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Simulation, Mission Rehearsal, and Training Tools (SMRTTs) for Counter-Terrorism Operations
Navy SBIR 2006.2 - Topic N06-154 ONR - Ms. Cathy Nodgaard - [email protected] Opens: June 14, 2006 - Closes: July 14, 2006 N06-154 TITLE: Simulation, Mission Rehearsal, and Training Tools (SMRTTs) for Counter-Terrorism Operations TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Human Systems ACQUISITION PROGRAM: ONR 30, Human Performance, Training, & Survivability OBJECTIVE: To develop simulation, mission rehearsal, and training tools to assist Marines, Seals, allies, and coalition forces in USMC counter-terrorism operations. DESCRIPTION: Paper maps have been critical to military operations for hundreds of years. Over the last decade, we have seen the introduction of digital maps, which simply displays the two-dimensional paper map on a computer screen. With the addition of GPS, the two-dimensional digital map becomes an excellent tool for navigation. The world is, however, three-dimensional. The next great advance is providing warfighters with tools to allow them to develop and visualize the three-dimensional battlefield. To date, mission rehearsal applications have concentrated on using overhead imagery to develop three-dimensional databases. While this is an excellent tool for air operations mission rehearsal, it does not have the resolution required for rehearsing infantry operations. Marines require easy-to-use tools that allow them to build their own local simulation and mission rehearsal databases for supporting counter-terrorism operations during deployment. Areas and objects of interest can change rapidly, and the ability to quickly collect geospatial information about them is crucial. This capability is especially critical in urban areas and includes the interiors of buildings. If Marines can rapidly build local databases and "stitch" them into larger preexisting databases, a simulation and mission rehearsal capability can be realized which could greatly improve counter-terrorism training and operations. An additional challenge facing troops today is the requirement to work with Joint and Coalition forces. Often, the specific Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs) used by one branch of the military differs significantly from those used by other branches. Similarly, Coalition forces may have completely different, culturally driven, sets of TTPs. Therefore, an additional aspect of the mission rehearsal tool would be the ability to demonstrate, either through text, scripting or manipulation of actual objects, what doctrinal approaches (and biases) each participating team brings to the exercise, before moving to actual plan execution. Just as language can be a significant barrier to communication with our allies, so too can two-dimensional maps. The two-dimensional map is like a foreign language to many cultures and this becomes a significant barrier to communication. If we can present the geospatial images in a more natural manner, including different team member�s doctrinal approaches, we can eliminate this barrier. So instead of a building looking like a square on a map, it actually looks like the building it represents, and affords participants the chance to see other members� strategies. With the use of SMRTTs, each new area and object of interest will be represented and integrated with larger preexisting databases. When actual mission rehearsals of the areas are conducted by our troops, the information from the rehearsal will be stored in a library of mission rehearsal cases for counter-terrorism. During the training of coalition forces, the library of cases can be retrieved to facilitate training with minimal use of live instructors and the performance of our coalition forces can automatically be compared to the performance of Marines who performed the actual mission. This comparison can then be provided in the form of an after action review. Ultimately, instructors will be able to multiply their effectiveness by leveraging this multi-use technology. PHASE I: Develop a prototype system to visualize and manupulate interior and exterior of buildings in an urban terrain databases developed using man or vehicle portable data collection systems. These databases must be able to be stitched into existing simulation databases easily and manipulated to reflect local intelligence such the destruction of a builiding. The system should demonstrate the capability to store and retrieve simulation mission rehearsals from a library, comparing performance by Marines to performance by coalition forces in an after action review, thus supporting reduced instructor involvement during coalition training. PHASE II: Implementation of Phase 1 plan and refinement of the tools and applications. This phase will demonstrate the ability to rapidly tailor the after action review to the specific culture in the native language. PHASE III: Full implementation of the SMRTTs system. This will include man-portable and vehicle-borne systems that can automatically generate geospatial databases in near real-time. The system will have a mechanism for configuration management and storage of the data and combining it with other sources of information such as UAVs and videos. PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: As the war on terrorism continues, other federal, state, and, local agencies will require tools such as these to monitor areas and buildings of interest, conduct mission rehearsal, and provide training to their employees. In addition, rapid and inexpensive geo-specific databases would be useful to real estate, architecture, and urban planning. REFERENCES: KEYWORDS: Simulation; training; mission rehearsal; 2D and 3D data collection; culture; language; after action review. TPOC: Keith Mayo
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