2011-2012 Assessment of the Army Research Laboratory (2013) / Chapter Skim
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5 Survivability/Lethality Analysis Directorate
5 Survivability/Lethality Analysis Directorate
Pages 68-81
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From page 68... ...
The SLAD portfolio consists of many small test and evaluation (T&E) programs directly related to assessment of specific Army components, with several larger programs aimed at developing tools necessary to enhance test and evaluation efforts and broaden the scope of SLAD's contribution to the life-cycle assessment of Army systems.
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From page 69... ...
It also discusses a set of new and mature programs, in order to provide the context of the full spectra of work performed within SLAD. CHANGES SINCE THE PREVIOUS REVIEW Toward the beginning of this review cycle, the criteria applied to the assessment were amended in recognition of the programmatic emphases within SLAD on applied work such as test and evaluation, analysis, and tool development to enhance analysis capabilities.
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From page 70... ...
A timely new program to develop a metric to predict mild traumatic brain injury represents a change from SLAD's past focus on materiel. These two programs, combined with many others focused on assessing behind-armor, blunt trauma, and injury due to under-body blast, demonstrate the SLAD commitment to ensuring soldier survivability.
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From page 71... ...
Its ballistic analysis of a lightweight vehicle-protection system is another excellent example of the strength of SLAD's core competence that demonstrates the value of SLAD analysis and testing to support Army acquisitions; SLAD involvement should be inserted early into the acquisition process when requirements are first being determined. The active protection systems (APS)
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From page 72... ...
Other possibilities for professional development exist within current SLAD programs. For example, the program on developing a metric to predict mild traumatic brain injury represents a new line of endeavor for SLAD; it may not culminate in a fielded metric, but it adds to the scientific knowledge base.
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From page 73... ...
SLAD recognizes the value of early participation and is developing appropriate methodology. The good work of SLAD analysts is rarely evinced at early phases in the design process of equipment and components.
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From page 74... ...
SLAD should consider showcasing all of its unique and state-of-the-art test facilities; methods might include hosting booths at DoD and other professional conferences and publishing papers that describe the research that SLAD is conducting in these facilities. A facility to bench test and satisfy DoD T&E requirements for a system as large as a helicopter is expensive, but the Rotorcraft Survivability Assessment Facility allows the completion of live-fire testing with more precision and less risk than any other facility.
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From page 75... ...
Clear identification of the gaps in relevant research is the first step toward ensuring that SLAD programs are well positioned to contribute in areas that take advantage of SLAD strengths and provide the context in which SLAD collaboration would benefit advancement of the state of the art. One of the largest challenges that SLAD faces as it moves toward greater emphasis on modeling tool development is hiring a sufficient cadre of appropriate personnel.
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From page 76... ...
SLAD has begun to publish a few peerreviewed publications, but publication should become a more standard practice at SLAD. Publication in scientific or technical peer-reviewed journals provides traditional independent evidence of the rigor, efficacy, currency, correctness, and technical quality of the work that would define SLAD as a leader in innovative test and analysis tool development methodology.
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From page 77... ...
P • SLAD expanded collaboration efforts. Collaborations include Stanford Research Institute, Sandia National Laboratory, Army Research Office, Air Force Research Laboratory, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Naval Postgraduate School, and Army organizations both within and external to ARL (i.e., Army Test and Evaluation Command, Army Evaluation Center, CISD)
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From page 78... ...
SLAD requires a dynamic technical leader for SoSA and S4 who will assume clear ownership of all aspects of the SoSA and S4 program and will be responsible for guiding and directing its development in a direction that demonstrates benefit to SLAD analysts and the Army in general. SLAD should adopt a professional software and model development process for S4 including a development plan that clearly identifies the following: • Key customers, critical requirements, and long-term and short-term goals; • A specific approach for attaining the goals, to include -- rogram structure, framework, and description; P -- Detailed descriptions of individual models contained within the framework or to be added, and how this will be done; and -- nputs, uncertainties for all, and their treatment; I • A plan for software quality assurance and model verification and validation, to include perfor mance metrics; and • Identification of resource requirements and how the program is to be leveraged.
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From page 79... ...
compliance with standard software development processes, including the development and documentation of requirements, the specification of an architecture and its description via flowcharts, the development of a data dictionary, and the production of users' and programmers' manuals. SLAD does not appear to have personnel qualified to design and create software to support analysis of military operations, either maneuver unit warfare or wide area security.
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From page 80... ...
• SLAD should plan and implement a systematic software development effort. • SLAD should carefully reexamine its technical plan for collaborating with and supporting the efforts of other modeling activities within the DoD (such as TRAC)
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From page 81... ...
It is clearly an area where SLAD already has expertise. Technical Merit Progress has begun toward establishing a formal software development methodology and in bringing the system-of-systems analysis program, including S4, more under SLAD control, but there is still a long way to go to establish SLAD as a credible participant in the system-of-systems analysis environment.
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