that will enable, within the time of operational decision cycles, generation and realistic synthetic representation of the prevailing physical environment, natural and manmade (e.g., terrain, hydrography, atmosphere, vegetation, buildings), the materiel and humans operating in it, and their interactions with each other. The M&S programs that constitute the prevailing physical environment and enable its display are described in Sections IV–M and IV–N.

The synthetic physical environment must be accurate, realistic, and capable of rapid updating to provide a sense of normal time flow during a simulation process across a wide variety of M&S systems.

The fundamental technologies necessary for integrating maps from distributed environmental databases, information on current weather and from battlefield situation awareness, and simulation–based assessments of tactical movements put forward by C⁴I node staff into an aggregate dynamic environment and presenting it into mission specific spatiotemporal 3D scene projection have been developed for virtual sand table applications.

Interactive, high–fidelity environment and force representations will be possible within 15 years. Efforts are under way to automate the generation of electronic environment databases and to increase their spatial resolution to digital terrain elevation data (DTED) level II (10 meters). This database will comprise digital maps for terrain, soils, roads, drainage, foliage, and other environment characteristics. High–fidelity, full–spectrum weather models for the evolution of the environment and its effect on individual system performance should be realizable within the next decade (FY05). Realistic human/group behavior representation under battlefield conditions will be possible within 10 to 15 years.

All sensors, including humans, are impacted by environmental conditions. Unavailability of valid environmental data in the resolution required for each combat system is a major barrier to achieving realistic simulation. Multimedia knowledge sharing of environmental information between distributed heterogeneous databases is still unresolved. The lack of mathematical algorithms and corresponding software to represent a "real" physical environment represents a major barrier. To overcome this barrier we need to reduce the time and cost of database development, harness computational performance for dynamic environmental representation, and maintain consistency across models of varying resolution.

The lower echelon combat C⁴I nodes will be overloaded with information and, thus, may be unable to make all the logical decisions necessary to effectively implement higher echelon C². Intelligent systems with automated reasoning emulating the human thought process must be advanced that provide battlefield (human) decision makers, especially in stressful environments, with information that they need when they need it without overwhelming them.

This subarea addresses the development of technologies that will enable a quick and responsive interface between the human and synthetic environments and realistic dynamic representation of systems in synthetic environments and of synthetic forces to the human.

The goal is to provide simulation interfaces for seamless integration and composability of federations of M&S applications with live systems, instrumented systems on test/training ranges, and humans. Algorithms and associated software that connect the synthetic environment with the machine hardware and firmware that interfaces with the human are needed. When developed, they will allow the soldier to interact with the machine without distracting from the task to be performed. Human interfaces to provide the synthetic environment for soldiers and command staffs will further mature within the next 10 years; full immersion of the soldiers for rehearsal and as part of the operational execution, within 15 years.

Algorithms are needed to characterize sensory perception to support development of flexible and rapidly reconfigurable user interface stations that serve as input and feedback devices to the simulation network. Hardware and software are needed for high–resolution, real–time scene generation.

This subarea is concerned with the development of high–level, architecture–compliant individual combatant simulation systems across the RDA, ACR, and TEMO domains. Live, virtual, and constructive simulations relevant and sufficient to model the individual combatant and small unit will be developed to reduce the time and cost of advanced concepts and prototyping of new soldier systems and to reduce the cost of training individuals and small units.

The goals are (1) to refine the RDA, ACR, and TEMO M&S requirements, (2) create a multisensory, real–time networked simulation of the battlefield that immerses the individual and small unit in 3D geographical space using virtual reality technologies, and (3) develop modeling, simulation, and analytic tools to facilitate the design and analysis of alternatives for the Land Warrior program. The subarea will provide a demonstrated capability to fully immerse the live combatant in the synthetic environment, to include control of semiautonomous forces, through voice and gesture recognition. Linkage of virtual, constructive, and instrumented live simulations to enable individuals and small units to participate in distributed combined arms exercises and experiments will be possible within 10 years; reduction of the cost associated with the design, testing and fielding of new soldier systems and reduced training costs will be accomplished within 15 years.

Focus will be on human representation and visualization of individuals and weapon states, human performance modeling, human systems interfaces that are unencumbered and elicit realistic performance, networked simulations for interoperability with dissimilar simulations, CGF that contain realistic individual and unit–level behaviors with C⁴I representation, synthetic terrain with relevant resolution/fidelity to allow for operations in a tactically correct manner, and instrumentation for high–precision engagement simulation to allow for data capture and analysis.

The roadmap of technology objectives for Modeling and Simulation is shown in Table IV–42.

The influence of this technology area on TRADOC FOCs is summarized in Table IV–43.