NSWCDD works to close modeling and simulation capability gaps

ByTaftCoghill

Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division

Astacticalsystemsevolve,keepingmodels up to date is one of the greatest challenges facing the Modeling and Simulations Tools Branch at Naval Surface Warfare Center DahlgrenDivision(NSWCDD).

Thisisparticularlytruewhenitcomesto newweaponcoordinationandcontrolalgorithms

TheWarfareAnalysisandDigitalModeling Department at NSWCDD is constantly workingtoshrinkmodelingandsimulation (M&S)capabilitygaps.

“Combat is getting more complex and to figure out exactly what would happen in any given scenario is getting more difficult todo,”M&SToolsBranchportfoliomanager Garrett Wilson said “With newer technologies someone could be a subject matter expertbuttheydon’tnecessarilyknowhow it interacts with other things When you put it all together, how do the probabilities change?Thatisachallenge.”

TheWarfareAnalysisandDigitalModeling Department workforce noticed a gap in M&S capability for the surface domain and put together proposals to close the cracks Multipleproposalsgainedtractionandwill soonprovideamuch-neededcapability

TheDigitalModelingSolutionsToolSuite consists of three main components the Parametric Model Broker (PMB), the Blue Force Technical Baseline (BFTB) and the InfrastructureforRapidlyUpdatingMission Models (IRUMM), said Corey Gates, engineer in the Warfare Analysis and Digital ModelingDepartment “Wehavedifferentmodelingandsimulation tools to perform analysis,” Gates said. “Eachtoolhasitsownsetofcapabilities.

The PMB tool is anticipated to span all U.S. Navy mission areas and domains It is a Warfare Analysis and Digital Modeling Department Naval Innovative Science and Engineeringefforttoprovideacommonset of authoritative engineering data for Navy surfaceplatformsinsupportofM&Sefforts via a software interface that connects to multipledatasources

Data sources for PMB currently include ElementComponentCharacterizationAnalysis (E/CCA), and BFTB, which is in development PMB will provide easy access to verifieddatafrommultiplesourcestoaidstudy development stemming from a web application hosted through Naval Systems EngineeringResourceCenter.

Users can get verified aggregated data from the PMB graphical user interface directly Thebenefitsofthisarethatitisuser friendlyforthosewhoaren’tknowledgeable of System Modeling Language (SYSML), it willbeeasytoaccessandeverythingisinone location,makingthisaone-stopshop GatesistheprojectleadforBFTB,which develops a repository for U.S. Navy platforms for use in M&S systems. The success of BFTB is tied to three important pillars data that is authoritative, accessible and current.

A configuration management plan will be developed to determine how software versioning will be maintained It will also describe the infrastructure that it will be hostedonanddefineanupdateonguidance and cadence The BFTB team will work on sustainmentplansforfuturefiscalyears.

BFTB is currently being developed on NavalPortalLogisticsIntegratedFleetTool/ Integrated Modeling Environment (Naval LIFT/IME) to make data easily accessible totheNavy’sM&Scommunity

The intent is to provide data for surface representations in M&S to support specific intended uses such as platform predictive analysis, platform test and evaluation, platform training System of Systems (SoS) development and integration, Live Virtual Constructive (LVC), support platform modelingandSoSpredictiveanalysis

“Our purpose and intent for M&S is multi-fold, including predictive analysis,” ModelingandSimulationToolsandCombat System Simulation Branch Head, Aaron Anderson, said. “Five, 15, 20 years from now, what should be the projected capability of our warfighter against threats? So if we’re looking at our adversaries what type of capabilities do they have now, what are we projecting them to have and what will we need to defend ourselves against said capability?”

AndersonsaidM&Stoolsarealsousedto demonstrate current combat systems The purpose is to simulate today’s capabilities includingconceptualdesign.

“Right now we’re looking at LVC, with morefocusontheconstructiveside.Understandingthatyoucannotgetaroundlivefire tests and live events where you are actually sendingshipsoutandthey’refiringmissiles and testing,” Anderson said. “The purpose of using M&S tools is to offset some of the costsofusingactualliveequipment Wetry to model and simulate those things as close as possible and the reuse of live data from those live events help us do that. There is also an emphasis on verification, validation and accreditation to ensure that there is confidencethattheM&Scapabilitiessatisfy thespecificintendeduse.”

AndersonandWilsonsaidcapabilitygaps mostlystemfromthefactwhenoneisusing M&S itcanneverbeperfect.Wilsoncitedan exampleofsimulatingweatherconditions “Modelingtherealworldisverydifficult,” Wilson said “The closer and closer you get to the real world, the amount of computationneededtodothatgetshigherandhigher in which case it’s going to take your system forever to get an output Just wind in itself is very difficult to capture because it blows in all different directions and at different speeds Water is the same way. It flows in differentdirectionsanditgoesupanddown All of that takes an incredible amount of physicscalculationstomodel.”

The third component of the Digital ModelingSolutionsToolSuiteisIRUMM. IRUMM will supply behavior representationswithtraceabilitybacktoengineering specificationsandwithdatadeemedauthoritative by program offices via a partnership withBFTB.

ThegoalofIRUMMistospeedupmission model development by providing pseudocodetemplatesthroughthereportfeatureor cameo tool. It also aims to improve specific problems in the current M&S development process Some of the issues include code reuse requirementtraceabilityandthedurationofalgorithmimplementation.

IRUMM will be used to give a common starting point for algorithm implementations and will allow verified algorithm SYSML models to be exported to mission models IRUMM consists of activity diagrams and block definitions diagrams. Both of the elements are used to provide structural and behavioral information regardinganalgorithm

Algorithms modeled using IRUMM’s methodologycanbeusedtogeneratesource code implementation templates for modeling tools such as Advanced Framework for SimulationIntegrationandModeling,Next Generation Threat System and Modeling andSimulationToolbox.

“The main concept is that IRUMM will hold more than one algorithm package using SYSML blocks and also have activity diagrams for the behavioral piece, Gates said. “IRUMM’s goal is to make mission modelingdevelopmentfaster.”