Final Report LKS Methods development

Authors:

  • Magdalena Hammervik
  • Peter Klum
  • Patrik Lif
  • Björn Johansson
  • Martin Castor
  • Lars Tydén

Publish date: 2009-12-31

Report number: FOI-R--2843--SE

Pages: 63

Written in: Swedish

Keywords:

  • Command and Control Warfare
  • Information Operations
  • Electronic
  • Warfare
  • Computer Network Operations
  • Command and Control Ability
  • Scenario
  • Experiment
  • Data Collection

Abstract

The report describes work done with regard to FOI method development around ledningskrigföringssimulatorn (LKS) 2005-2009. LKS is a demonstrator with the purpose to visualize the effects of command and control warfare on command and control ability. Command and control warfare in this respect is limited to electronic warfare and computer network operations. LKS has evolved evolutionarily in order to progressively develop the knowledge and skills that can provide good support for future development and study of command and control ability. Methodological issues related to LKS have addressed the key question "how can the effects of command and control warfare on command and control ability be measured?" The starting-point has been a hypothesis of ten prerequisites for command and control, which are adopted as key elements for command and control ability. These ten conditions for command and control have been useful in finding ways to study and measure command and control ability. The following activities have been carried out as described in the report:  Participation in the development process (FEDEP) in order to secure that requirements concerning methodological issues were expressed.  Inventory of existing methodology (for example, from NATO C2 Assessment Knowledge base) and development of new methods for measuring command and control ability.  Planning of experiments with regard to experimental design and development of game scenarios. Development of surveys, observation protocols and other data collection. Recruitment of participants and mailings of introduction materials to the participants before the experiment.  Participation during experiments in roles as observers, game control and Higher Chief in Command.  Analysis of collected data after experiments.  Conducted a workshop regarding the future of LKS. 10 experiments have been carried out in a demonstrator environment. These are described in separate reports. The present report describes the overall development and general results from the experiments. It is difficult to compare results between experiments due to the fact that conditions have varied greatly between experiments as technology, methods and scenarios have been developed continuously. Still, results point to that command and control warfare has an effect on command and control ability. The hypothesis of the ten prerequisites for command and control ability seems valid, even if it is not fully clear to what extent and how the various conditions effect the ability and how they effect each other. An important conclusion expressed by the majority of participants involved in the various experiments is that LKS is playing a significant role to enhance understanding of the effects of command and control warfare on command and control ability. The report also describes from a methodological point of view, possible future directions and needs for development.