SBIR Topic # AF103-023 research will define an Agile, Reactive, Adaptive, Threat Simulation (ARATS) environment to dynamically determine the interaction of collaborative / integrated EW systems and accommodate degraded / disrupted network communication in the support of robust tactical operations. The ARATS research and development effort will focus on the technologies required to support accurate (reactive) threat depiction at the EW asset training sites. The ARATS modeling simulation and analysis framework will utilize a common EW ontology that supports system effectiveness assessment based on dynamic threat operational capabilities that support response to weapons deployment (i.e. non-kinetic as well as kinetic weapons). The common EW ontology used in the ARATS will support agile mission modeling based on tailored ontology refinement that includes weapon capabilities and limitations as well as alternative reactive threat functionality (i.e. as intelligence information evolves, the EW ontology will be iteratively revised to support ARATS reactions without requiring changes to the core software). The common EW ontology used in the ARATS will enable enable Electronic Warfare (EW) asset training that reflects the evolving responsive, interactive, dynamic threat characteristics and capabilities.
Benefit: The Agile, Reactive, Adaptive, Threat Simulation (ARATS) research and development effort will focus on networking methodologies and data utilization algorithms in support of near real-time automated decision support logic for platform and data routing/re-routing related to distributed sensor and electronic attack resource management. The ARATS modeling simulation and analysis framework will utilize a common EW ontology that supports system effectiveness assessment based on perceived dynamic threat operating capabilities and supports automated system compensation due to randomly or purposely disrupted communication of networked EW assets. The common EW ontology used in the ARATS will enable modification of data routing through policy negotiation and the utilization of inference-derived data to support alternative mission modeling defined to minimize loss of tactical performance due to network disruption. It should be noted that the conceptual ARATS resides within an existing Electronic Warfare Training Environment and that it will interface with existing EW Platform Simulations including any associated threat emulation assets (e.g. AMES III threat environment generator etc.). It is also assumed that the EW Training Environment will be networked with a LVC Synthetic Battle-space Environment (SBE) via a wide area network (WAN) and that the SBE will share training scenario Threat Database, any Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED), and Mission Plan components required to synchronize the EW Training Assets with the network centric training environment. For the ARATS to successfully collaborate with external tactical entities in a meaningful mission thread, those entities must support interoperable communication such as provided by the Joint Mission Environment Test Capability (JMETC) wide area network where the EW training environment, with the ARATS enhanced simulation, accepts and contributes meaningful mission information to the SBE consisting of Live, Virtual, and Constructive (LVC) elements. In this way a remote constructive mission environment can support multiple ghosted assets while within the EW Training Environment the ARATS enhanced threat simulation will correctly represent responsive IADS functionality at the local level that reflect the SBE mission thread while providing accurate system effect information to the SBE. It is also anticipated that the application of the ARATS framework with future (unmanned) assets would use the core components with few modifications and could evolve into collaborative multi-assets (Flock) tactics that exploit multiple triangulation sub-networks led or monitored by a
Keywords: Electronic Combat Decision Support System, Collaborative Training Environment, Electronic Warfare, Ew Ontology, Modular Open System Approach, Collaborative Net-Centric Framewo
