The United States Air Force has embarked upon an ambitious long-term strategy to enhance the training of its operational crews through the Distributed Mission Training (DMT) program. The DMT Operations and Integration (O&I) Team has deployed Portals as part of its operational network. The Portal provides an architectural mechanism for interoperability between Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) protocols and various versions of the High Level Architecture (HLA) run-time-infrastructures (RTIs) as well as performing other functions.
The approach we have used with the Portal is to divide the large and complex (N2) problem of overall DMT System interoperability into parts; the first of which is the single Portal-to-Portal interoperation problem over the WAN. The other parts are the "N" simpler Portal to Mission Training Center (local simulators) interoperation problems on the local MTC LAN. Deployment of the Portal is underway with the associated performance testing required to ensure quality operational training.
This paper will discuss the test results and lessons learned to date of implementing the Portal into the Distributed Mission Operations (DMO) network. Analysis will include the integration impacts experienced during lab testing at Northrop-Grumman, between Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the Distributed Mission Operations Center - DMOC (formerly the Theater Aerospace Command and Control Simulation Facility -TACCSF) and during operational training between sites on the DMO network.