TRACKED AND WHEELED VEHICLE BENCHMARK – A DEMONSTRATION OF SIMULATION MATURITY FOR NEXT GENERATION NATO REFERENCE MOBILITY MODEL

Due to shortcomings in vehicle mobility prediction in the NATO Reference Mobility Model (NRMM), recommendations and requirements for the Next-Generation NATO Reference Mobility Model (NG-NRMM) are under development. The limiting nature of empirically based terramechanics and the recent decades of significant improvements to 3D physics based Modeling and Simulation (M&S) capability call for a process to quantify physics based M&S in meeting the proposed goals of NG-NRMM. A verification and validation (V&V) process is demonstrated to quantify the vehicle mobility prediction capability of current state of the art physics based M&S tools. The evaluation is based upon an M&S maturity scale adopted and modified from corporate simulation governance to fit the specifics of vehicle mobility. The V&V process is demonstrated through a set of benchmarks, one for a tracked and another for a wheeled vehicle. The NG-NRMM benchmark efforts have demonstrated an analytical process for evaluating simulation capability maturity levels for M&S tools. More test data needs to be acquired with this specific purpose in mind. However, current results support the conclusion that current industry standard 3D physics based M&S tools are able to predict expected mobility outcomes that will never be possible with NRMM.