Correlated Dynamic Synthetic Environments for Distributed Simulation

The use of Modelling and Simulation (M and S) is an important capability for the NATO alliance and its partner nations for defence joint, collective and coalition training, capability development, mission planning and preparation, and decision support. Defence operational environments are highly dynamic, where the state of the physical environment impacts force behavior (e.g., effects of weather on ground vehicle mobility), and the effects of physical (kinetic) force behavior impacts the state of the environment (e.g., munitions damage to buildings, infrastructure, etc.). Current M and S practices, standards and technologies mainly achieve static representations of the outside world environment in distributed simulations, based on common environmental datasets and by re-using environmental databases. Where dynamic elements are represented in current simulation systems, they are implemented in a way that is often pre-scripted and specific to a given system. This limits the capability and scope for interoperability of distributed heterogeneous simulation systems and impacts the use of M and S for applications such as coalition training, which requires common and consistent representations of operational environments to ensure fair fight conditions.MSG-156 started in 2017 as a 3-year Task Group (TG) to address the gap between the need to represent the challenges of the real-world operational environments in M and S systems and existing technical capabilities, with the objective to research how a correlated Dynamic Synthetic Environment (DSE) can be represented in future distributed simulations. The TG comprised Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) from government, research institutes and industry across NATO partner nations, including both developers(providers) and consumers (users) of simulation and Synthetic Environments (SEs).