UK BMD ASSESSMENT MODEL (UKBAM)

UK BMD Assessment Model (UKBAM) is one of many OA modelling projects undertaken by the team.  It considers all elements in BMD architectures needed to provide an effective defence against attack by ballistic missiles carrying HE, nuclear, chemical or biological payloads.

A wide range of BMD scenarios have been represented in UKBAM, from massive inter-continental nuclear strategic missile attacks to small-scale tactical or terror strikes in out-of-area conflicts using short range theatre ballistic missiles.  Defence system elements can be ground-based, ship-based, airborne or on space-based platforms.

The model is particularly suitable for undertaking parametric and trade-off studies and for providing answers to ‘What if…?’ questions.  For example, what is the effect of replacing a ground-based surveillance radar by a space-based sensor? Or what if a particular element is not available or destroyed – does the whole architecture fail? The robustness of the architecture to countermeasures can also be addressed. 

UKBAM is a stochastic discrete event simulation model.  The ballistic missile threat is modelled from launch to the terminal phase, including the interaction with various elements in the defensive architecture (e.g. radars, interceptors) and the assets being defended.

UKBAM has several pre-processing modules to assist with data set-up and various output facilities, including OpenGL-based graphics and animated playbacks of the simulated battle.