An Examination of the Effects of the Criterion Function on Optimal Fire-Support Policies
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Authors
Brown, Gerald G.
Taylor, James G.
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Date of Issue
1978
Date
1978
Publisher
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Abstract
This paper examines the dependence of the structure of optimal time-sequential
fire-support policies on the quantification of military objectives by considering
four specific problems, each corresponding to a different quantiiication of objectives
(i.e. criterion functional). We consider the optimal time-sequential allocation
of supporting fires during the "approach to contact" of friendly infantry against
enemy defensive positions. The combat dynamics are modelled by deterministic
Lanchester-type equations of warfare, and the optimal fire-support policy for each
one-sided combat optimization p~oblem is developed via optimal control theory.
The problems are all nonconvex, and local optima are a particular di5culty in one
of them. For the same combat dynamics, the splitting of supporting &es between
t*o enemy forces in any optimal policy (i.e. the optiality of singular subarcs)
is shown to depend only on whether the terminal payoff reflects the objective of
attaining an "overall" military advantage or a "local" one. Additionally, switching
times for changes in the ranking of target priorities are shown to be different (sometimes
significantly) when the decision criterion is the difference and the ratio of the
military worths (computed accolding to linear utilities) of total infantry survivors
and also the difference and the ratio of the military worths of the combatants'
total infantry losses. Thus, the optimal fie-support policy for this attack scenario
is shown to be significantly influenced by the quantification of military objectives.
Type
Article
Description
Naval Research Logistics Quarterly, 25, 1, pp. 183-211.
Series/Report No
Department
Operations Research (OR)
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Citation
Brown, G.G. and Taylor, J., 1978, “An Examination of the Effects of the Criterion Function on Optimal Fire-Support Policies,” Naval Research Logistics Quarterly, 25, 1, pp. 183-211.
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defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.