CORDA (UK)
Encyclopedia
CORDA is small analysis and management consultancy company, owned by BAE Systems
and based in Farnborough
. It provides evidence-based decision support to BAE Systems, government departments, and other commercial organisations. "CORDA’s key capability lies in the integration of scientific, technical, and financial skills with military expertise across all domains, to provide a packaged, one-stop analysis service, focussed at the concept and assessment phase of the defence lifecycle."
(part of the CAP Group). At the time CORDA stood for: Centre for Operational Research and Defence Analysis. As with other parts of CAP Group, it became part of the Anglo-French SEMA Group
in 1988. In 1991 it became part of BAeSEMA
, a company jointly owned by SEMA Group and British Aerospace
. It became part of British Aerospace in 1998, and BAE Systems
in 1999.
, and uses them for operational analysis studies. In the late 1980s CORDA produced a simulation called FASTAID that was used by the Royal Army Medical Corps
to help train soldiers to make decisions about despatching ambulances. An improved and updated version of this tool was developed for Operation GRANBY
and delivered by CORDA staff to troops in the field.
, and political cards gaming in studies. For instance in 2002, they used matrix gaming in conjunction with cost modelling done by HVR to look at the use of unmanned underwater vehicles for Ministry of Defence. In November 2008, "CORDA provided both an interactive symposium on 'political cards' and a presentation on 'the application of war gaming and combat modelling in support of defence decision making' at the war gaming and combat modelling course... run by the Defence College of Management and Technology
at Shrivenham."
, supported BAE Systems Inc.
(the US division of BAE Systems) on the T45 Goshawk
proposal, which was later followed with support on their Special Operations Forces Support Activity (SOFSA) bid."
in the land battle from World War II to Operation TELIC
conducted from at least 1994 to 2004. Other areas of study have included casualty and sickness rates, and campaign level studies to validate current MoD models.
, in the Balkans, and in Northern Ireland.
] and what can be done to increase the level of protection it provides.'... 'The ASCG system has significantly enhanced capability, but we have been asked to look at how improving tactics or integrating further technology could improve the performance of the system further.'" The DS30M, which the Royal Navy is fitting to Type 23 frigate
s, "integrates an off-mount electro-optical director (EOD) with a fully automated 30 mm gun mount". The study used "simulator based operator trials and aims to quantify the performance of the entire weapon system when engaging multiple vehicles attacking together in a co-ordinated fashion. Results of the study are expected in early 2009." The trials were at the Maritime Warfare School at HMS Collingwood
. CORDA worked in partnership with GE FANUC and BAE Systems' Advanced Technology Centre, in conjunction with the DE&S Integrated Project Teams (IPTs), with Dstl
providing technical direction.
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc is a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that has global interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. BAE is among the world's largest military contractors; in 2009 it was the...
and based in Farnborough
Farnborough, Hampshire
-History:Name changes: Ferneberga ; Farnburghe, Farenberg ; Farnborowe, Fremborough, Fameborough .Tower Hill, Cove: There is substantial evidence...
. It provides evidence-based decision support to BAE Systems, government departments, and other commercial organisations. "CORDA’s key capability lies in the integration of scientific, technical, and financial skills with military expertise across all domains, to provide a packaged, one-stop analysis service, focussed at the concept and assessment phase of the defence lifecycle."
History
CORDA was founded in 1985 as part of CAP ScientificCAP Scientific
CAP Scientific Ltd was a British defence software company. CAP merged with the French firm Sema-Metra SA in 1988 as Sema Group plc which was acquired by Schlumberger in 2001 to become SchlumbergerSema, itself acquired by Atos Origin in 2004...
(part of the CAP Group). At the time CORDA stood for: Centre for Operational Research and Defence Analysis. As with other parts of CAP Group, it became part of the Anglo-French SEMA Group
Sema Group
Sema Group plc was an Anglo-French IT services company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Schlumberger in 2001.-History:...
in 1988. In 1991 it became part of BAeSEMA
BAeSEMA
BAeSEMA was a naval technology joint venture between British Aerospace and the French Sema Group. The company was formed in 1991 and dissolved in November 1998 when BAe purchased SEMA's 50% share....
, a company jointly owned by SEMA Group and British Aerospace
British Aerospace
British Aerospace plc was a UK aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was in the Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire...
. It became part of British Aerospace in 1998, and BAE Systems
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc is a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that has global interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. BAE is among the world's largest military contractors; in 2009 it was the...
in 1999.
Simulations
CORDA builds computer simulationsModeling and simulation
Modeling and simulation is the use of models, including emulators, prototypes, simulators, and stimulators, either statically or over time, to develop data as a basis for making managerial or technical decisions. The terms "modeling" and "simulation" are often used interchangeably.The use of...
, and uses them for operational analysis studies. In the late 1980s CORDA produced a simulation called FASTAID that was used by the Royal Army Medical Corps
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace...
to help train soldiers to make decisions about despatching ambulances. An improved and updated version of this tool was developed for Operation GRANBY
Operation Granby
Operation Granby was the name given to the British military operations during the Gulf War. 53,462 troops were deployed during the conflict. The total cost of operations was £2.434 billion of which at least £2.049 billion was paid for by other nations such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia; £200...
and delivered by CORDA staff to troops in the field.
Soft OA
CORDA has used a variety of soft operational analysis techniques such as drama theory, matrix gaming, wargamingWargaming
A wargame is a strategy game that deals with military operations of various types, real or fictional. Wargaming is the hobby dedicated to the play of such games, which can also be called conflict simulations, or consims for short. When used professionally to study warfare, it is generally known as...
, and political cards gaming in studies. For instance in 2002, they used matrix gaming in conjunction with cost modelling done by HVR to look at the use of unmanned underwater vehicles for Ministry of Defence. In November 2008, "CORDA provided both an interactive symposium on 'political cards' and a presentation on 'the application of war gaming and combat modelling in support of defence decision making' at the war gaming and combat modelling course... run by the Defence College of Management and Technology
Defence College of Management and Technology
The Defence Academy - College of Management and Technology is a British postgraduate school, research institution and training provider formed in 2009 from five departments of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, and as such part of the British Armed Forces. Since 1984 Cranfield University...
at Shrivenham."
Business and solutions modelling
"Within BAE Systems, CORDA provides Defence Analysis services to Business Units during the programme assessment phases, to support operational system and financial trade off and solution optimisation, and during programme delivery phases to provide specialist technical and analytical modelling support." For example, in "February 2008, the CORDA team, in combination with economic modellers from Military Air SolutionsBAE Systems Military Air Solutions
BAE Systems Military Air & Information is a business unit of British defence company BAE Systems responsible for the design, development, manufacture and support of fixed wing military aircraft...
, supported BAE Systems Inc.
BAE Systems Inc.
BAE Systems Inc. is a major subsidiary of the British defense and aerospace company BAE Systems plc. As per its Special Security Agreement, BAE Systems Inc...
(the US division of BAE Systems) on the T45 Goshawk
T-45 Goshawk
|-Avionics:Data from naval-technology.com *Smiths Industries, Ltd. AN/USN-2 Standard Attitude Heading and Reference System . Later replaced by the BAE/Marconi AN/ASN-180 Navigation Guidance System ....
proposal, which was later followed with support on their Special Operations Forces Support Activity (SOFSA) bid."
Historical studies
Historical analysis is a operational analysis tool used to take account of human factors. CORDA has undertaken historical analysis studies for the UK Ministry of Defence, these include studies of friendly fireFriendly fire
Friendly fire is inadvertent firing towards one's own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces, particularly where this results in injury or death. A death resulting from a negligent discharge is not considered friendly fire...
in the land battle from World War II to Operation TELIC
Operation Telic
Operation TELIC was the codename under which all British military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the Invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on 22 May 2011...
conducted from at least 1994 to 2004. Other areas of study have included casualty and sickness rates, and campaign level studies to validate current MoD models.
Support to the armed forces on operations
CORDA has provided operational analysis support to the armed forces on operations in support of Operation GRANBYOperation Granby
Operation Granby was the name given to the British military operations during the Gulf War. 53,462 troops were deployed during the conflict. The total cost of operations was £2.434 billion of which at least £2.049 billion was paid for by other nations such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia; £200...
, in the Balkans, and in Northern Ireland.
Fast response studies for Ministry of Defence
Since 2001, CORDA has provided fast response studies for the Director Equipment Capability (DEC) in the Underwater Battlefield Capability Area of the UK Ministry of Defence. CORDA is involved in the day to day business of the DEC including cost/capability measurement, weapon and sensor capability evaluation across the whole spectrum of underwater systems, business case preparation for equipment procurement and concept studies.Fitting 155mm guns to warships
"Since 2006 the MoD has provided some funding to CORDA (BAE Systems’ specialist consultancy arm) and the company’s Land Systems business for a 155mm Naval Gun Study". "'Our previous work in this area showed real potential for an enhanced gun system on the Navy’s ships,' says Samir Patel, CORDA's business development director. 'This contract will allow more concentrated research and a live, land-based firing trial in 2009 will inform further developments on the programme'. The next step for the programme, subject to a successful trial and MOD requirements, will be a full scale technology demonstrator programme, leading to possible full manufacture and fit to the Future Surface Combatant and possible retrofit to the existing Type 23 Duke-class frigates and/or the Type 45 Daring-class destroyer."Synthetic trials of new 30mm gun on Type 23 frigates
In 2008, CORDA was "awarded a £300,000 research contract by the UK MoD's Defence Technology and Innovation Centre (DTIC) to assess the level of protection British warships receive from small calibre 30mm guns." It was to "examine the implications a large attack by small, fast boats would have on a large warship and research how the threat could be reduced. Particular emphasis will be placed on coastal and estuarine environments, where larger ships are increasingly operating... 'Over the last few years the threat of these small craft as an asymmetric weapon against larger warships has grown,' explains Dr John Golightly, CORDA's MSE programme manager. 'What we are doing is looking at the performance of the Royal Navy's 30mm Automated Small Calibre Gun (ASCG) [30mm DS30M30mm DS30M Mark 2 Automated Small Calibre Gun
The 30mm DS30M Mark 2 is the Royal Navy's new 30 mm Automated Small Calibre Gun system, which is being fitted to Type 23 frigates to increase their ability to defend themselves from fast inshore attack craft armed with short-range missiles, rockets, rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machine...
] and what can be done to increase the level of protection it provides.'... 'The ASCG system has significantly enhanced capability, but we have been asked to look at how improving tactics or integrating further technology could improve the performance of the system further.'" The DS30M, which the Royal Navy is fitting to Type 23 frigate
Type 23 frigate
The Type 23 frigate is a class of frigate built for the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. All the ships were first named after British Dukes, thus the class is also known as the Duke class. The first Type 23 was commissioned in 1989, and the sixteenth, was launched in May 2000 and commissioned in...
s, "integrates an off-mount electro-optical director (EOD) with a fully automated 30 mm gun mount". The study used "simulator based operator trials and aims to quantify the performance of the entire weapon system when engaging multiple vehicles attacking together in a co-ordinated fashion. Results of the study are expected in early 2009." The trials were at the Maritime Warfare School at HMS Collingwood
HMS Collingwood (establishment)
For ships of the same name see HMS Collingwood.HMS Collingwood is a stone frigate of the Royal Navy. It is the lead establishment of the Maritime Warfare School and the largest naval training organisation in Western Europe...
. CORDA worked in partnership with GE FANUC and BAE Systems' Advanced Technology Centre, in conjunction with the DE&S Integrated Project Teams (IPTs), with Dstl
Dstl
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory is a trading fund of the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom. Responsibility for Dstl lies with the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology, currently Peter Luff....
providing technical direction.
ISMOR papers
ISMOR is an international conference on defence operational research, held annually since 1984. ISMOR is officially endorsed and sponsored by the UK Ministry of Defence and is co-sponsored by the Defence Special Interest Group of the OR Society, and supported by the Military Operations Research Society in the US. An archive of papers from past Symposia is maintained by Cranfield University.- Noon, T and Miller, RJR, Detailed Representation of Target Acquisition in Low Level Battle Modelling, 1985.
- Baxter, A, An Approach to Modelling Obscuration Effects on Target Acquisition, 1985.
- Taylor, JB, A methodology to investiage the performance of systems engaging targets in depth, 1986.
- Kempster, S and Denley, J, Modelling the British Army of the Rhine artillery re-supply system, 1986.
- Kelly, M and Baxter, A, Modelling human error in target tracking, 1987.
- Evans, DM, Soviet use of historical research in OA. The future battlefield, 1988.
- Young, M and Kelly M, FASTAID: A training tool for casualty evacuation in the British army, 1989.
- Goodman, R, Mass surrenders, 1989.
- Mitchell, I, Logistic support and the phase of war: a dynamic relationship, 1990.
- Evans, M, The impact of logistics on military operations: the Soviet experience, 1990.
- Goodman, RC, Predicting tank and tank crew casualties for operation DESERT STORM from WWII data 1991.
- Mitchell, IM, The development of scenarios to support software for Operation GRANBY, 1991.
- Kempster, S, Casualty evacuation for Operation GRANBY, 1991.
- Evans, M and Goodman, R, The future provision of rapid OA support in peacetime and scientific support to the British Army in the field, 1992.
- Young, MJ, The continuing need for manual war games, 1992.
- Evans, M, The use of scenarios in OA - The need for less exactness, 1993.
- Richardson H, and Kendall, RA, Force and operational capability investigation (FOCI), 1993.
- Visco, EP and Goodman, R, Friendly fire in multi-national operations, 1993.
- Corrigan, N, The influence of C3I on collective performance, 1994.
- Mitchell, I, The sniper as information gatherer, 1994.
- Bailey, RJM and Ferguson, N, Force planning for peacekeeping operations, 1994.
- Goodman, R, Sufficiency of force in conventional warfare, 1994.
- Richardson, HD and Goodman, R, Casualty estimation in open and guerrilla warfare, 1994.
- Goodman, RC, and Young, MJ, Predicting success in Land Warfare at the operational level, 1996.
- Young, MJ, Goodman, RC, and McLeod, C, Casualty Estimating or Whose Data Do You Want to Believe?, 1997.
- Griffin, Suzanne, Operational Analysis in the Front Line, 1999.
- Goodman, R, The Effect of Numbers, 2000.
- Griffin, S, Operational Analysis at the Front Line - a Generic Approach to Measuring Progress?, 2000.
- Young, Michael J, New conflicts, new methods, August 2001.
- Griffin, S, Is Multi-Nationality Cheaper? A Study of NATO Logistics in the Balkan Theatre, 2001.
- Young, Michael J, What matrix gaming is and how and when to do it, August 2002.
- Tulip, M, The Use of Scenarios to Develop Concepts of Operation for Unmanned Vehicles, 2002.
- Moore, J, Laker, R, and Roe, J, Equipment Capability Measurement - an Integrated Approach, 2003.
- Moore, John and Lewis, Dave, Rapid Evaluation of ASW Risk, 2004.
- Goodman, R, Attack of Trust, 2005. (also slides)
- Young, Michael, The Impact of OR - Political Cards, 2006.
- Harrison, S, Modelling and Analysis Gives Confidence in Fleet Management, 2006.
- Morton, R, Predicting the Future Demand for Army Accommodation, 2006.
- Richardson, Hugh, and Rawle, Judith, Lessons from CT operations in NI, 2007.
- Mountain, John, Does removing the human from the Battlespace increase military effectiveness?, 2007.
- Hughes, Michele, Mine countermeasures: the human-autonomous system balance, 2007.
- Mountain, J, From Product Assessment to Service Solutions: the changing role of industry and consultancies in military OR, 2008.
Other Conference Papers
- Frankis, D.; Corrigan, N.; Bailey, R. Modelling military requirements for non-warfighting operations, Simulation Conference Proceedings, Winter 1999. This paper "describes work undertaken for national force development and planning staff, and NATO scientific staff, developing methods and models to assist military planners in identifying the military requirements for non-warfighting operations, typically peace support, humanitarian aid and disaster relief."