Coalition Battle Management Language (C-BML) Phase 1 Specification Development: An Update to the M&S Community / Paper 09S-SIW-002

Abstract

The Coalition Battle Management Language (C-BML) is a common language for expressing and exchanging plans, orders, and reports across command and control systems, modeling and simulation systems, and robotic systems. In March 2006, the Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO) approved initiation of a Product Development Group (PDG) to generate a specification and guidance document for C-BML. The PDG laid out a three-phase development effort: (1) Phase 1 will specify a sufficient data model to unambiguously define a set of military orders using the Joint Command, Control, and Consultation Information Exchange Data Model (JC3IEDM) as a starting point; (2) Phase 2 will develop a formal grammar (lexicon and production rules) to formalize the expression of plans, orders, and reports; and (3) Phase 3 will develop a formal battle management ontology to enable conceptual interoperability across systems. Initial efforts to develop the Phase 1 specification identified issues and misunderstandings in the required scope of the Phase 1 product. Subsequent PDG discussions and decisions in late 2008 resolved the issues, permitting continuation of Phase 1 specification development under better-defined technical guidance. This paper describes the decisions made by the PDG and current status of development of the C-BML Phase 1 Specification.