Development of an Interactive Warfare Simulator

In principle, in order to evaluate the usefulness of a new weapon or sensor system, a conflict is first simulated without it. The simulation is then repeated with the proposed system present. A comparison of the results determines its presumed value. In the 1960's, models were developed for the Navy to aid in the analysis of a particular weapon or sensor system or tactic for specific configurations and types of engagements, I but the narrow scope of the models limited the questions that could be answered. One could determine how well an attack submarine can trail an enemy nuc1earmissile-launching submarine, the best force disposition for protecting a carrier battle group from an enemy air raid, or the quality of surveillance of a particular ocean area. However, there were no models for evaluating performance at the command level of an entire theater of operations (such as the North Atlantic), where combinations of manual analytical techniques, automated calculation aids, and a priori results from specific engagement models have to be used. A weapon system, for example, could not be evaluated with confidence at the theater level on the basis of its performance in a more limited engagement model. At a Fleet Command Center, information management is, for the most part, a manual process. A Fleet Commander has at his disposal only the information his staff can collect, refine, and present. Also, tactical decisions concerning the dynamic disposition of forces and their allocation in reaction to events as perceived at the Command Center (in contrast to the way they are seen by the individual task force commanders) are at the heart of an analysis at the theater level. These factors can be modeled in part, but actual human interactions with the simulation by persons familiar with the fleet command process are also needed. Previous hardware and software technology could not accommodate this human interaction simultaneously with the requisite detailed engagement analysis. A properly aggregated interactive computer simulation can provide a far more powerful analytic tool than previous simulations could. The APL-implemented Naval Warfare Simulator permits highly sophisticated and versatile simulations of naval conflicts at the theater-of-operations level. Its purpose is to allow the evaluation of weapon and sensor systems, tactics, and doctrines on the basis of how they influence naval conflicts. It can model naval campaigns of several months duration in simulated time, taking into account hundreds of participating ships and airplanes and allowing for interactions with theater commanders as they direct their forces and initiate actions.