Computer Visualization of Battlefield Tenets

The article of record as published may be found at https://doi.org/The Battle Enhanced Analysis Methodologies (BEAM) project was designed to investigate the use of computer graphics in describing the performance of battalion-sized units in simulated combat. These descriptions were to be data-based and objective, providing useful critiques of actual performance according to standard Army doctrine. They would be natural candidates for use at the Army's Combat Training Centers. The project was conducted in two phases. In the first, objective graphic displays were derived which portray the destructive potential of direct fire weapons (the shooter must be able to see the target) in the defense. These displays allow straightforward objective comparisons of different defensive alignments and, from simulated battle runs, of defensive fire control strategies. These references also describe simple uncluttered displays that portray the movements and interactions of company (or higher) sized units throughout a battle. This paper describes results of the second phase of the BEAM project. A major result is the derivation of displays which portray the destructive potential of indirect fire weapons (the shooter normally cannot see the target) in the defense using the same units as the direct fire displays. This allows separate and joint examination of the direct and indirect fire destructive potential, providing, among other things, objective measures of the synchronization and agility of a force, as well as indicators of its intelligence functio

Graphical Displays of Synchronization of Tactical Units

To maximize combat readiness, the U.S. Army employs highly instrumented combat ranges for training troops under the most realistic possible conditions. Many of these ranges accommodate force-on-force battles, including simulated firings of weapons and of kills against the opponent; the physical variables used in these simulated kills (times of events, locations of players) are then available for computer replays, as well as investigations of the effects of changes to some battle details. This paper describes the use of player and event time-location data to visually portray some aspects of synchronization of forces, one of the classic (and current) battlefield tenets