Navy Operational Planner: anti-submarine warfare with time-dependent performance

Abstract

The Navy Operational Planner project develops tools that help the Navy optimize operational planning in terms of time, manpower, and resources. Its purpose is to help decision makers use available platforms efficiently to accomplish as many missions as completely as possible over a finite time period. We adapt the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) component of this model by adding time-dependent performance data that reflect ocean or atmospheric conditions that vary over the planning horizon. We develop three test cases with varying degrees of time-dependence in the performance data, and show that taking this new information into account changes the operational plans generated and can lead to better employment of ASW platforms due to the more realistic representation of platform performance.