 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
|||||
|
|
|
Simulation-Based Acquisition for Integrated Ship Defense by Keith Curtis Would you buy a car without a test drive? Probably not. You may do all kinds of consumer research, but you wouldn't make that final decision until you slip behind the wheel, check out all the amenities, and take that dream car on the road. Department of Defense acquisition managers rarely have the luxury of a test drive. The system they are buying doesn't exist yet, or does it? Through emerging simulation technology, program managers can check out a new system, put it through its paces, or even build one. Prospective users can be invited to try out the new system before the first one comes off the production line. How is this possible? A concept called Simulation-Based Acquisition (SBA) gives defense acquisition managers insight into all aspects of system acquisition in a way not possible until now. Simulation has been an essential part of defense system acquisitions for some time, but its use has not been consistent as a product goes from concept to introduction. What SBA is changing is the idea of employing an optimized, consistent suite of simulations and information across the acquisition life cycle. As a system emerges during the engineering and development phase, SBA allows a conceptual representation to evolve in functionality and detail. The result is a well-understood, credible representation of the product that can support engineering and manufacturing development, tactics, techniques and procedures development, costing, test and evaluation, and user indoctrination. With support from MITRE, the Navy Program Executive Office for Theater Air Defense initiated a High-Level Architecture (HLA) Pilot Program to evaluate SBA. Integrated Ship Defense (ISD) was selected as the Pilot subject because the ISD program office used models and simulation extensively for program assessments. To defend against current and future anti-ship missiles, Navy ships need an automated detect-control-engage capability to reduce the time needed to counter incoming missiles. This Quick Reaction Combat Capability (QRCC) integrates search and track radars, weapons, and electronic warfare systems with a control system that operates in automatic, semi-automatic, or manual mode. MITRE participated in a 1996 study that conceived a three-phase ISD Pilot Program that would develop an HLA simulation federation based on existing engineering-level models from several Navy labs and warfare centers. The Pilot Program was based on a study of modeling and simulation functional needs MITRE did for the ISD Program Office in 1995. The ISD Pilot philosophy is a phased transition of current modeling and simulation capabilities to a next generation simulation system that supports SBA. Phase I of the Pilot explores the use of simulation in support of test and evaluation. Phase II focuses on system development, and Phase III will concentrate on the conceptual model of the next generation combat system Akcita. The ISD Pilot simulation federation is designed to deliver the following products during the initial phase:
MITRE is the federation integrator for the ISD Pilot. Simulations developed by the Naval Research Lab, Naval Air Warfare Centers, Naval Surface Warfare Centers, and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab will be integrated and hosted at the MITRE facility in Reston. MITRE is developing the simulation management and data collection federates and working with the Naval Warfare Assessment Division in Corona, California, who is responsible for the federation verification and validation (V&V). The ISD Pilot is also collaborating with the DARPA Simulation Based Design (SBD) Program, and MITRE is providing the technical coordination to link the Pilot federation with the SBD Core Processing System and Smart Product Model. Information Systems and Technology (W150) and Naval Systems and Technology (W90) Divisions are doing the Pilot federation integration. The initial ISD Pilot federation is designed to credibly represent the major components of the QRCC installed aboard USS Ashland (LSD-48), an amphibious force ship that operates in the littorals and is vulnerable to land-launched, anti-ship cruise missiles. The ISD federation will include simulations of a reactive threat, aerial target ( test range drone), air search radar, Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM), Close In Weapon System (CIWS), and the Ship Self Defense System (SSDS), which controls the sensors and weapons. The federation will also have a simulation management federate, data collection federate, and initialization federate that facilitates the transfer of SBD Smart Product Model information to the sensor and weapon simulations. Figure 1 depicts the Pilot Federation that will reside at MITRE Reston later this year.
Figure 1. ISD Pilot Configuration
When Phase I of the Pilot is complete and validated, PEO(TAD) engineers will be able to use the federation to supplement live-fire testing using a "model-test-model" approach. The Pilot federation will also contribute to the Navy Test and Evaluation Modeling and Simulation Management Office Joint Synthetic Test and Evaluation Battlespace (JSTEB) initiative. Subsequent Pilot phases will add more system representations and support geographically-dispersed simulations and users. The partnership with DARPA SBD Program will give the Navy a collaborative environment that links ship designers with the combat system developers and gives users access to a common information respository. For more information, please contact Keith Curtis using the employee directory. |
Solutions That Make a Difference.® |
|
|
