02 - Systems Engineering and Integration
DIGITAL TWIN FOR AIR DEFENSE: LIVE-VIRTUAL-CONSTRUCTIVE INTEGRATION AND DECISION SUPPORT
S. Malka¹, M. Ben Simon¹, O. Yakimenko¹; ¹Naval Postgraduate Shcool, United States
Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) is a strategic system-of-systems (SoS) comprising command-and-control (C2), radars, optical sensors, networks, launchers, interceptors, and datalinks operating under strict interoperability constraints. Digital twin (DT) concepts provide a dynamic digital representation of a physical system, continuously synchronized with operational data and grounded in Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) principles. In air defense SoS modeling, the greatest value lies not only in high-fidelity physics but in creating a holistic ecosystem that integrates live operations, virtual analysis, and constructive reasoning to enable data-driven decisions and actionable operational recommendations. This paper proposes a reference architecture for an air-defense DT designed to support Live-Virtual-Constructive (LVC) integration. Based on well-defined requirements, this paper presents an MBSE-driven decomposition into data, model, and decision layers, forming an LVC interface that supports training, testing, operations, and Verification, Validation, and Accreditation (VV&A). The result is a practical blueprint for building an operational DT-enabled decision-support capability for complex defense SoS—while remaining standards-compliant and unclassified.