The metrics of military ops: Real-time dashboards with Command PE

May 14, 2018 · Posted in Command PE · Comment

On our recent Command-PE users conference in Dayton, one of the questions asked was about Command’s ability to present the information it outputs in a format that is immediately query-able so as to be presentable in real-time displays, dashboards etc. We replied that it was certainly feasible, and this is such an example.

Command-PE offers the ability to output various scenario state data and transient events such as unit positions and movements, the discrete kill-chain steps (from initial contact detection all the way to eventual kill confirmation and removal), weapon launches and engagements, fuel consumption and transfer etc. The information can be exported to a number of formats, some of which can be queried on-the-fly to populate visualizers, graphs etc.

In this example, we are running the popular “South China Clash” scenario and wish to visualize the fluctuations in fuel consumption. So we modify the configuration file to export this information to an SQLite database, which we will concurrently poll from a very simple line-chart applet (the “Fuel Tracker” window on the bottom left). SQLite is a good selection for such a scenario as it combines high insertion throughput (it can even operate in in-memory mode for even greater speed) with minimal setup hassle (no need to install a database server).

Notice the changes in aviation fuel consumption as several F/A-18Es are ordered to launch, then given a course to follow (ie. throttle goes from loiter to cruise), ordered to go to afterburner and finally ordered to return to base.

This is a deliberately very simple example, as the dashboard applet may be further tweaked to display all the other types of information that Command-PE is able to output.

Export to SQLite and MS SQL-Server is included on the next Command-PE update release.

Tags: no tags