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Major Department of Defense Wargame Projects

Close Combat Tactical Trainer (CCTT): Networked simulation system for training army mechanized infantry and armor units. It is composed of various simulators that replicate combat vehicles, tactical vehicles, and weapons systems interacting in real time with each other and semiautonomous opposing forces. Estimated Program Cost: $900 million

Battle Force Tactical Training (BFTT): Tactical training system for maintaining and assessing fleet combat proficiency in all warfare areas, including joint operations. It will train at both the single-platform and battle group levels.  Estimated Program Cost: $200 million

Warfighter's Simulation 2000 (WarSim): Next-generation battle simulation for training Army commanders and battle staffs at the battalion through theater levels. It has a computer-assisted exercise system that links virtual, live, and constructed environments. Will become part of JSIMS.  Estimated Program Cost: $200 million

Joint Tactical Combat Training System (JTCTS): Joint effort by the Navy and Air Force to create a virtual simulation at the battle group level in which combat participants will interact with live and simulated targets that are detected and displayed by platform sensors. Estimated Program Cost: $300 million

Synthetic Theater of War (STOW):  Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration
STOW is a program to construct synthetic environments for numerous defense functions. Its primary objective is to integrate virtual simulation (troops in simulators fighting on a synthetic battlefield), constructive simulation (war games), and live maneuvers to provide a training environment for various levels of exercise. The demonstration program will construct a prototype system to allow the U.S. Atlantic Command to quickly create, execute, and assess realistic joint training exercises. Estimated Program Cost: $500 million

Joint Simulation System (JSIMS core): A set of common core representations to allow simulation of actions and interactions of platforms, weapons, sensors, units, command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence systems, etc., within a designated area of operations, as influenced by environment, system capability, and human and organizational behavior.  JSIMS is a jointly developed common framework to support live, virtual, and constructive simulation.. JSIMS initial focus is on training at the campaign level and will accommodate requirements to include space, transportation, and intelligence. JSIMS will permit distributed training for Commanders and Battle Staffs. Its functionality will meet training objectives based on Joint Mission Essential Task List (JMETL). Unlike the ALSP confederation JSIMS will be extensible to all phases of military operations to include Operations Other Than War (OOTW). JSIMS will support Joint and Service training, test and evaluation through an infrastructure of battlespace representations, simulation management, and support services with the user through his operational C4I systems. Populated with live, virtual, and constructive simulations representing service functionality, JSIMS will be distributed so that cohesive collective training can be accomplished despite extended geographical separation of the participants. To provide a more maintainable system with a longer life-cycle, JSIMS will be developed using modern computer technology, modern software engineering, open system interfaces, off-the-shelf hardware and validated algorithms and databases. JSIMS will provide world-wide training using their organizational equipment and will reduce the overhead associated with training.

That's the theory and original marching orders. It hasn't worked out that way. When JSIMS began the fellow in charge (long gone by now) declared that the difference services would "voluntarily cooperate" to resolved their different, often quite different, approaches to wargaming. Asking all these hard headed warrior types to somehow turn into skillful diplomats was asking too much. By 1999, even the most optimistic observers could see that there was little cooperation and that JSIMS was becoming less and less joint. There is now (in 2000) talk of pulling the plug. But so many hundreds of millions have been poured into the project, it has become too politically dangerous to drop the project. At least not yet.

One reason for not killing JSIMS is that it will, if it ever gets working, enable the CINCs, their subordinate commanders and staffs to better represent the wide range of situations present in complex regional contingencies. JSIMS will not be threat specific, rather it is an overall improvement in capability to jointly train and plan against potential threats. JSIMS will also provide an appropriate joint training environment capable of representing realistic threats and conditions.

JSIMS will provide automated methods to support each phase of an exercise: exercise preparation and scenario development, exercise control, and post exercise review and analysis for joint simulations. JSIMS will provide users a complete training environment consisting of simulations, data, support functions, and communications.

JSIMS is also the Navy's next generation training tool. It will provide the Navy with one M&S training tool for both Joint and Title X training. JSIMS will replace ALSP confederation and enhance training by overcoming the inherent deficiencies of the confederation. JSIMS will provide a core of common functions, such as terrain and weather effects, and establish standards for development of air, ground, space, etc. objects to be provided by the Services.

JSIMS will be configurable for distributed joint and combined training or for single-sited service training. To this end JSIMS will be interoperable with the Synthetic Theater of War (STOW) architecture.

Estimated Program Cost: $250. The total cost for all of the JSIMS components (each service contributes elements that emphasize it's specialty) is now estimated to be over a billion dollars. 

Distributed Interactive Simulation: A virtual environment within which humans may interact through simulation at multiple sites that are networked using compliant architecture, modeling, protocols, standards, and databases.  Estimated Program Cost: $500 million

While there are hundreds of professional wargames and simulations in use, only a few are widely used or have a major impact on training and decision making. At the top of the heap are the Title Ten (or Title X) games that are used to determine future military needs. Next in importance are the strategic level games that the CINCs use to plan, and sometimes fight, campaigns. Then come operational and tactical level wargames, which in some cases overlap with vehicle (aircraft/AFV/ship) simulators. The majority of wargame systems are used for combat support functions (everything from logistics to electronic warfare.) In effect, most wargames don't have much to do with fighting.

RMA wargames play out situations ten to twenty years in the future, The idea is to give senior decision makers some idea of what can be expected that far out. All the services have their own RMA wargames. The Army runs  "Army After Next" wargames at the Army War College. These games try to see how new army equipment and doctrine will change warfare twenty years in the future.

The Navy has, for years, run it's  Global Wargame every Summer at the Naval War College. These games look at new weapons and equipment, as well as possible changes in  of global and regional trends, issues, and crises out to about 2010. The Air Force has an annual wargame called Global Engagement at the Air War College. These wargames look for future trends in the capabilities of joint air and space power about ten years in the future. Another game,  Aerospace Future Capabilities, looks at alternative force structures  20–25 years into the future. The Marine Corps has a series of RMA wargames looking at the future of urban warfare, and run these at the Marine Corps War College. These games look about twenty years into the future.

Many DoD efforts to explore new operational concepts and forces for future use (ten or more years out) are started  by the Office of Net Assessment, which sponsors wargames,  workshops, conferences, and studies in support of RMA wargaming.

Joint wargaming is something that still has some rough edges.