Using agent-based modeling and a designed experiment to simulate and analyze a new air-to-air missile

Abstract

New weapons system analysis is a field with much interest and study due to the enduring requirement for militaries to improve their set of tactical capabilities. Moreover, as development, testing, fielding, and employment of any new weapon system can be quite costly, justifications of acquisition decisions must be deliberate and thorough to improve necessary capabilities at the least possible cost. Informing these decisions, via analyses of the weapons systems’ benefits and costs, yields better decisions. Our goal herein is to demonstrate a sound methodology to efficiently attain information about the potential benefits, known as key performance parameters (KPPs), of a particular weapon system. Utilizing a simple, unclassified scenario, we identify benefits that the small advanced capability missile (SACM) concept provides, and we demonstrate a basis for further investigation into the tactics used to leverage its capabilities. Within this study, we substitute unclassified data from Lockheed Martin’s Cuda prototype for the SACM concept. Furthermore, we discuss how each of the chosen study factors influences the air combat scenario. Ultimately, we establish the usefulness of a designed experimental approach to analysis of agent-based combat simulation models, which yields useful insights during the acquisition process about the complex interactions of different actors on the battlefield.