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The role of warfare analysis has taken on increasing importance as the Services and the Joint Staff have individually and collectively begun the process of transformation. Emerging asymmetric threats, the war on terrorism, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction continue to force change in traditional military operations. The objective of DoD‘s transformation process is to ensure that its forces can conduct sufficiently rapid and decisive operations to deal with changing threats.
 APL ‘s proven analysis process can help ensure that future military capabilities are relevant to evolving national security priorities. Analysis is only one part of the decision-making equation. Military judgment, budgetary constraints, and political considerations are often the determining factors in major decisions. Nevertheless, credible analysis with operational and technical rigor and fidelity can have significant impact on the overall decision-making process. The critical decisions facing our DoD sponsors in the transformation process need the application of warfare analysis for informed decision support.
Warfare analysis at APL has been an integral part of the systems engineering process since 1948, ranging from operational concept development to weapon system engineering. In the past, much of that work focused on weapon system development and modification, supporting sponsors in the  acquisition community. For example, warfare analysis provided the requirements rationale for every major surface combatant since Aegis, provided the analytical underpinning for the military utility of new systems such as Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) and Theater Ballistic Missile Defense, and influenced the shaping of the post–Cold-War Navy through OPNAV studies and Flag-level WALEXs (analysis exercises in APL's Warfare Analysis Laboratory).
Since 2001 the focus of warfare analysis at APL has expanded to incorporate analytic capabilities that can address the Defense Department's need for force-level integrated warfare analysis. APL's warfare analysis capability has evolved to include a broader set of sponsors with force-level integrated warfare analysis needs and an emerging interest in assessment of the potential costs/benefits of advanced technology insertion. |
Overview