Defence wants a digital twin to model battle missions

The Department of Defence is expanding work on a digital twin and is seeking a contractor to help build three subsystems for the project.

Its request for proposal (RFP) says the "Phoebe" C2 [command and control] digital twin will be supported by three subsystems: a Cortex simulation coordination and evaluation system, the Phoebe-JF “joint fires mission module”, and LiveLink, which will provide two information channels.

The capability is to be delivered in quarterly installments through to September 2024.

Defence said the digital twin is designed to enhance its multi-domain command and control planning and execution capabilities.

Its first application will be in the “rapid synchronised planning and re-planning of multi-domain effects across multiple levels of command”.

Defence acknowledged that at scale, “synchronised planning is fractal” and “will eventually require a sophisticated, layered system”.

The Phoebe prototype will “integrate multiple existing systems” to help two levels of command “digitally plan a joint fires strike package of hard-kill and electronic warfare (EW) effects in the context of a larger plan of multi-domain effects”.

The digital twin will let its users check their plan against against real world conditions like communications interoperability and sustainability, whether the target is within reach of forces, time available to plan the mission, fuel availability, and so on.

Defence stipulated that Phoebe be cloud-native and built on open architectures, with the contract covering subsystems including a Web-based interface, “model as a service” for networked force connectivity, electronic warfare simulation as a service, and systems integration.

That’s in addition to the three subsystems covered by the current RFP – Cortex, Phoebe-JF, and LiveLink. The RFP closes September 26.