MGT 7-1.indd - KMI Media Group

Once the software is activated, information may be passed from
system to system virtually through the emulated network.
Silk Performer, from Borland, complements the Shunra
software and provides extended analysis information on the
performance of application in a net-centric environment. With
Silk Performer, scripts simulate the use of an application with
multiple virtual users. The virtual users can be added “dynamically,”
in “steady state,” or “all day” options.
The Shunra and Silk Performer software packages provide
statistics on how an application or Web server may perform in
the field. The report gives information such as response time
per transaction time or per number of users. Users may experience
simulated field performance before deploying the application
to the field. Using network diagrams and parameters for
Stryker Division, Brigade and Battalion, transaction times and
responses can be generated using Shunra.
PROGRAM SPIRALS
To date, the J-GES program has been executed
in three spirals. Through the use of five operational
vignettes, the first two spirals demonstrated
the need for net-centric geospatial services, or the
“art of the possible” for current and future battle
command systems. High-level military decisionmakers
have seen the potential benefits of the collection
of data to support many applications, the
value of data discovery for the unanticipated user,
and the role of dynamic geoprocessing services.
The initial technology focus areas of spirals
one and two leveraged COTS and GOTS technology
to design, test and evaluate:
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Soldier as sensor using mobile GIS
technology
Discovery services using metadata portal concepts
High-resolution sensor exploitation
Geo-database synchronization
Spatially and temporally explicit link analysis
Terrain reasoning services
3-D terrain visualization
The third spiral is focusing on experiments that fall into
three general areas:
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Value—the usefulness of geospatial information to the
commander in support of the military decision-making
process
Commercial technology—the operational utility of COTS
technology to support the warfighter’s military business
logic
Architecture—understanding how and where to provision
geospatial information and applications based on existing
and future architectures and corresponding network
topologies.
J-GES experiments quantify the value of geospatial information,
work with industry to ensure products meet the war-
fighter’s requirements, and model the movement of geospatial
information on the battlefield.
“If the information has no value to the commander and
makes no difference, why provide it?” said Visone. “We have
also provided invaluable feedback to industry on the utility
of their products for military applications. Our hope is that
industry sees value in our experiments and uses our results to
make their products responsive to Army requirements.”
VALUE EXPERIMENT
The J-GES program successfully executed a value experiment
on site with soldiers at Fort Lewis, Wash., and Fort
Benning, Ga., in late November 2008. The experiment assessed
the military planning value of high-resolution imagery and
Personnel at Fort Lewis, Wash., also were part of the assessment of high-resolution imagery and elevation data.
[Photo courtesy of Army Topographic Engineering Center]
elevation data. Specifically, data collected by TEC’s BuckEye
was compared to conventional NGA products as the soldiers
were tasked to set up hasty vehicle control points in different
parts of Iraq.
This experiment evaluated the effect of better data (tool
set remaining constant) instead of evaluating a tool set (data
remaining constant). The results are currently being evaluated
by experimentation subject-matter experts from George Mason
University’s Command, Control, Communications, Computers
and Intelligence Center in Fairfax, Va., and will be published
next quarter at www.tec.army.mil/JGES/gazette.html.
The GMU C4I Center has also been conducting architectural
experiments focused on using advanced geospatial
terrain reasoning products from the Battlespace Terrain Reasoning
and Awareness-Battle Command (BTRA-BC) program
in a networked environment. There is concern that tools such
as BTRA-BC might demand more capacity than Army tactical
networks have available in specific situations. GMU is working
to characterize BTRA-BC tools in the distributed battlefield
environment to configure the software for most effective use.
These measurements enable quantitative characterization
of the fundamental BTRA-BC computing and network require-
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