| In net-centric warfare, the warfighter’s lifeline is
a flow of information being transmitted and received over
ad-hoc mobile networks. Minute by minute, that lifeline
is impacted by myriad invisible threats, including environmental,
technical and cyber. Present day scenario planning and
tactical training exercises don’t recognize these threats;
they either assume perfect communications or simulate
only the physical layer of communications in a rudimentary
way, like line-of-sight. Nor do they take into account
predictable realities like delays. This practice is creating
a threatening force readiness gap by negatively training
commanders and warfighters to perform in conditions based
on unrealistic premises – something warfighters would
be better off not getting at all.
Simulated Battlefield, Real Communications
A compelling solution to this negative training problem
is a new class of advanced emulation-based tools called
software
virtual networks (SVNs). SVNs take battlefield simulation
to a new level of realism by adding the rigors and uncertainties
of in-field communications like urban environment effects,
message delays or drops, signal jamming, and sophisticated
cyberattacks like denial-of-service and wormholes. SVNs
can interoperate with a wide range of simulation platforms
without the need for extensive re-programming or systems
integration.
First introduced in 2008 by Scalable Network Technologies
of Los Angeles, CA, SVNs are being utilized for advanced
military programs such as the U.S. Army’s Brigade Combat
Team Modernization Program and the Joint Tactical Radio
System. SVNs are exact digital replicas of physical
networks in virtual space – indistinguishable from real
networks. Unlike traditional communication simulation
technologies, SVNs interoperate with existing networks
and devices, software applications, network management
tools, and people – at real time speed. SVNs emulate
protocols at all layers of complex networks and can
digitally replicate hundreds or thousands of communication
points.
The communications realism of SVNs benefits simulation
and training in situations that involve either large
numbers of radios and computers in a single battlespace,
or fighting units and support teams networked across
multiple geographic areas. Today, simulations in these
scenarios do not generally take into account network
priorities such as voice communications interrupting
and delaying the data and video streams. That’s negative
training, and it’s not good enough to prepare warfighters
who depend on all three communications streams to accomplish
their missions. SVNs eliminate this negative training
problem by connecting to real battlefield applications
– like force tracking and battle command – and handling
all of the communication traffic (sensor feeds, video,
data, and voice) including their priorities, interference
and delays.
With this realistic communications emulation in place,
changes to conditions that affect battlefield outcomes
can be automatically taken into account by the SVN as
entity positions, network traffic and threats evolve.
Or condition changes could be made manually by instructors
to fit specific training scripts. Either way, the effects
of traffic levels, environment/terrain, and cyber threats
can be accurately modeled, and warfighters positively
trained to meet real-life network conditions with tested
responses.
Powerful Solution, Simple Implementation
Because SVNs are inherently designed to interoperate
with real networks, devices, and applications, adding
their powerful capabilities to existing simulation and
training systems is a relatively simple task. With computer-generated
forces (CGF) applications, the SVN can be integrated
with simple plug and play application interfaces to
serve as the “communication network effects” component
of the system. Because of their ability to represent
up to thousands of network nodes, adding an SVN to a
CGF application enables commanders and planners to evaluate
the effect of the “state of the network” on operations
and battle outcomes at the platoon, company, battalion,
and brigade command levels.
In the case of a large distributed simulation system,
such as the U.S. Air Force’s Distributed Mission Operations
(DMO), adding realistic communications effects with
an SVN would be a simple process that would not require
modifying the existing applications. Software would
be installed at each site that would intercept the packet
data flowing onto the wide area network. All communications
traffic would be routed through the SVN during a training
exercise, and the SVN would distribute the communications
across the system. Changes to variables affecting communications
can be automated through the SVN or controlled by commanders
and instructors running the distributed training exercise.
Network Awareness Eliminates Negative Net-Centric
Training
If you’re going to fight in the desert, you train in
desert conditions. Network-centric warfare requires
the same kind of realistic preparation. As “assets”
and “targets” move rapidly to the cyber domain, warfighters
need training in conditions as close to what they’ll
experience in the field as possible. Adding SVNs to
existing simulation and training systems can eliminate
the risk of negative training by equipping forces with
the knowledge and confidence to use battlefield networks
to their maximum advantage before they face down a real
enemy. |
