Cubic’s Data-Agnostic, Open Architecture Learning Technology

Improving the effectiveness and efficiency of training combat aviators is a matter of strategic importance, particularly as the qualitative parity presented by peer adversaries imposes an urgent requirement to derive more from precious training dollars to produce combat aviators better and faster.

Cubic’s Simplified, Planning, Execution, Analysis, Reconstruction (SPEAR) solution was designed and built as a plug-and-play, open-architecture system for highly scalable, distributed collaboration at multiple levels of security. Showcased at I/ITSEC 2021, SPEAR captures training data and moves it to a congruent format, to reduce the cognitive burden on trainees. SPEAR ingests objective, subjective, kinetic and non-kinetic effects, multi-domain (air, space, maritime, cyber, ground), multi-environment (live, virtual, constructive) data. It is data-agnostic and runs analytics on all integrated data during live training exercises as well as post-mission analysis.

“To maximize learning with the greatest efficiency, DoD and Coalition partners need to harness timely and accurate data from multiple sources, while applying robust analytics, enabling precise performance assessment in minimal time,” explained Tim Welde, Director of Strategic Development Air Training Solutions at Cubic Mission & Performance Solutions.

SPEAR’s inherently adaptive common data model benefits from an efficient client/server architecture, designed to speed up data ingestion and analysis.

“A significantly large amount of time in military training is spent on reconstructing engagements to first determine ‘what’ happened, before getting to ‘why’ things happened and what really matters — assessing performance objectives, conducting root cause analysis, and developing learning points and corresponding instructional fixes. In some cases, the time spent on reconstruction vastly exceeds the learning portion of debrief or after-action review,” observed Welde. “SPEAR reverses the trend of longer analysis times in the ever-changing tactical, multi-domain environment in specific, scientific ways. The Common Data Model provides the foundational data requirements, but the data is useless if it cannot be absorbed in a quick and efficient manner. SPEAR has a streamlined user interface that allows near-instantaneous call-up of the mission, as well as an optimized setup for that specific mission, to present tailored data presentations on 4K displays […] Throughout the entire mission cycle, data needs to be efficiently shared and acted upon in real time […] Access is available to anyone on the network, from any location, to benefit from advanced analytics for optimum learning and assessment, both in real-time and during debrief. The often-disparate data types fused into a common format allows seamless collaboration during mission design, data input, and mission planning processes. SPEAR gets you to ‘What happened?’ quickly, leaving more time to figure out ‘Why it happened.’”

SPEAR has been used for multiple USAF, USN, and Coalition large force employment (LFE) exercises, and is currently the live monitor and debrief system for the USAF’s Checkered Flag, the largest air-to-air LFE exercise in the world. Several countries now own and use SPEAR, and its global footprint is quickly growing.

Juan Atavega reporting from Orlando