Methodology and ground rules for simulating airborne military communication systems

This work presents a brief overview of more than 20 years of the modeling and simulation experience of military communication systems. Based on this background, the paper then provides ground rules, a methodology, and some lessons learned over that period for the simulation of airborne and command and control communication systems. The primary emphasis of the ground rules and methodology is on the modeling and simulation of military airborne communication systems utilizing the present de facto standard simulation tool for the military systems - OPNET. The methodology and ground rules differ significantly from those presented in classical simulation texts in that they are focused on communication systems and assume the use of the simulation package OPNET. Ground rules for the verification and validation of models are discussed with particular emphasis on OPNET models. OPNET largely ignores this vital component of modeling and simulation.