Modeling and simulation

Modeling and simulation (M&S) represents a fundamental change in the US Department of Defense (DOD), and has been identified as a critical technology that allows evaluation, testing, and training without building physical replicas. Although M&S can never replace actual hardware tests and exercises, savings come from testing borderline performance conditions with no risk to the hardware or human life. The current effort at the Defense Modeling and Simulation Office is summarized. Tables characterizing the following key technology areas for modeling and simulation are presented: database technologies; environmental representation; networking; software engineering; behavioral representation; instrumentation; graphics; and computer hardware