Strategies for Application of the Coalition Battle Management Language (C-BML) with the Military Scenario Definition Language (MSDL)

Abstract

The Coalition Battle Management Language (C-BML) is a common language for expressing and exchanging plans, orders, requests, and reports across command and control systems, modeling and simulation systems, and robotic systems. C-BML is an emerging standard from the Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO). The Military Scenario Definition Language (MSDL) is a SISO-approved standard for describing forces, force structures, environment, and other aspects of military scenarios.MSDL is generally employed for initializing databases of simulation systems prior to execution of the simulation, but it is recognized that certain objects specified by MSDL data structures can be defined during execution. C-BML is generally considered a language for expressing plans, orders, requests, and reports during an operation (during execution), but is clearly applicable to expression of plans, orders, and requests given to simulation objects prior to execution (during initialization) so that the objects can begin performing those orders when execution begins. While these intertwined purposes have been discussed in the respective development groups, no clear specification of the approach has been put forward for consideration by the respective specification groups. This paper provides a brief description of the two languages and discusses the issues relating to their use in pre-execution and during execution of simulation and C2 systems supporting an operational or synthetic event. The paper provides examples of possible use of data constructs from the two languages in pre-execution and during execution to illustrate synergistic employment of the two languages.