Synthetic Environments at the Enterprise Level: Overview of a Government of Canada (GoC), Academia and Industry Distributed Synthetic Environment Initiative

Abstract : A new partnership between the Government of Canada (GoC), Industry and Academia is working to help Canada become a world leader in Modeling and Simulation (M&S). The goal is to take SMARRT technologies - Simulation and Modeling for Acquisition, Requirements, Rehearsal and Training - and apply them to the development and improvement of Canadian Forces (CF) military systems and capabilities, as well as a vast host of civilian applications. To this end, the initial partners conceived the October 2004 UAV-NTS SE Interoperability Experiment, which links DRDC Ottawa's Uninhabited Air Vehicle Research Test Bed (UAV RTB) to a Carleton University Networked Tactical Simulator (NTS) modified with CAE Inc. synthetic environment (SE) assets including computer-generated forces. The experiment took place via a non-dedicated unclassified, though VPN-encrypted network over a period of several days. Prospective GoC, Academia and Industry partners, as well as foreign military personnel, attended these sessions. The goal was to show how M&S technologies can be used and made relatively easy at the national/enterprise level, and how lessons learned and technical best practices point to a bright future for distributed synthetic environment applications in Canada's Department of National Defence, as well as for DND's public security partners.