Virtual Targets program lauded for cost savings

By Rene Gilliand, Targets Management OfficeAugust 27, 2014

Value Engineering
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. (August 26, 2014) -- Think of it as an "Elite Eight" for thriftiness.

The Department of Defense this summer announced winners of their 2013 Value Engineering Achievement Awards, recognizing the individual, team and special projects from each DoD agency whose innovative approaches produced better services at a lower cost. PM ITTS' Targets Management Office's Virtual Targets program was one of only eight Army organizations to receive this honor.

While using computer technology to generate visualization, infrared, radar and other complex virtual targets is cutting-edge, the VT team saved money the old fashioned way: they used what they already had. Since 1992, TMO has partnered with the Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center's End Game Analysis Branch to distribute virtual targets through the web-based Army Model Exchange.

The AME makes it possible for modeling and simulation developers to download validated virtual targets, rather than invest time and money to develop their own, saving an average of $3,000 per model. High-fidelity, validated targets are not only available, but simpler. Smaller file size models are available for those who require a target model, but do not need as much detail.

TMO's collaboration with AMRDEC has been a successful union that has yielded a huge return on investment for the Army. TMO, via the VT Project, provides a secured web-based online repository and service to the modeling and simulation community for readily available and accessible validated models and products. The AMRDEC End Game Analysis Branch brings more than 20 years of target modeling to the table. In addition to excellent signature and optical modeling, they provide expertise in target lethality, survivability and vulnerability. The AMRDEC/TMO partnership enables world class model developments.

The award recognized the team for expanding the AME catalog by adding a family of Synthetic Environment Core 3-D virtual buildings and vehicle models developed by Program Executive Officer for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation Program Manager Constructive Simulation. These models are designed to assist developers in populating simulations. This enabled PM ConSim to distribute an additional 18,000 SE Core models with no additional manpower costs, a cost avoidance estimated at $108 million for fiscal 2012-14.

"It was a perfect fit," Robbin Finley, lead project director for TMO's Virtual Targets program, said. "The infrastructure was there. The expertise was there. We were able to use an existing Army capability to distribute these models to meet the needs of the testing and training community. It was just a win-win situation."

Members of the award-winning team include Finley, Yolanda Belue and Ray Lowman of TMO; Dustin Clark and Colby Pitts of AMRDEC; Mark Johnson, Bill Reese and Dr. Leonard Hobbs of PM ConSim.