Scheduling underway replenishment as a generalized orienteering problem

Abstract

The replenishment of a dispersed battle group requires logistic ships to travel long distances between ships in the battle group. When operational requirements limit the amount of time that can be spent conducting replenishment, decision makers must select which ships to replenish based on the amount of time needed to transit between ships, and the combat value added to the battle group by replenishment. With proper assumptions, this problem in analogous to the Generalized Orienteering Problem. A dynamic programming algorithm is developed using this approach and tested against a set of test problems. The algorithm is capable of scheduling replenishment using both Delivery Boy, or Circuit Rider tactics. The results indicate that the algorithm runs quickly enough to be useful for scheduling underway replenishment in operational situations.