Complex, dynamic security issues and systems present a difficult set of choices for the military, other government agencies, and industry. LVC option space allows selection of how many real players or assets are utilized versus how many are simulated. Choices can be made to reduce cost, improve safety, and consider security requirements where testing, training, and operations take place.
For instance, the nation’s military and protective forces are currently encountering a number of challenges. The proliferation of new technology outstrips their ability to assess it with respect to Test and Evaluation (T&E), development of Concepts of Operations and TTPs, and training. Change and pace can be overwhelming and may result in wasted time and funding, potential fratricide, and ill-prepared forces or responders. Another challenge is an extremely diverse space of engagement, ranging from urban area, desert, and jungle, to ocean. Operations may occur in new and unique areas, which are generally inaccessible prior to the mission, making planning and training difficult. Other challenges come from ever-increasing limitations on funding and time.
LVC systems strive for the seamless integration of Live assets (real people in real locations using real equipment), Simulated assets (real people in a simulated environment using simulated equipment), and Constructive assets (simulated people in a simulated environment using simulated equipment) in the context of the same scenario, exercise, or operation. Such systems address the challenges listed above—they are attractive training and testing vehicles, largely because they are less expensive and more flexible than live exercises, and their ability to scale in the constructive domain allows them to provide a realistic operational context for new or inaccessible environments.
Complex systems and scenarios often exhibit unexpected behaviors that cannot be predicted a priori using the traditional engineering design process. LVC testing allows designers to explore complex system requirements in depth, discover problems during the design phase, provide more effective training, and monitor system performance throughout operations. LVC is a systems-of-systems analysis tool because it allows one to work with all components of a system and evaluate how it performs as a whole.