Training simulations for missile defense and missile warning will be merged under a new effort led by U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) and Joint Forces Command (JFCOM), the commands announced April 28.

Dubbed “All Things Missile,” the project is still in the planning stages, with an estimated 2011 completion date. The goal is to create a common live-virtual-constructive simulation capability that will include both missile warning and defense, as well as integrate missile simulations that are now scattered across numerous agencies. The result will be a joint training capability for air, cruise missile and ballistic missile defense for global, theater and homeland defense.

The current divide between the missile warning and missile defense simulations makes comprehensive training problematic. STRATCOM has its missile warning simulation, which puts simulated missiles on the screens of its operators. The Missile Defense Agency has its Distributed Multi-Echelon Training System (DMES), which puts simulated missiles on the screens of interceptor operators. But the two simulations are totally separate.

“What we do is we take our missile warning simulation capability, and DMES for missile defense, and we synchronize them together by counting down, ‘three, two, one, start,’ ” said Patrick McVay, director of STRATCOM’s joint exercises and training directorate. “If they’re off by even a couple of seconds, it’s very confusing to the training audience.”

All Things Missile will also consolidate the array of missile simulation programs.

“Right now, we have four separate systems,” McVay said. “We have the legacy system to support missile warning. We have the capability that the Missile Defense Agency has developed [for missile defense]. The Navy has done a tremendous job developing a capability for their sailors on the Aegis cruisers. Then there is the Army with Patriot and THAAD. Everyone is going out and developing their own capability.” THAAD is the Theater High Altitude Area Defense system.

Missile warning and defense joins a broader trend of creating simulations that are more flexible and user-friendly. Gregory Knapp, executive director of JFCOM’s Joint Warfighting Center, noted that the Missile Defense Agency’s DMES is a manpower-intensive system requiring a team of contractors at Colorado Springs.

“It’s not particularly dynamic. It takes a while to develop a simulation. If they’re supporting a STRATCOM training event, then they can’t support a [U.S. Northern Command] training event,” Knapp said.

The exact shape of All Things Missile is not yet clear. The project’s leaders are assessing the current missile warning and defense architecture before formulating requirements. JFCOM PowerPoint slides illustrate the vast array of equipment and networks that a joint missile warning and defense simulation must encompass, including Aegis cruisers; land-, sea-, air- and space-based sensors; information operations and special operations forces; and strike weapons employed against hostile missile launchers. JFCOM did say that All Things Missile will use the existing training and networking infrastructure, such as JFCOM’s Joint Training & Experimentation Network, the Navy Continuous Training Environment, and the Defense Department’s of Global Information Grid.

STRATCOM was designated as the lead agency of All Things Missile because of its roots in nuclear command and control, and because of a 2002 presidential directive charging the command with the mission of synchronizing and integrating global missile defense. Other partners in the project include JFCOM, the Missile Defense Agency, U.S. European Command, U.S. Pacific Command, NORTHCOM and the individual services.