Military Training

Cost-Effective Development of Simulations Presents Significant Challenges Gao ID: NSIAD-96-44 November 8, 1995

Since 1988, the Pentagon has been grappling with how to provide simulations that realistically portray joint warfare operations for training. To help meet this training need, the Defense Department (DOD) developed the Aggregate Level Simulation Protocol, a technique that allows multiple service and agency models to communicate with each other. Although the Protocol is a technological advancement, the existing warfare capabilities of the individual models is limited and the problem of providing a valid joint training environment persists. Because of these limitations and the cost and complexity of the Protocol, DOD is developing a new system--the Joint Simulation System--that is scheduled to be fully operational by 2003. Until that system is up and running, DOD plans to continue improving the Protocol. This report discusses (1) how well DOD is progressing with its development of the Joint Simulation System and (2) whether DOD's decisions to improve the Protocol are cost effective.

GAO found that: (1) JSIMS has not progressed beyond the conceptual stage due to internal disagreements within DOD; (2) further JSIMS development is contingent on the availability of about $416 million in funding; (3) DOD plans to spend at least $40 million through 1999 to improve ALSP before replacing it with JSIMS, but it is unclear whether that approach is cost-effective; (4) funding availability depends on how the services prioritize their contributions to JSIMS and ALSP; (5) the cost of ALSP improvements could increase because the planned improvements are service-specific and there is also no ALSP Central Funding; and (6) management of ALSP improvements is fragmented because DOD is not ensuring that the services will complete them and that the improvements are cost-effective.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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