Route optimization model for strike aircraft
Abstract
A model is designed and implemented to construct a 'flyable,' least- risk route for strike aircraft from takeoff to target, through enemy radars, in a defined area of operations. A network is fust constructed by discretizing the airspace into a three-dimensional grid of nodes and then connecting adjacent nodes with arcs. A shortest-path model in this network is then constructed with arc lengths that are a function of the probability of detection by radars monitoring the area of operations. A side constraint on fuel consumption ensures that routes are feasible. Lagrangian relaxation is used to incorporate this constraint into the problem and a shortest-path algorithm solves a sequence of shortest-path sub-problems to obtain a near-optimal route. AROMA (Automatic Route Optimization Model for Aircraft) is implemented in C++ on a Silicon Graphics Onyx computer with 192 megabytes of memory. Test problems comprising 240,000 nodes and more than 2 million arcs are used to evaluate the model. Realistic routes are generated in approximately 2 to 3 minutes. A graphical interface displays the routes and facilitates interactive analysis and model evaluation.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Minimum-energy flight paths for UAVs using mesoscale wind forecasts and approximate dynamic programming
Nachmani, Gil. (Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2007-12);Fuel or battery consumption of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be improved by utilizing or avoiding air currents. This thesis adopts a network modeling approach to formulate the problem of finding minimum energy ... -
A discovery process for initializing ad hoc underwater acoustic networks
Ong, Chee Wei. (Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2008-12);Seaweb is an underwater acoustic wide-area network connecting autonomous, distributed nodes. Prior iterations of Seaweb relied on operator intervention to initialize and manually configure the network routes. This thesis ... -
Optimization of a Marine Corps artillery battalion supply distribution network
Heisinger, Ryan R. (Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2007-09);Currently, the Marine Corps does not have a process or system to distribute supplies in support of combat operations in an optimal manner. We consider the problem of re-supplying a forward-deployed United States Marine ...