ACTOR: Automated Collateral Tactics for OPFOR Responses

A key challenge for battlefield simulation is the estimation of enemy courses of action (COAs). Current adversarial COA development is a manual time-consuming process prone to errors due to limited knowledge about the adversary and its ability to adapt. Development of decision aids that can predict adversary’s intent and range of possible behaviors, as well as automation of such technologies within battlefield simulations, would greatly enhance the efficacy of training and mission rehearsal solutions. Aptima proposes to develop the Automated Collateral Tactics for OPFOR Responses (ACTOR) module for OneSAF Testbed Baseline (OTB). This module will allow automating control of OPFOR’s simulated units while requiring minimal input from the simulation operators based on the mission environment and the commander’s rehearsal or training objectives. ACTOR modeling is based on dynamically learning the command and control (C2) behavior patterns of BLUE forces and consequently generating adaptive OPFOR plans aimed at achieving the highest degree of deception and system-wide effects on the BLUE C2 team. The ultimate goal of the ACTOR framework is to enable the design of advanced collaborative planning tools to support development of BLUE courses of action.