Game-based technologies have entered the traditional modeling and simulation (M&S) community to offer new, lighter-weight augmented or alternative solutions to military M&S problems. Increasingly, to fully leverage their potential contributions, game-based simulations are required to federate within the Live, Virtual, Constructive (LVC) paradigm by providing geographically separated instrumented operational equipment, human-in-the-loop simulators, and wargame simulations. These systems can include legacy M&S systems, vehicle and instrument simulators and even other game-based products. In this paper, we discuss the federation of game-based simulations via the High Level Architecture (HLA) within a large scale government M&S program. Specifically, we draw upon our experience federating a game-based simulation within the prototype for the Joint Terminal Control Training and Rehearsal System (JTC TRS).

This paper draws upon our team's experience providing the visualization framework for a lightweight, laptop-deployable, training solution for Joint Terminal Attack Control (JTAC) trainees. The resulting system satisfied the goal of integrating distinct systems, including existing Department of Defense simulations and custom components to support the JTC TRS requirements. The systems that were integrated represent varying levels of simulation fidelity and have a diverse range of functionality. The work done on this project has demonstrated that: 1) a game-based? technology simulation can act as a member of an HLA federation, 2) as a member of a federation game-based technology products can both visualize inputs from other COTS and GOTS solutions and generate outputs back to them and, 3) game-based simulations can provide an acceptable level of simulation fidelity for training while offering a deployable lightweight simulation. We draw upon direct experience to share lessons learned and make recommendations for successful integration of game-based simulations within the LVC environment.