Agent Oriented Modelling of Tactical Decision Making

A key requirement in military simulation is to have executable models of tactical decision-making. Such models are used to simulate the behaviour of human entities such as submarine commanders, fighter pilots and infantry, with a view to producing realistic predictions about tactical outcomes. Tactics specify the means of achieving mission objectives, and should capture both reactive and deliberative behaviour. The lack of a methodology and supporting tools for designing computer-based models of tactics makes them difficult to create, maintain and reuse, and this is now a significant problem in military simulation domains. To address this, we have developed TDF (Tactics Development Framework), a tactics modelling methodology and tool based on the BDI (Beliefs, Desires, Intentions) paradigm, that supports agent-oriented structural modelling of tactics and related artefacts including missions, storylines, goals and plans. The methodology was initially assessed by analysts in the undersea warfare domain, and was subsequently evaluated using a simple scenario in the autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles domain. The latter evaluation involved a comparison with UML designs, indicating that our methodology provides significant benefits to those building and maintaining models of tactical decision-making.