A Proposed Standardization of the Navy VV&A Process through the Application of VVML & the VDT

As in the commercial world, modeling and simulation (M&S) is increasingly pervasive throughout the Navy. There is a constant drive to expand the utility of these M&S through distributed M&S, federations, and other combinatorial simulations in the High Level Architecture (HLA), FORCEnet, and other such programs. The DOD and commercial sectors’ increased reliance on M&S has necessitated a method to provide documented proof of M&S’ credibility. Although the Navy has mandated M&S Verification, Validation, and Accreditation (VV&A) to provide this credibility, no single standard exists to execute the documentation process. Clearly, this lack of coordination and consistency begs the development of a single, clear, standard method and repository to facilitate the execution of this mandate. The development of Department of the Navy (DON) VV&A Documentation Tool (VDT) and its VV&A Markup Language (VVML) seeks to fill this need by standardizing and streamlining the M&S VV&A documentation process. The web-enabled VDT can not only house all VV&A documentation and its associated information in one repository, but can also standardize and expedite the documentation process through intuitive templates and inherent flexibility via its VVML base. This paper builds the case for a VV&A documentation standard and details the role that VVML and the VDT play in the realization of standardization.