Simulation-Supported Wargaming for Assessing Force Structures
Vitenskapelig artikkel
2022
Om publikasjonen
Wargaming is a key activity for gaining deeper insight into the strengths and
weaknesses of future force structures in the course of their development and
assessment. For more than a decade, the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment
(Forsvarets forskningsinstitutt – FFI) has supported the Norwegian Army in conducting
wargames for capability planning, with varying degrees of computer-based support.
Throughout this period, these have evolved from what can be described as computerassisted wargames to more realistic simulation-supported wargames. Moreover, to
get a closer understanding of the deterrent effect of the force structures, which may
not be observable during the actual gameplay, our emphasis has also shifted towards
replicating the planning process more properly – and especially towards monitoring
the planning process of the opposing force. For example, it has been important to
examine the extent to which specific structure elements discourage the opposing
force from taking certain actions. In this article, we describe our evolved methodology
for simulation-supported wargaming, which includes a preparation phase; an
execution phase, including a joint operational planning process; and an analysis phase.
Furthermore, we discuss what type of data and results we are able to extract from the
wargaming sessions, and present a set of what we have found to be best practices for
how to conduct successful simulation-supported wargames.
Utgiverinformasjon
Evensen, Per-Idar; Martinussen, Svein Erlend; Halsør, Marius; Bentsen, Dan Helge. Simulation-Supported Wargaming for Assessing Force Structures. Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies (SJMS) 2022 ;Volum 5.(1) s. 323-333