3.1.1 Warfighting Needs
The Decision Making subarea focuses on all elements of the decision making process from tactical assessment, through plan preparation, deconfliction, rehearsal and execution. The major emphasis is on acquiring and assimilating information needed to dominate and neutralize adversary forces. This includes capability for near real-time awareness of the location and activity of friendly, adversary, and neutral forces throughout the battlefield area providing a awareness of the current situation. One of the primary objectives of information dominance is to meet the warfighters' needs for a flexible command structure that can be configured rapidly and dynamically adapted to optimize force effectiveness and survivability. This subarea applies leading-edge M&S, and computing and software technology to significantly improve warfighter performance by eliminating laborious, time-consuming manual procedures and processes that pervade US operational planning and execution. Computer-aided processes and automation-synergistic procedures replace exclusively human processes and procedures. The warfighter is provided with an intuitive view of his battlespace, an enlightened perspective of his information (Command and Control [C2], intelligence, logistics, weather, and other critical data), and the ability to explore alternatives in faster-than-real-time (e.g., exploring 10hour battles in several minutes).
3.1.2 Decision Making Overview
3.1.2.1 Goals and Timeframes. The goal is to provide automated,
real-time decision support to the warfighter. The warfighter must
rapidly interpret information provided to him through interactive
two dimensional (2-D)/three dimensional (3-D) presentation of
the tactical situation (situational assessment cues identifying
potential problems or interest areas). The Commander must view
(from a situational assessment display) relevant forecasts for
weather, enemy strength over time, friendly strength, logistics
tail, to conduct course of action (COA) analyses, allocate resources,
wargame (real-time simulation) to explore battlespace options,
and collaboratively plan and rehearse battles. Such a capability
will result in the precise direction of a diverse, synchronized
task force armed with overpowering information superiority and
decision making capability. Figure III.5 shows the goals and time
frames for the Decision Making subarea. A roadmap that focuses
on the linkages and key relationships is provided in Section 4.
| Integrated multi-sensor air/land/sea picture on digital maps (theater and national products) with hyperlinks to multimedia information products | Scalable, battlefield visualization shared across the Joint force for plans, logistics, weather; real-time friend/enemy situational representation | Fully automated, multi-dimensional, tailored, "virtual battlefield view" (100 percent consistent across echelons, measured against time) |
| Semi-automated, collaborative situational assessment. Semi-automated identification and force analysis tools. | Partly automated situational reasoning, target and threat analyses, decision making under uncertain conditions; automated "situation server" demonstration to support planning, replanning, pattern recognition, tactical picture management, intelligent cueing | Fully automated situation reasoning supported by multimedia techniques for sensor-shooter targeting, combat identification, multi-hypothesis data fusion, and resource allocation under uncertain conditions |
| Planning systems of differing architectures interconnected for theater COA, campaign plan, battle plan, force-level air-mission plan preview in less than 12 hours | Cognitive decision support for distributed situational assessment, supported by dynamic 3-D virtual battlefield displays | Automated situation projection. Fully automated links to planning, rehearsal and other Decision Making tools. Automated warfighter cueing to prioritized issues |
| Automated, air operations planning aids. Semi-automated applications for COA analysis, time and event-based forecasting, route planning, and limited resource allocation functions | Demonstration for distributed, cooperating agents and algorithms for COA generation and crisis response, automated plan generation, plan deconfliction, resource allocation, targeting, and weaponeering | Joint, common-core mission planner with Service-unique modules. Compatible with COTS DSS and EIS products. |
| Near-real-time, semi-automated dissemination of mission tasking and time-critical information. Use DBS/GBS with enroute C4I updates for replanning and rehearsal | Fully integrated collaborative planning (planning support from remote anchor desks, split-base operations for logistics and asset visibility); distributed, in situ mission rehearsal | Fully automated, real-time situational assessment, forecasting, plan generation, resource allocation including weapon/target pairing, and mission rehearsal |
| Demonstrate air battle plan repair for up to 25 percent of sorties contained in original plan | Real-time, automated dissemination of mission tasking, mission status and time-critical information. 2-D and 3-D perspective displays to aid rapid understanding of battlespace (less than 1 hour) | Fully interactive, distributed wargaming |
| Limited real-time alerts or "pointers" to identify problem areas or areas of interest | Replan entire missions across single echelon in less than one hour; integrate effects and constraints assessment from total asset visibility status changes | Integrated all-mission, all-echelon replanning and execution (2,500-sortie integrated ATO regenerated and retasked at 1-hour intervals). Fully automated and tailored displays based on echelon, mission, region and other factors. Extensive use of intelligent agents. |
3.1.2.3 Related Federal and Private Sector Efforts. There are a multitude of efforts, both federal and private, which relate to this subarea. Private investment is this subarea spans virtual reality (VR), decision aids, decision support systems, executive information systems, advanced database engines, and related technologies and is estimated to be $1,400M.
3.1.3.1 Technology Demonstrations. Technology demonstrations scheduled for FY96 with the XVIII Airborne Corps (XVII ABC) and U.S. Atlantic Command (ACOM), and the Army's Task Force XXI (TFXXI) experiment, include collaborative planning, 2-D/3-D visualization and mission rehearsal, force synchronization and dynamic force monitoring. Several other technology demonstrations are scheduled under the technology areas of Consistent Battlespace Understanding, Forecast, Planning, and Resource Allocation, and Integrated Force Management. Specific Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrations (ACTDs) are highlighted below, other technologies initiatives are discussed under Technology Development (3.1.3.2).
3.1.3.1.1 Survivable Armed Reconnaissance on the Digital Battlefield (SARDB) ACTD. The purpose of this ACTD is to demonstrate how advanced concepts and technologies will enhance the warfighter's capability to conduct armed reconnaissance across the joint battlefield. Through the use of constructive and virtual simulation, coupled with prototype systems, the combined effects and tradeoffs between UAVs and reconnaissance helicopters will be determined. The full potential of Comanche in a Joint RSTA environment will also be examined. A three-year series of demonstrations beginning FY97 will quantify the requirement for armed reconnaissance.
3.1.3.1.2 Advanced Joint Planning (AJP) ACTD. AJP will provide ACOM, Joint Staff and other Commander-in-Chief (CinC) elements with an increased ability to rapidly plan, package and deploy forces to multiple regional conflicts. The three primary areas of focus are on force readiness and deployment planning, force employment planning, and force rehearsal and evaluation. Technologies developed by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) and others will be tailored for this purpose, integrating and evolving operational concepts in close collaboration with operators and sustainers. This new functionality will provide a supported, leave-behind capability at ACOM before being transitioned through the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Global Command & Control System (GCCS) Leading Edge Services (LES) into the GCCS core service for application with other users.
3.1.3.1.3 Precision Strike/Counter-Multiple Rocket Launcher (MRL) ACTD. The Joint Precision Strike Demonstration (JPSD) Program Office established the Counter MRL ACTD to improve the capabilities of Combined Forces Command(CFC)/United States Forces Korea, (USFK) to execute a critical counterfire mission against the North Korean 240 mm MRLs. Enhanced capabilities in surveillance, target acquisition, strike planning, weapons delivery, and combat assessment will be demonstrated for use by the 2nd Infantry Division (2ID). In FY 96 systems defined as "leave-behinds" will be delivered to USFK, followed by two years of support. The leave-behind systems will be tested in a series of three major demonstrations with the last one conducted in USFK.
3.1.3.1.4 Battlefield Awareness and Data Dissemination (BADD) ACTD. BADD will demonstrate advanced information integration and intelligent filtering, and high bandwidth satellite communications, to provide a consistent operational picture extending from the tactical to theater levels, with different aggregations and views into the information for each echelon. The technology demonstrations emphasize advanced techniques for fusing, displaying and aggregating relevant, multimedia information. One component, the Army Common Ground Station (CGS) ATD, builds an all-source picture and makes it available at lower echelons. BADD will base its Warfighter's Associate workstation on CGS technology, and will employ advanced, higher-level applications for data and tactical visualization developed from the Army's technology base program (below).
3.1.3.1.5 Rapid Battlefield Visualization (RBV) ACTD. The RBV ACTD will demonstrate the ability to respond swiftly to any global crisis, by rapidly mapping and developing a high-resolution digital map of the area of operations, and then employing that map in an advanced C4I visualization system. The RBV workstation will display terrain features, C2 environmental, cultural, logistical and other relevant information in a 3-D VR. The RBV workstation is a functional equivalent of the BADD Warfighter's Associate and where appropriate, they are the same machine. Application modules for these workstations will be imported from the Battlespace Command and Control (BC2) ATD. These include situational assessment; forecasting; COA analyses; collaborative battle planning, replanning, and rehearsal; wargaming; and execution monitoring. Current iterations of the BV workstation are providing a limited set of the aforementioned functions to the XVIII ABC and ACOM in a series of live exercises. BC2 ATD will support the RBV ACTD in demonstrating multi-echelon, multi-service, multi-national interoperability amongst C4I systems above.
3.1.3.1.6 Joint Logistics ACTD. The goal of the Joint Logistics ACTD is to provide CinC and CJTFs with planning tools to assist them in becoming more efficient and responsive to the demands of logistics support. This will be accomplished by a network of workstations connecting operational planners and logisticians across Services and echelons. This ATD integrates existing logistics models with knowledge based tools. The Total Distribution (TD) ATD is a technology demonstration supporting the Joint Logistics ACTD. It will provide the connection between C4I and logistics for the processes of situational assessment, planning and execution. The TD ATD is the primary demonstration of the Joint Logistics interface, but the technology is being demonstrated in close coupling with the ARPA Joint C4I infrastructure and with other technology demonstrations discussed above.
3.1.3.2 Technology Development. Decision Making is comprised of three major technology areas: Consistent Battlespace Understanding (CBU); Forecasting, Planning and Resource Allocation (FPRA); and Integrated Force Management (IFM). When integrated, they represent the fundamental C4I processes of "assess, plan, and execute." Technology is being actively pursued to achieve the goals outlined in Figure III.5, above.
3.1.3.2.1 Consistent Battlespace Understanding. CBU is developing a capability to continuously acquire and fuse multi-sensor, multi-source, multimedia data to form a coherent tactical picture. This tactical picture includes awareness of the overall theater and tactical situations of friendly, enemy, and neutral forces and an understanding of the constraints and environment in which they operate. Improved assimilation of the tactical situation information will reduce casualties and fratricide, while ensuring a dominant posture for friendly operations.
Precision Information Direction (a part of CBU) demonstrates technology that enables the commander to exploit and shape the battlespace by dynamically directing and integrating tactical and supporting intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance resources for targeting, weaponeering, mission preview, battle damage assessment (BDA), and combat assessment. This capability provides end-to-end, task-synchronized, multi-mission support products to the warfighter to facilitate the application of precision weapons, precision forces and rapid response. Some technical challenges are collection, exploitation and organization of information, quality assessment and correlation of information, intelligent filtering and preparation of information, fusion of the picture, presentation of the picture, and automated, collaborative situation awareness.
3.1.3.2.2 Forecasting, Planning and Resource Allocation. FPRA is developing and will demonstrate a planning system that provides a core of integrated planning tools to support the generation of Joint plans across echelons, Services, and mission areas. The goal is a 75 percent common planning system across the Services, with a capability for Service-unique applications that jointly plan the allocation and scheduling of resources in pursuit of a common mission objective. In collaborative planning, the impacts of planning at one site are reflected at other sites to support coordination, deconfliction, and group decision making. An objective is to achieve collaborative planning across distributed force and mission areas, within a one hour planning cycle, and refine, deconflict, review, preview, evaluate, finalize, and update integrated plans within three hours.
Predictive Planning and Preemption, and Incremental Force Projection (parts of FPRA) focus on distributed opportunity planning processes which provide look-ahead, multi-option optimization to the offensive and defensive strategy across time, space, resources and spectrum. Subsets of this process include: collaborative, combined-arms crisis assessment, target selection and continuous plan generation, collaborative plan refinement, deconfliction, and evaluation, and the ability to rapidly tailor systems and updates as stimulated by threat actions. Other activities on-going in FPRA designed to overcome existing technical challenges are Mission Planning and Mission Rehearsal, Joint Force Commander and Joint C4I Infrastructure, and Theater/Force Battle Management. Mission Planning/Rehearsal technology initiatives support forecasting and Course of Action (COA) generation through a series of activities to include near real time updates, mission evaluation, and wargaming. The Joint C4I infrastructure is being developed under the auspices of two ARPA technology demonstrations, Portable C2 for the JTF ATD (see the section on Information Management and Distribution), and Advanced Joint Planning ACTD (discussed in detail above under technology demonstrations). Theater/Force Battle Management is comprised of the Operations/Intelligence ATD and the Defensive Planning ATD. These ATDs implement a campaign strategy at the force level where technologies focus on resource allocation, scheduling, flow modeling and systems architectures.
3.1.3.2.3 Integrated Force Management. IFM is developing a capability to synchronize and manage the execution of tactical operations across Joint Forces. The goal of this effort is to achieve fully synchronized friendly-force situational awareness and coordination, including real-time retasking and retargeting (with cued, "just-in-time" delivery of latest and best information) between distributed sensors, decision makers, and shooters. Fully coordinated operations across the force will result in faster adjustment of mission plans in a dynamic tactical environment and a reduction in casualties and fratricide.
Adaptive Coordinated Defense (a part of IFM) is developing a capability to integrate offensive and defensive systems across services into a collaborative strength which exploits real-time retasking, thereby optimizing resources and coverage, and taking advantage of "distributed empowerment". This supports force-wide coordination of scheduling, placement, dynamic tasking, and retasking of detection/engagement assets. Tactical Mission Execution will be accomplished as the result of the work being conducted in two ATDs, the Local Attack Controller (LAC) ATD and the Real-Time Support for Joint Power Projection ATD. These ATDs focus on the integrated planning and execution of coordinated operations at the tactical level (e.g., brigade, wing, battle group, and below) and explore detailed platform, weapons, and target models, in addition to sophisticated optimization algorithms for achieving synchronized, coordinated tactics. Simulation support focuses on detailed event rehearsal and effectiveness evaluation versus aggregate-level attrition assessment. Some challenges for execution management are dynamic, broad-ranging monitoring and synchronization, resource reassignment and execution deconfliction, dynamic sensor to shooter targeting, plan repair, execution coordination, and context-based intelligence.
3.1.3.3 Basic Research. There are several critical ongoing
research efforts required to meet the challenges of Dominant Battlespace
Knowledge, Precision Force, Joint Readiness, and Real-Time Logistics
Control. Rule-based, knowledge-based and Artificial Intelligence
(AI) modules are required that can provide the intelligent agent
functions for a broad spectrum of applications with imperfect
data. Also required are 3-D rendering algorithms that permit perspective
viewing on a range of computer platforms from low to high-end,
and interactive force-on-force wargaming models to permit real-time
simulation of potential battle actions and to explore related
options.