Simulation facility targets Future Combat Systems.

• Author: Fein, Geoff S.

A new 12,000 square foot modeling and simulation complex in Albuquerque, N.M., will be used to test and evaluate virtual prototypes of the Army's Future Combat Systems.

The facility, dubbed the Simulation, Modeling for Acquisition, Requirements and Training (SMART) Lab is slated to open in August. It is being built by Honeywell Defense and Electronic Systems.

Edwin Goosen, the company's vice president for sales and marketing, said the goal is to use the facility to support FCS networking and software integration, provide modeling, simulation and visualization tools and resources, and provide engineering services.

The center will have a virtual reality lab, presentation facilities, capabilities to conduct nationwide Department of Defense war gaming, simulation of command, control, communication and intelligence software in war games, enterprise scenarios (for the Department of Transportation or Homeland Security), distributed role-playing in large test and training simulations.

The SMART Lab uses animated flow charts and three-dimensional digital environments, across distributed networks, said Derick Gerlock, project manager for modeling and simulation.

The idea is to understand what the customer needs by creating virtual prototypes. These prototypes would be employed in test and evaluation, training and life-cycle management, to determine what a system might cost 20 years down the mad, said Gerlock.

"We are starting from scratch," he said.

The biggest challenge was convincing management that the idea had merit, said Goosen.

"Then it was a matter of putting it together," he said. "We were starting with a clean sheet of paper."

There was a lot of discussion about whether it could be done with modeling and simulation, said Goosen.

Honeywell is funding the project. The SMART lab is expected to cost several millions dollars to build and equip.

The Army endorses the SMART concept as a way to capitalize on modeling and simulation tools and technologies to deal with system development, operational readiness, and life cycle cost.

"The Army spent a lot of money learning they could use modeling and simulation to get products out faster," said Gerlock.

Honeywell, with facilities across the country, chose to build its SMART Lab in Albuquerque because that is where it is doing much of its FCS work, said Mike Cuff, the company's director of FCS and surface systems.

"We...