NATO and partner nations regularly conduct multi-national simulation-based computer-assisted exercises. These exercises can be very large with several participating nations using their own simulation and C2 systems. One of the main challenges is to ensure interoperability between participating systems. To address this problem NATO relies on standards for federated simulation and tools & processes to verify and certify compliance with these standards.

This tutorial is focused on providing the wider community with an understanding of how NATO manages and develops standards for Modelling and Simulation. In particular, the tutorial will cover how the NATO Modelling and Simulation Group (NMSG) have worked to develop the NATO Education and Training Network (NETN) Federation Architecture and FOM Design. This standard (NATO STANREC 4800) is an Allied Modelling and Simulation Publication (AMSP-04) that complements and extends other standards for distributed simulation such as HLA and RPR-FOM commonly used when integrating distributed simulations for military training and education. 

In the tutorial, we will provide in-depth information on these standards and how they are applied to provide NATO partners with the means for delivering systems with a higher level of interoperability. We will also provide information on the NATO Simulation Interoperability Certification process and available NATO tools to support verification, integration and certification. The concepts of Interoperability Capability Badges and Interoperability Requirements will be introduced and their relationship with NATO simulation interoperability certification will be explained in detail.