The fire support automated test system (FSATS): an approach to distributed command and control simulation

The Fire Support Automated Test System (FSATS) is being developed by the Program Manager, Instrumentation, Targets, and Threat Simulators (PM ITTS) to provide a full suite of instrumentation capabilities to support the technical and operational testing of United States Army Fire Support Command and Control (C/sup 2/) Systems. The keystone of FSATS is the capability to simulate the tactical messaging of selected C/sup 2/ nodes and to distribute this simulation over geographically dispersed hardware platforms to obtain a realistic distribution of tactical processes and communications. This simulation is based on a series of behavioral models specifically developed for use within this system. The FSATS simulation analyzes the content of tactical messages received and generates an appropriate tactical message in response. While principally developed for the test support role, the benefits and ease of extending this simulation technology into the training role is clear.<>