Verification, validation, and certification of modeling and simulation applications

Certifying that a large-scale complex modeling and simulation (M&S) application can be used for a set of specific purposes is an onerous task, which involves complex evaluation processes throughout the entire M&S development life cycle. The evaluation processes consist of verification and validation activities, quality assurance, assessment of qualitative and quantitative elements, assessments by subject matter experts, and integration of disparate measurements and assessments. Planning, managing, and conducting the evaluation processes require a disciplined life-cycle approach and should not be performed in an ad hoc manner. The purpose of this tutorial paper is to present structured evaluation processes throughout the entire M&S development life cycle. Engineers, analysts, and managers can execute the evaluation processes presented herein to be able to formulate a certification decision for a large-scale complex M&S application.