ROCAF Wargaming

Allows high-level commanders to prepare for and participate in practical, realistic wartime scenarios.

In 1999, the Republic of China (Taiwan) Air Force (ROCAF) conceived of a wargaming system as a method for training officers in tactical decision making within a system of command. Ternion developed key simulation components for the project while working with other companies to bring this vision to fruition. This partnership led to the creation and delivery of the original Distributed Wargaming System (DWS) in 2003.

After initial deployment of DWS, changes to the consortium of companies that worked on DWS resulted in significant knowledge and experience gaps. When the ROCAF pursued major upgrades and additions to DWS without the original consortium of companies, an opportunity arose for Ternion.  Because of its history of reliable service, high performance, and years of experience supporting DWS, Ternion was selected to develop the entire enhanced wargaming system (DWS-E) in 2017. Ternion partnered with Taiwan-based DBS Technology to provide systems integration and in-country deployment and support. The completed, fully functional DWS-E was delivered at the end of 2019, and Ternion and DBS Technology remain under contract with ROCAF to maintain the system.

Composed of applications, models, and data, DWS-E is based on and leverages FLAMES®, Ternion’s proprietary simulation framework architecture. FLAMES provides the standard applications for scenario editing, execution, and viewing. These collective components execute wargames using a constructive simulation connected to virtual applications, which allow man-in-the-loop (MIL) operators to interact with the players in the simulation.

Prior to execution, scenarios are customized to exact specifications through applications featuring a user-friendly graphical interface. Specific configurations of friendly and opposing forces, along with their respective command and control hierarchies, available equipment, and resources, can be defined using real or notional parametric data. Users can also customize and simulate a variety of environmental factors with software models, including types of equipment, man-made features, and human behaviors.

After a scenario has been prepared and the wargame is initiated, virtual players are immersed and begin to interact with the constructive simulation. Simulated command and control stations provide perceived situational awareness of the operational theater and the state of the forces at any point during the simulation. Commands can be issued by staff members and augmented by the sophisticated software models that are used to represent a complete wargaming environment, including the simulated equipment and warfighters that occupy the operational area of the scenario. The simulation also provides representative responses to commands that further stimulate command and control decision making to create a more realistic wargaming atmosphere.

Once the simulation is complete, directors and officers utilize FLAMES-based tools to analyze and review the players’ tactics and decision making.

DWS-E supplies users with ready-to-run executable programs to develop, implement, and visualize wargame scenarios quickly and easily. The main applications used during training exercises include:

  • GameMaster: A graphical application that supports the creation and management of exercise hardware and software configurations, GameMaster is used to start, manage, and monitor the execution of an exercise. The application is operated by the wargame director while the scenario is executed.
  • Command / Message Interactive Client (CMIC): The primary user interface to the wargame for an interactive player, CMIC is initiated during game execution and supports multiple player roles as defined by the GameMaster.
  • Warfighter-In-The-Loop (WITL): A 3D flight simulator that provides control of active aircraft within a wargame, WITL gives the operator additional “stick and throttle” hardware for controlling the aircraft for a more realistic role-playing interface.
  • Graphical Scenario Planner (GSP): GSP is a customized version of the FORGE application that is used for all scenario development tasks, including the creation of scenarios, units, missions, and air defense sites. The powerful and friendly graphical interface allows every element of scenario data to be edited.
  • FLAMES Interactive Runtime Executable (FIRE): FIRE retrieves a scenario from the DWS-E scenario database and executes it using the models defined in the scenario. Unlike the GSP, this application executes in batch mode and contains no graphics or built-in user interface.

Additional FLAMES features and options employed by DWS-E include:

  • Digital Terrain: This feature allows for the import of Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED) into the DWS-E database in order to represent the terrain skin for a FLAMES scenario. DTED can be used in all model calculations and display operations that involve the terrain.
  • Multithreading: This feature allows the use of multiple processors or multiple-core processors to execute scenarios faster.
  • Interactive Simulation: High-performance interfaces allow interactive scenario execution with virtual simulators and real-world command, control, and communications systems.
  • Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) Option: Enables data exchange between DWS-E and other simulations using the IEEE DIS protocol.
  • High Level Architecture (HLA) Option: Enables DWS-E participation in HLA federations.

DWS-E, and its bundled applications, are categorized into three major phases of operation.

Phase 1, Game preparation – Utilizing the GSP, users prepare a scenario representing the initial conditions of the wargame. The GSP allows the scenario developer to define the area of the world, its environmental features, and the simulated players with their initial locations, capabilities, and pre-planned tasking. The following steps are used for general game preparation:

  1. Create a scenario – Use the included template scenario file with default data and settings to create a new scenario. Changes to the template scenario can be made using GSP.
  2. Define the settings for a scenario – Use GSP to define the simulated environment in which the constructive players are to carry out their tasks and interact with one another. The environment contains some of the physical aspects of the real-world, including the Earth Model, Terrain Data, Atmospheric Conditions, and Airspaces.
  3. Define the simulated players and resources in a scenario – Players (units) represent all participants in a scenario. Resources are consumable supplies used by the units. Both can be created and modified through GSP.
  4. Define the tasking for the simulated players – Assign tasking for aircraft and cruise missiles by defining missions. This step allows the user to specify:
    • The type of aircraft that is to be tasked
    • The number of aircraft to be tasked
    • The squadron and airbase from which the aircraft are to be tasked
    • The time at which the aircraft is to be tasked
    • The flight profile for the aircraft and a potential target
  5. Create and save a game – Using the GameMaster, select a scenario for the game and define the configuration of hardware resources, virtual players, and their respective roles. Game configurations can be saved and recalled for future use.

Phase 2, Game Execution – The GameMaster initiates scenario execution once all virtual players are in place and ready. The virtual players connect to the wargame and begin interaction with the simulated players represented in the constructive simulation. All simulation information is recorded during execution while the GameMaster manages the scenario execution (start/stop/fast-forward).

Phase 3, Game Analysis – Information recorded during the execution of the wargame can be queried to produce after-action reports to support game analysis. Resulting data can be input into third-party applications capable of reporting the data in a meaningful way.

DWS-E is an interactive wargame simulation using a single server and numerous workstations. The game executes on a server. Virtual and role-playing participants interact with the game via cockpit and command and control applications running on the workstations under observation of the game director.

The game director is generally a higher-ranking officer observing and managing the execution of the wargame from a GameMaster console. While the director has control over the timing, execution, and direction of the wargame, their primary role is to observe the game participants as they interact with the scenario.

Game participants play specialized command and control roles to gain a broader understanding of specific warfighting scenarios and how their responsibilities relate to others. Each role has a specific position in the chain of command and certain responsibilities to fulfill, all of which affect the team’s success or failure in the wargame. Game participants fall into two categories:

  1. Virtual Players: These players train in general war fighting situational awareness by controlling aircraft in real time using simulated equipment. The WITL application is used to simulate control and flight of the active aircraft within an executing wargame through stick and throttle hardware.
  2. Role Players: Players within this designation are interactive, MIL participants who use the CMIC as the primary user interface during game execution. These role players can assume control of scenario units that are configured to perform in their respective capacity.

About DWS-E

The FLAMES-based Distributed Wargaming System – Enhanced (DWS-E) is a wargaming simulation that allows high-level commanders to prepare for and participate in practical, realistic wartime scenarios.

Simulation participants are immersed in virtual battlefield situations where they can explore options, learn techniques, and conduct analysis in order to enhance their decision-making and situational awareness capabilities.