Raytheon has secured from the U.S. Army a follow-on award for its Rapid Campaign Analysis and Demonstration Environment, or RCADE, modeling and simulation capability.

How Will the Army Use RCADE?

Raytheon said Monday that it created large-scale theater situations to evaluate concepts of operations in multi-domain combat during the initial contract, which was awarded in 2024. For this follow-on, the company will use RCADE to create a continuous experimentation environment, allowing Army concept developers to help inform strategic force design.

The contract was formally awarded by the U.S. Army Futures Command Futures and Concepts Center.

“This contract demonstrates the U.S. Army’s confidence in our ability to quickly analyze options and adapt solutions to meet evolving needs,” Colin Whelan, Raytheon president of advanced technology, said. “In partnership, we’re helping to provide the operational perspective to optimize decision making through data-driven modeling and simulation insights.”

What Is RCADE?

Raytheon’s RCADE service is meant to allow analysts from the company’s advanced technology sector to work with the U.S. Army to establish a functional linkage between the threat landscape and modeling and simulation systems. The strategy is being rolled out in stages and is highly collaborative; it’s designed to aid and make more efficient the testing and implementation processes for Department of Defense components broadly.

What Is Modeling and Simulation?

Modeling and simulation, or M&S, enables organizations to visualize the results of their plans before deploying them in the real world. It is a technique for developing and assessing complex systems and processes.

Using a mathematical model, M&S creates a scenario that integrates elements of a physical model in a virtual environment and then calculates the results on the mathematical model. Cutting-edge technologies, such as digital twins, AI and virtual reality, are simulations.