United States Strategic Command pushes for standardized data in Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations

United States Strategic Command, along with Department of Defense and industry leaders, made significant progress in identifying electromagnetic spectrum modeling, simulation and analysis data usability processes during a technical interchange meeting Feb. 19-20 in Los Angeles, California.

The meeting, a third of its kind and led by USSTRATCOM’s Advanced Warfare Capabilities Division, focused on the need to strive for model-agnostic data, which is essential for interoperability and data reusability across different MS&A systems used by the DoD.

Meeting participants identified a set of core data issues and potential paths forward, prioritizing solutions into four key areas, which they called “make-or-break” for data usability:

1. Adhere to VAULTIS Principles: EMS data objects must strive to meet the following immutable data characteristics identified in the 2020 DoD Data Strategy: Visible, Accessible, Understandable, Linked, Trustworthy, Interoperable and Secure (VAULTIS).
2. Data Re-use: Participants agreed that leveraging large language models (LLMs) will be essential for efficient data reuse and for simplifying alignment with the DoD Data, Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Adoption Strategy.
3. Standardize Data Translation: LLMs can help translate disparate data objects into a globally re-usable format. Participants agreed that all EMS data objects should translate into Systems Modeling Language (SysML V2) format.
4. Create a Centralized Data Hub: A centralized repository will be established to house all SysML V2 EMS data objects. This aligns with the 2020 DoD Data Strategy's emphasis on enterprise-wide data access and availability.

“Joint Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations require data that meet the VAULTIS standards, and the work done here in modeling and simulation will help progress operational requirements,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. AnnMarie Anthony, Joint Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations Center director, who has long focused on standardized EMS data.

The Naval Surface Warfare Center - Crane Division, a central USSTRATCOM mission partner for EMS MS&A, will provide a simple unclassified scenario, with corresponding mission threads. The scenario will serve as a baseline for all participants to test data objects and their integration within the disparate MS&A systems.

U.S. Navy CAPT. Travis Wood, USSTRATCOM Advanced Warfare Capabilities’ division chief, acknowledged the project's ambitious nature, emphasizing the need for close collaboration between LLM developers, service partners, and industry experts. He stressed the importance of rigorous verification and validation of the EMS data objects to ensure their accuracy and reusability.

Mr. Tom Woods, USSTRATCOM’s lead for EMS campaign MS&A, also underscored the importance of common data.  

“Data is king,” said Woods. “Ensuring we can all use the same EMS objects impacts not only how the EMS is visualized within a model, but it also ensures analysis cohesion. This is one step in a long road, but it’s an important step.”

The EMS MS&A technical meetings are directly tied to accomplishing taskings within the 2020 Electromagnetic Spectrum Superiority Strategy’s Implementation Plan and also support USSTRATCOM’s JEC mission.

United States Strategic Command, a global warfighting command, deters strategic attack through a safe, secure, effective, and credible global combat capability and, when directed, is ready to prevail in conflict.

Learn more about USSTRATCOM:

United States Strategic Command: Peace is our Profession…(YouTube.com)

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