THE JOINT TACTICAL COMBAT TRAINING SYSTEM SYSTEM MODEL

The Joint Tactical Combat Training System (JTCTS) is a joint Navy/Air Force program to provide enhanced tactical combat training from single -platform warfighting through integration of multi-platform coordinate d combat training (surface, subsurface, and air). Key requirements of JTCTS include the use of the Global Positioning System to generate pla tform position information, simulated platforms and weapons, and a rea l-time radio datalink to transmit training data within 400 nm of a JTC TS core-capable site, using a distributed simulation architecture deri ved from distributed interactive simulations. Many design tradeoffs ne ed to be made to implement this system. To enable the meaningful test and tradeoff of various design options, a software model of the JTCTS system was constructed. This discrete-event simulation was implemented entirely in software running on commercial workstations. The model al lows the designers to test various software and hardware design implem entations and measure their influence on the ''goodness'' of the exerc ise data. Based on platform attitude and relative position, datalink c onnectivity can be assessed and various message-passing algorithms tes ted. The effects of message latency and communications dropouts on dea d-reckoning accuracy can be directly measured. Effects of aircraft ant enna shading, atmospheric effects on radio frequency propagation, and others can be turned on or off depending on the needs of the particula r test, and to support validation of the model. The engineering model was created during the project concept definition; it is being used to day in a number of design studies. One, a datalink transmitter power t radeoff, is giving insight into the relationship between the accuracy of after-action reports and the heat dissipation of the datalink compo nents. These simulated exercises are providing both the end-user and t he design team with insight into subsystem and operational interaction s usually not seen until system integration testing.