CHARLESTON, S.C. — An experiment aimed at improving warfighter decision-making capabilities leapt into the future in mid-August. A specialized capability designed by the Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic (NIWC) made its debut at a Navy integration event that concluded on both coasts Aug. 22.
Called Virtual Standing Force (VSiF) and sponsored by the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory (MCWL), the innovation gives Marines on-site access to live, virtual, constructive (LVC) experiments that Department of the Navy leaders are calling a “game changer.”
Indeed, in commandant’s planning guidance released last week, Marine Corps Gen. Eric Smith said integrating constructive and virtual capabilities into fleet concepts will allow the Marines to better mask certain advantages from adversaries.
Peter C. Reddy, executive director of NIWC Atlantic, said he was proud of the team that quickly designed, developed and delivered the VSiF capability to the Marine Corps.
“LVC exercises can provide tremendous value to the Navy,” Reddy said. “By creating a rich, immersive and realistic environment, I believe VSiF is poised to build bridges to experimentation and analysis that will enhance the warfighter’s combat readiness.”
Last year, NIWC Atlantic’s Expeditionary Warfare (ExW) division developed the VSiF within a nine-month time frame, and in April it deployed to II Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF), Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
The urgency of operationalizing VSiF reached its first operational capability milestone this month, when elements of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) arrived in Charleston on Aug. 13 to utilize the new capabilities during MCWL’s annual Naval Integrated LVC Environmental Experiment (NILEX).
During the experiment, Marines learned how to navigate the virtual environment, execute mission threads and accomplish various objectives, with much of their guidance provided by NIWC Atlantic engineer Dr. Matt Largent, assigned to the ExW Division’s Land Collection and Identity Operations (TCIO) Integrated Product Team (IPT) Innovation and Experimentation Cell (IEC).
One Marine Corps leader said after the incident that VSiF capabilities helped create an operating environment where Marines could engage in combat training, personnel planning and critical decision-making.
“The MCWL team, working with NIWC Atlantic, developed a superior tool in record time to meet the needs of Marines facing challenging operating environments,” said Lt. Col. Josef Wiese, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit operations officer. “We believe the VSiF tool will enable alternative units, such as Marine Littoral Regiment (MLR), to refine their standard operating procedures and become a stronger force.”
Rachel Jenkins, IEC lead for the ExW division, which directly supports MCWL, said VSiF allows Marines to sit in a lab and repeatedly “operate” virtual combat systems as if they were commanding and controlling real forces and weapons systems.
“This is truly a unique interface,” Jenkins said, “enabling Marines to evaluate the operational and interoperability of multiple military systems and networks in a safe laboratory environment without the expense and logistical challenges of a real-world exercise.”
At its core, VSiF consists of about a dozen virtual machines (VMs), all on a single, easy-to-deploy server, with each VM containing several gigabytes of real data, including replicas of U.S. Marine Corps programs and systems related to artillery, threat detection, fire support, air defense and command and control.
The NIWC Atlantic VSiF team said research is underway to expand the virtual infrastructure to include other programs, such as critical intelligence assets, to enhance more dynamic simulation scenarios.
“Experimenting with VSiF not only avoids time-consuming stays at Marine Corps bases like Twentynine Palms, it also increases the synchronization of forces and weapons systems,” said Toby Straight, ExW Division’s expeditionary information solutions division lead, “and it allows us to provide critical feedback on force design to Marine Corps stakeholders and observers.”
In addition to the Charleston node, NILEX has expanded to the West Coast to include two other laboratories in San Diego and Camp Pendleton.
NIWC Pacific engineers and personnel working at the Combined Test Bed facility used modeling and simulation tools and support to deliver LVC capabilities across government networks, including at-sea fires and multi-domain warfare.
NIWC Pacific’s efforts provided a simulated environment in which Marines from 12th Marine Corps Main Force Landing Squadron, assigned to Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity (MCTSSA), could operate throughout the event using an MCTSSA-developed platform running a virtualized command and control system.
The distributed test architecture provided by NIWC Pacific also supported Marine Corps connected to NIWC Atlantic.
But overall, the NILEX event was MCWL’s: with the assistance of NIWC Atlantic engineers and scientists, MCWL laid the groundwork for the event several months ago, developing the calculation of realistic scenarios that took into account threats in a virtual world of computer-generated forces, weapon systems and a host of other elements (what constitute the “constructive” element of the LVC).
“Our team was dedicated to ensuring each scenario was meticulously crafted to reflect real-world threats on the evolving battlefield,” said Ryan Reeder, deputy division chief for MCWL’s Analysis and Integration Division. “We wanted to provide a realistic and immersive training environment for all participants.”
“Our partnership with NIWC Atlantic played a key role in making this vision a reality,” he added. “We had a shared goal of building a robust framework that would enable warfighters to hone their tactics in a safe, yet complex, virtual environment.”
In addition to MCWL, funding for VSiF was provided through NIWC Atlantic’s Research and Development, including Naval Innovative Science and Engineering Programs.
Chris Sargent, who leads the TCIO IPT, said VSiF is a key component of MCWL’s vision for a “distributed modeling, simulation and evaluation” capability that will greatly accelerate experimentation.
“The experimental aspect of this capability cannot be overstated,” Sargent said. “VSiF is scalable to incorporate new capabilities from blue and red forces as the arsenal rapidly evolves, ultimately providing Marine Corps combatant commanders with the ability to ‘set and repeat’ in realistic scenarios to help meaningfully develop decision advantage.”
Date taken: September 6, 2024 Date posted: September 6, 2024 14:26 Story ID: 480287 Location: United States Web views: 29 Downloads: 0
Public domain
This work is, NIWC Atlantic develops portal to virtual world to host Marines for LVC experiments across the U.S.by Steve Ghiringhelliidentified by DVD Videomust comply with the restrictions set forth at https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.