Title: Effect-based weapon-target assignment with minimised collateral damage

Authors: Zbigniew R. Bogdanowicz; Antony Tolano; Ketula Patel

Addresses: Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, Picatinny, New Jersey 07806, USA ' Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, Picatinny, New Jersey 07806, USA ' Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, Picatinny, New Jersey 07806, USA

Abstract: We present an advanced algorithm that assigns weapons to targets in such a way that the desired given effects are satisfied with minimal overkill (i.e., minimal excess beyond the desired effects) and minimal collateral damage. The most obvious and natural effects on targets are represented by kill probabilities or percentages of damage these targets. Hence, our algorithm optimises weapon-target assignments with respect to the given desired effects by minimising overkill and minimising collateral damage. Our computation results included in this paper suggest that the benefit gain of decreased collateral damage obtained by our algorithm decisively overcompensates the loss/sacrificed benefit of optimised assignment related to overkill.

Keywords: collateral damage; effect-based weapon-target assignment; scalable lethality; collaborative engagement; engagement optimisation; weapons; targets; minimal overkill; kill probabilities; damage percentage; urban battlefields; urban warfare; deconfliction; heuristics; friendly units; desired effects.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOR.2016.080149

International Journal of Operational Research, 2016 Vol.27 No.4, pp.624 - 641

Received: 05 Feb 2014
Accepted: 02 Jul 2014
Published online: 06 Nov 2016 *

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