RASPUTIN: An Automated Scenario Scripting Tool

Mark A. Raker

MRJ Inc.
10455 White Granite Drive
Oakton, Virginia 22124
email: mraker@mrj.com

1.0 Overview

The RApid Scenario Preparation UniT for INtelligence (RASPUTIN) is
an automated, knowledge-engineered, rule-based scripting tool that
allows the user to build a detailed scenario with minimal input.
RASPUTIN uses expert system software to compose, deploy and move
military forces from major unit down to vehicle in a doctrinally
accurate manner RASPUTIN may be used to construct intelligence
scenarios for a variety of training and exercise support
applications.

The system reached initial operating capability in March 1992;
version 1.2 was released in June 1993. Recently, it has been
deployed at several U.S. ARMY installations around the world.


2.0 Scope

RASPUTIN is intended to generate detailed, doctrinally correct
military deployment scenarios for collection simulators. Its
software includes databases of military organizations and equipment
for Blue and Red forces, geographic products, weather, and fixed
sites. An expert system contains doctrinal rules used to generate
correct deployments considering force composition, terrain, road
networks, slope and weather. The system is capable of deploying
military units from major force (corps, air force or fleet) down to
the individual vehicle with its associated emitters. RASPUTIN
scenarios can be used for any military application, or for any
scenario that can be described as placement and movement of groups
of vehicles, ships or airplanes.


3.0 Modeling Conventions and Assumptions

RASPUTIN databases contain generic tables of organization and
equipment (TO&E) for Blue, Orange, and GRAY ground, air and naval forces.
Generic Blue organization, equipment and deployment doctrine are
derived from U.S. military field manuals; generic Orange
organization, equipment and deployment doctrine are derived from
former Soviet doctrine.

RASPUTIN contains a geographic database of Defense Mapping Agency
(DMA) products for Europe, Southwest Asia and Korea. The  database
incorporates terrain features at 1:1,000,000 scale, and slope data
at 1:250,000. The data can be partitioned by geographic area. DMA ITD and
JOG products with terrain features at 1:250,000 are currently being
integrated into RASPUTIN.

RASPUTIN contains the Air Weather Service database of world-wide
weather for the year 1988/89. The data includes all weather factors
contained in the source database, at a resolution of three-hour
intervals and 25 nautical mile grids. The data can be partitioned
by geographic area.

The system contains global fixed site databases for ports, 
airfields and military installations drawn from the Defense
Intelligence Agency (DIA), Automated Installation Intelligence File
(AIIF), and the Defense Mapping Agency Automated Airfield
Information File (AAFIF).


4.0 Output Types

With an appropriate interface, the scenarios generated in RASPUTIN
can be formatted with the specific data required for an external
simulator. A script for an external simulator can be fed directly
into the simulator, or transferred on appropriate media. RASPUTIN
currently has interfaces with the U.S. Army Tactical Simulation
(TACSIM), the U.S. Army Corps Battle Simulation (CBS) and the
Combat Service Support Training Simulation System (CSSTSS) for
scenario initialization.


5.0 Concept of Operations

RASPUTIN is designed to be used by anyone with basic computer
skills who needs to create a scenario, regardless of his degree of
expertise with military doctrine. The scenario builder must know
what size and type of force he needs, where he will place and move
the units, how he wants them to behave and when the activity will
take place. A user with little military knowledge can rely on the 
expert system and data in RASPUTIN to produce a doctrinally
plausible scenario. An experienced military scenarist can use the
system-generated solution, or can tailor forces and deployments to
create the situation he needs.

The user can tailor forces to compose specific orders of battle by
modifying the generic Blue or Orange organization, equipment and
emitters associated with equipment. Force tailoring is done on a
line-and-block chart display with windows for menu choices.

The user places forces by selecting a unit, clicking on a map
display at the desired location, and choosing posture, orientation
and timing from menus. Once a force is placed, the user moves it by
clicking on a map display at the movement objective, and indicating
by menu choices movement posture, timing and actions at the
objective such as placement posture and orientation. RASPUTIN then
calculates the deployment and route selections using its expert
system.

The system places and moves ground forces from major unit down to
individual vehicle, with associated emitters. Postures include
assembly, defense, road march, movement-to-contact, and attack.
RASPUTIN uses the geographic data base to determine appropriate
placement locations and movement routes. For placement, the system
considers linear terrain features such as roads and rivers in
defining unit boundaries. For road movement postures, it considers
suitable roads in selecting routes. For the attack posture, the
system considers slope in selecting cross country routes.

RASPUTIN places and moves naval forces from fleet down to
individual ship, with associated emitters. Postures include port/at
anchor; on station, opposed and unopposed; and in transit, opposed
and unopposed. For placement and movement, the system automatically
considers force capabilities for anti-air, anti-submarine and
anti-surface warfare, as well as proximity to land in locating
ships. For naval movement, RASPUTIN automatically selects routes
that avoid land.

The system places air forces in deployed posture at airfields from
air force down to individual aircraft. RASPUTIN uses the fixed site
databases to select suitable placement airfields for unit aircraft.

A user who wants to depict a different deployment can change the
force placement, and give specific movement parameters to the
force. If the user enters a deployment that contradicts the
doctrinal rules in the system, RASPUTIN will notify him of the
violation; the user may override the violation, or re-enter the
order.

RASPUTIN is an interactive system. A RASPUTIN scenario can be
displayed and reviewed graphically on the system terminal(s).


6.0 Validation

Government acceptance testing included off-line analysis of the
deployments produced by the system; they are doctrinally plausible
as generic placements and movements. Blue organization, equipment
and deployment doctrine are derived from U.S. military field
manuals; Orange organization, equipment and deployment doctrine are
derived from former Soviet doctrine as reflected in U.S. military
field manuals. Organizational data is intentionally generic so that
the user who only needs a basic military force can easily select
one, and the expert user can tailor the generic data to exactly
what he wants. Blue or Orange doctrine for placement and movement
is also designed to produce the most frequently encountered
deployment described in open source documents.


7.0 Other Documentation

     Functional Design Document, 30 Oct 90
     Software Design Specifications, 30 Oct 90
     Detailed Design Document, 17 Jan 91
     System Requirements Specification
     Knowledge Representation and Processing, 24 Sep 91
     System Acceptance Test Plan, 3 Mar 92
     Data Base Definition, 1 Dec 92
     Version 1.2 Acceptance Test Plan, 1 Feb 93
     Version 1.2 Acceptance Test Report, 21 Oct 93
     FAMSIM Interface Test Plan, 29 Oct 93
     FAMSIM ICD (draft)
     Installation Test Procedures, version 1.2, undated
     Training Guide, version 1.2, undated
     Users Guide, version 1.2, (draft), undated


8.0 Availability

RASPUTIN is designed to be used directly by the analyst or
scenarist with basic computer skills to operate a mouse and a
Windows-type environment. The user does not need extensive
knowledge of military forces or deployments.

RASPUTIN hardware is based on SUN SPARC 64 megabyte systems. 
Specific hardware architecture depends on the size of scenarios
generated, and the users operational needs:

Global Scenario Generation:

     4 THEMIS SPARC 2SE 64 megabyte cards
     8 2-gigabyte hard disks.
     1 VME cage.
     1 19" rack.
     4 NCD 19" color X-terminals.
     1 56-gigabyte electro-optical drive.
     1 2-terabyte 8mm tape juke box with 4 drives.
     Ethernet multiport transceiver and cables.
     Uninterrupted power source.(recommended)

Regional Scenario Generation (example for Europe):

     1 or more SUN SPARC 4c (SPARC 2) 64 megabyte systems
     4 2-gigabyte hard disks.
     1 8mm Exabyte tape drive with compression.
     1 NCD 19" color X-terminal.(optional)
     Uninterrupted power source.(recommended)

RASPUTIN uses the following commercial off-the-shelf software:
SOLARIS 1.X (SUN OS 4.1.X) operating system; SYBASE database
management system; GENAMAP geographic information system; and
PROKAPPA expert system. The system contains approximately 100,000
lines of code, all written in 'C'.