The successful 1992 I/ITSEC demonstration of DIS was a significant milestone in the development of the DIS protocols, proving that Version 1.0 of the standard is truly workable. Although the plans for the 1993 I/ITSEC demonstration focus on long-haul and live participant involvement, a vital ingredient to the eventual success of distributed simulation lies in the ability of subsequent versions of DIS to adequately support beyond visual range (BVR) encounters.

Simulation of BVR effects within the DIS context offers substantial increases to training effectiveness, tactics development, and improvements to the acquisition process. To achieve these goals we must overcome a new set of challenges. SIMNET, the predecessor to DIS, provided a solid background in the development of version 1.0 of DIS, but was limited to within visual range encounters. The BVR extensions found in DIS Version 2.0 can thus borrow little from the SIMNET legacy. New problems, such as sensor simulation, EW data base correlation, and environmental effects must be addressed.

This paper provides insight into the key issues associated with extending DIS to encompass the beyond visual range arena. In addition, it describes series of rapid prototype implementations of the Emitter, Transmitter, and Signal PDUs, starting with a joint Grumman/NTSC experiment held on the last day of the 1992 I/ITSEC show. The "lessons learned" from these implementations are discussed along with suggestions and guidelines for future development of BVR PDUs and associated data bases.