Excess Energy Aerodynamic Model Transitions to DARPA Published Sept. 22, 2008 By 1st Lt. Clinton Kam Human Effectiveness Directorate WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- Air Force Research Laboratory transitioned its high-fidelity, high-entity-count Excess Energy aerodynamic software model to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for use in the agency's Real-World Air Combat Environment (RW-ACE) simulator program. Employed by the 563rd Flying Training Squadron (Randolph Air Force Base, Texas), the RW-ACE simulator enables up to ten weapon system officers and aviators to fly concurrently in the same battlespace just as they would in combat, reacting to threats and interacting with different Air Force platforms as displayed on a common screen. The aerodynamic model currently incorporated in the RW-ACE simulator is extremely limited, incapable of representing more than just a few performance distinctions between heavy bombers, fighter aircraft, or cargo planes. Though other high-fidelity models are available, they can handle only a small number of aircraft at one time. Having encountered similar issues while developing the eXperimental Common Immersive Theater Environment computer-generated-forces software, AFRL subsequently designed and developed an Excess Energy aerodynamic software model. The new model does more than accommodate a significant number of participants; it also alleviates the problem of unrealistic aircraft characteristics by leveraging National Air and Space Intelligence Centerproduced aircraft data to provide plausible turn, acceleration, and climb performance data at varying altitudes and speeds. Because engineers based the Excess Energy aerodynamic model on the idea of high-entity-count distributed mission operations, it has the capacity to fly hundreds of aircraft (built on 50 different airframes) on a single personal computer. To prepare the technology for transition to DARPA, AFRL reengineered the Excess Energy model to function as a stand-alone module. Overall, the DARPA-specific customization required fewer than a dozen lines of modified software code. Students flying with the RW-ACE simulator's newly incorporated Excess Energy module will now have a realistic environment in which to train.