Structured validation of missile systems

This paper presents a systematic approach for validation of digital missile simulations which has evolved through usage on numerous threat simulations over the past 20 years. The validity-of a given simulation is assessed by direct comparison of missile performance parameters between the simulator (i.e., simulation to be validated) and a "reference standard" simulation. First, the standard is verified by comparison to observed and measured system performance at both the overall system and subsystem levels. Then the fidelity of the simulator is determined with respect to the standard. In order to fully assess the compliance of simulator with the standard, performance data from a battery of overall system and subsystem tests are used to isolate the cause(s) of any differences. Once the cause(s) have been identified, the impacts of the-resulting differences on simulator usage can be estimated, based on a comprehensive understanding of the system design. Although the specific application which is addressed below is missile software simulation validation, the general methodology which is presented is applicable to any software verification, validation and accreditation (VV&A) project. This validation process is practiced by the U.S. Air Force Simulation Validation (SIMVAL) branch of the National Air Intelligence Center (NAIC).