Integrating Systems Engineering Simulations for Military Use

Abstract : The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) relies on a multitude of fragmented simulations to assist in engineering new systems. The DoD has recognized the need for unified simulation environments to enhance the value of new models and help achieve its defense transformation goals; a major example of this is the U.S. Army's OneSAF program. However, no plan exists to leverage the thousands of simulation models that remain idle on shelves. Localized efforts by the government and its contractors to unify such models have been marginalized by a number of technical and non-technical hurdles, some of which are not obvious. These include hide the availability of models, the usability of simulation construction tools, the creation of reference architecture, the complexity of simulation results, the automation of repetitive integration tasks, and the verification and validation of component models, among others. This paper discusses these hurdles in greater detail and provides context to DoD simulation efforts from the team developing the Virtual Systems Integration Lab (VSIL) for the U.S. Army TARDEC. We conclude with recommendations for establishing a unified approach to maximize simulation reuse across the DoD.