AMSP-05 NATO handbook for modelling and simulation in training and exercises

What it is

AMSP-05 is the Allied Modelling and Simulation Publication that guides how Modelling and Simulation (M&S) is planned and applied to support NATO training and exercises. It is written "from the perspective of the provider of M&S support" and builds on two existing frameworks rather than inventing its own: IEEE 1730's Distributed Simulation Engineering and Execution Process (DSEEP), and the NATO exercise process set out in Bi-SC Directive 75-3. It is a handbook for the people planning and running the M&S side of an exercise, not a requirement placed on a supplier or a nation. It reaches nations through STANREC 4801, and a STANREC is a NATO recommendation rather than a ratified STANAG: "the recommendation of nations to use this publication is recorded in STANREC 4801," so nations are invited to use it, not committed to it by agreement. Edition B, Version 1 was promulgated in November 2024 and is effective on receipt, superseding Edition A, Version 1 ("NATO Handbook (Best Practice) for Computer Assisted Exercises (CAX)"), which nations are to destroy under their own local procedures. It is a major revision prepared by the MSG-216 Research Task Group on behalf of the NATO Modelling and Simulation Group (NMSG) and its Modelling and Simulation Standards Subgroup (MS3).

Who the handbook is written for

AMSP-05 names no supplier obligation and sets no contract-clause language. Instead it addresses the roles inside an M&S or Computer-Assisted Exercise (CAX) support effort: the CAX Planner, who carries the responsibility "to capture requirements and together with the CAX Developer Lead perform the first step of a CAX analysis"; the CAX Development Lead, who is tasked to "develop and integrate technical solutions for M&S and implement the CAX database"; and, once the exercise is running, the CAX Manager, CAX Control and the CAX Operator, who "implements orders in simulation on behalf of RC and provides the output from the simulation back to RC." Annex A is addressed directly to "Aspiring M&S Support Planners," treating the handbook as the starting point for a career path rather than a compliance obligation. It applies to NATO and partner nations' collective training and exercises of any type that use synthetic representation, and the guidance "can directly be applied" to Distributed Synthetic Training as well as to conventional Computer-Assisted Exercises.

Fitting M&S into the NATO exercise process

Bi-SC 75-3's Exercise Process runs four stages, and AMSP-05's guidance is fitted onto them rather than describing a separate process. Stage 0 (Initiation) sets the exercise's ambition and resources; Stage 1 (Specification) produces the EXSPEC, defining Exercise Aims and Objectives; Stage 2 (Planning) produces the EXPLAN and six Scenario Modules, from the geostrategic situation through to execution information at the start of the exercise; and Stage 3 (Conduct) is where the exercise actually runs, covered by the Exercise Control organisation and the Officer Conducting the Exercise's reporting. The EXPLAN itself is worth noting for what it excludes: written for those planning and running the exercise rather than the Training Audience (TA), it "is not designed or intended for use by the TA in their operational role," so operational information stays out of it apart from the exercise's own command-and-control structure and the timeline of scenario deliverables.

The DSEEP engineering process, and where this edition stops

Chapter 3 sets out DSEEP's seven steps: define objectives, perform conceptual analysis, design the simulation environment, develop it, integrate and test it, execute it, then analyse and evaluate the results. Effort is not spread evenly across them - "the time and effort spent for each DSEEP step and activity varies depending on the need for change in existing M&S capabilities" - and the steps can overlap: development work on a well-understood part of the design can start "while other parts are still being designed." STANAG 4603 separately lists IEEE 1730 as NATO's process for simulation engineering and execution.

This edition's own guidance, however, only goes so far. As the document states, "this version of AMSP-05 focus on the three (3) first steps of DSEEP to understand requirements and design a matching CAX solution." Step 1 produces a Needs Statement, an Objectives Statement and Initial Planning Documents, ideally expressed as architecture views a non-technical audience can read. Step 2 produces the scenario, a conceptual model, and the simulation environment's requirements and test criteria. Step 3 selects member applications, sets federation agreements, and produces a detailed development and execution plan. Each of these iterates through the exercise's own planning conferences - drafted for the Exercise Specification Conference, refined across successive Exercise Group meetings, and reaching a form with only minor updates expected at the Main Planning Conference - with the M&S Annex M of the EXPLAN as the running deliverable. Steps 4 through 7, developing, integrating, testing, executing and evaluating the simulation environment, are only touched on at a table-of-activities level here; the detail is left to IEEE 1730 itself and to practical experience.

Architecture: the NATO Architecture Framework

Chapter 4 uses the NATO Architecture Framework (NAF) to structure the M&S-specific building blocks that a companion publication, AMSP-03, defines: AMSP-03 "provides an architectural approach for designing, developing and implementing distributed synthetic training environments." NAF gives a common way to organise, present and compare architectures across different viewpoints, and to align with civil frameworks from bodies such as ISO, IEEE, The Open Group and OMG - useful when an M&S solution needs describing to both a NATO command and outside technical reviewers.

What an M&S support plan is checked against

There is no certification, accreditation or third-party assessment attached to AMSP-05: it names no body that awards one and describes no pass/fail scheme. The closest thing to a check is the exercise's own planning conferences. At the Initial Planning Conference the CAX Planner presents the current iteration of the objectives, needs and conceptual model to the wider exercise audience; at the Main Planning Conference the design is presented for confirmation, with only minor changes expected from that point on. That is a review by the exercise's own commands and syndicates against the exercise's stated needs, not a government or accredited-body audit of a supplier.

Standards it references

AMSP-05 is carried by STANREC 4801, the NATO recommendation under which nations are invited to use it. It informs, and is informed by, AMSP-03, the source of the architectural building blocks this handbook's NAF-based guidance draws on, and it notes that STANAG 4603 lists IEEE 1730 as NATO's simulation engineering and execution process. Outside our catalogue, the whole handbook is built on IEEE 1730-2022 (DSEEP) and is fitted onto NATO Bi-SC Directive 075-003 (the Collective Training and Exercise Directive); it also cites NATO Architecture Framework Version 4.0, the NATO Terminology Database, AC/323-N(2021)0015 on Distributed Synthetic Training, and MC 0458/3, NATO's Education, Training, Exercise and Evaluation policy.

Standards it references

• AMSP-03Background
• STANAG 4603Background