Decision rules for attacking targets of opportunity

Frequently in warfare, a force is required to attack a perishable enemy target system - a target system where the targets are detected seemingly at random, and if not immediately attacked, will shortly escape from detection. A conflicting situation arises when an attack element detects a target of relatively low value and has to decide whether to expend his resources on that particular target or to wait for a more lucrative one, hoping one will be found. This paper provides a decision rule giving the least valued target that should be attacked as well as the resources that should be expended as a function of the attack element's remaining mission time.     

An attack-defense game with matrix strategies

This paper presents the results and the method of analysis for an attack-defense game involving allocation of resources. Each player is assumed to have several different types of resources to be divided in optimal fashion among a fixed set of targets. The payoff function of the game is convex. The “No Soft-Spot” principle of M. Dresher, and the concept of the generalized inverse of a matrix are used to determine optimal strategies for each player and the value of the game.     

Optimal selection from a random sequence with observation errors

A form of sequential decision problem is introduced in which options are presented in sequence. with no recall of rejected options (as in the secretary problem), but in which the value of each option may only he inferred from experiments. Decisions have thus to be made concerning both the acceptance and rejection of each option and the degree of experimentation. General properties of the optimal policy are derived, and an algorithm is obtained for the solution in a special case. This special case suggests a heuristic rule for more general situations. the performance of which rule has been investigated by a Monte Carlo study.     

高技术条件下炮兵作战火力优化模型

由于能给敌军造成大量的毁伤 ,炮兵被誉为“战争之神”。但是 ,由于可得到的炮兵部队数量、弹药和时间所限 ,炮兵不可能对战场所有可得到的目标射击。炮兵必须决定哪些目标可用炮兵射击 ,以及如何射击。考虑到未来战场将充斥着大量目标 ,炮兵要求使用一种自动目标处理系统。将提出一个炮兵优化模型 ,模型的目的是快速对目标价值排序 ,然后以最佳的炮兵兵力、火力分配对选择的目标进行射击。     

Group testing procedures with quantitative features and incomplete identification

We present a group testing model for items characterized by marker random variables. An item is defined to be good (defective) if its marker is below (above) a given threshold. The items can be tested in groups; the goal is to obtain a prespecified number of good items by testing them in optimally sized groups. Besides this group size, the controller has to select a threshold value for the group marker sums, and the target number of groups which by the tests are classified to consist only of good items. These decision variables have to be chosen so as to minimize a cost function, which is a linear combination of the expected number of group tests and an expected penalty for missing the desired number of good items, subject to constraints on the probabilities of misclassifications. We treat two models of this kind: the first one is based on an infinite population size, whereas the second one deals with the case of a finite number of available items. All performance measures are derived in closed form; approximations are also given. Furthermore, we prove monotonicity properties of the components of the objective function and of the constraints. In several examples, we study (i) the dependence of the cost function on the decision variables and (ii) the dependence of the optimal values of the decision variables (group size, group marker threshold, and stopping rule for groups classified as clean) and of the target functionals (optimal expected number of tests, optimal expected penalty, and minimal expected cost) on the system parameters.© 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2011     

State information lag markov decision process with control limit rule

In the framework of a discrete Markov decision process with state information lag, this article suggests a way for selecting an optimal policy using the control limit rule. The properties sufficient for an optimal decision rule to be contained in the class of control limit rules are also studied. The degradation in expected reward from that of the perfect information process provides a measure of the potential value of improving the information system.     

最大生存概率下的编队防空目标分配研究

为研究编队目标武器分配方法,分析了编队防空体系在作战过程中武器系统火力单元状态、分配决策矩阵和目标序列状态的动态更新形式,建立了以编队生存概率最大为最优函数的动态目标分配优化模型。描述了仿真环境,运用不确定目标序列对分配过程进行了仿真。结果表明,所建立的模型能够反映实际情况,得到的关于集火、转火射击和优先分配策略对模型的工程应用具有实际指导意义。     

坦克搭乘输送平台海上射击目标决策方法

通过粗糙集方法分析影响坦克对岸滩目标射击效果的各种因素,建立坦克搭乘输送平台海上射击的知识表达系统,将射击效果作为决策属性,将已有数据或作战经验作为条件属性,依粗糙集理论方法挖掘射击决策规则,最后约简得到一些简单的射击决策规则,为单坦克射击决策提供依据。     

Terminal allocation problem in a transshipment hub considering bunker consumption

This article investigates the method of allocating arriving vessels to the terminals in transshipment hubs. The terminal allocation decision faced by a shipping alliance has the influence on the scheduled arrival time of vessels and further affects the bunker consumption cost for the vessels. A model is formulated to minimize the bunker consumption cost as well as the transportation cost of inter‐terminal transshipment flows/movements. The capacity limitation of the port resources such as quay cranes (QCs) and berths is taken into account. Besides the terminal allocation, the QC assignment decision is also incorporated in the proposed model. A local branching based method and a particle swarm optimization based method are developed to solve the model in large‐scale problem instances. Numerical experiments are also conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed model, which can save around 14% of the cost when compared with the “First Come First Served” decision rule. Moreover, the proposed solution methods not only solve the proposed model within a reasonable computation time, but also obtain near‐optimal results with about 0.1～0.7% relative gap. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 63: 529–548, 2016     

Estimation of strategies in a markov game

In this paper a two-person Markov game, in discrete time, and with perfect state information, is considered from the point of view of a single player (player A) only. It is assumed that A's opponent (player B) uses the same strategy every time the game is played. It is shown that A can obtain a consistent estimate of B's strategy on the basis of his past experience of playing the game with B. Two methods of deriving such an estimate are given. Further, it is shown that using one of these estimates A can construct a strategy for himself which is asymptotically optimal. A simple example of a game in which the above method may be useful is given.     

基于模糊综合评判的战场目标价值研究

现代战场目标繁多,从价值分析角度出发,建立了基于模糊综合评判的战场目标价值评估模型,并结合实例说明了该方法的具体应用,为指挥员和决策机关制定正确的策略提供了科学的依据.     

A proportional defense model

This paper considers the problem of defending a set of point targets of differing values. The defense is proportional in that it forces the offense to pay a price, in terms of reentry vehicles expended, that is proportional to the value of the target. The objective of the defense is to balance its resources so that no matter what attack is launched, the offense will have to pay a price greater than or equal to some fixed value for every unit of damage inflicted. The analysis determines which targets should be defended and determines the optimal firing doctrine for interceptors at defended targets. A numerical example is included showing the relationship between the total target damage and the size of the interceptor force for different values of p, the interceptor single shot kill probability. Some generalizations are discussed.     

Allocation of quality improvement targets based on investments in learning

Purchased materials often account for more than 50% of a manufacturer's product nonconformance cost. A common strategy for reducing such costs is to allocate periodic quality improvement targets to suppliers of such materials. Improvement target allocations are often accomplished via ad hoc methods such as prescribing a fixed, across‐the‐board percentage improvement for all suppliers, which, however, may not be the most effective or efficient approach for allocating improvement targets. We propose a formal modeling and optimization approach for assessing quality improvement targets for suppliers, based on process variance reduction. In our models, a manufacturer has multiple product performance measures that are linear functions of a common set of design variables (factors), each of which is an output from an independent supplier's process. We assume that a manufacturer's quality improvement is a result of reductions in supplier process variances, obtained through learning and experience, which require appropriate investments by both the manufacturer and suppliers. Three learning investment (cost) models for achieving a given learning rate are used to determine the allocations that minimize expected costs for both the supplier and manufacturer and to assess the sensitivity of investment in learning on the allocation of quality improvement targets. Solutions for determining optimal learning rates, and concomitant quality improvement targets are derived for each learning investment function. We also account for the risk that a supplier may not achieve a targeted learning rate for quality improvements. An extensive computational study is conducted to investigate the differences between optimal variance allocations and a fixed percentage allocation. These differences are examined with respect to (i) variance improvement targets and (ii) total expected cost. For certain types of learning investment models, the results suggest that orders of magnitude differences in variance allocations and expected total costs occur between optimal allocations and those arrived at via the commonly used rule of fixed percentage allocations. However, for learning investments characterized by a quadratic function, there is surprisingly close agreement with an “across‐the‐board” allocation of 20% quality improvement targets. © John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 48: 684–709, 2001     

Optimal selection with alternative information

This article examines the problem of optimally selecting from several unknown rewards when there are given alternative, costly sources of information. The optimal rule, indicating the information to be purchased and the reward to be selected, is specified as a function of the decision maker's prior probabilities regarding the value of each alternative. The rule is surprisingly complex, balancing prior beliefs, the “informativeness” of the relevant information system, and the cost of acquiring information.     

Optimality of the greedy shooting strategy in the presence of incomplete damage information

Consider a situation where a single shooter engages, sequentially, a cluster of targets that may vary in terms of vulnerability and value or worth. Following the shooting of a round of fire at a certain target, the latter may either be killed or remain alive. We assume neither partial nor cumulative damage. If the target is killed, there is a possibility that the shooter is not aware of that fact and may keep on engaging that target. If the shooter recognizes a killed target as such, then this target is considered to be evidently killed. If the objective is to maximize the weighted expected number of killed targets, where the weight reflects the value of a target, then it is shown that a certain type of a shooting strategy, called a Greedy Strategy, is optimal under the general assumption that the more a target is engaged, but still not evidently killed, the less is the probability that the next round will be effective. If all weights are equal, then the greedy shooting strategy calls to engage, at each round, the least previously engaged target that is not evidently killed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 44: 613–622, 1997     

多机协同目标与火力资源分配

在协同空战中,快速正确的空战决策是己方战机少受敌方伤害并取得战争胜利的前提。目标与火力资源分配是决策过程的重要部分。多机空战与单机空战相比有明显的不同,不同之处是面临多个敌方目标,根据我方资源最优分配作战对象和火力,基于遗传算法实现了两种算法的有人无人目标与火力资源分配。仿真结果表明,带有毁伤概率门限的算法既节省火力资源又快速有效。     

基于满意决策的多UAV协同目标分配方法

目标分配是UAV自主控制的重要问题。提出了基于满意决策的多UAV协同的目标分配技术,为解决多UAV协同的目标分配问题和多机场起飞的UAV编队配置问题提供了一种新颖而有效的方法。重点对其中的满意集计算、联合满意度、拒绝度和选择度的建立和计算等关键问题进行了讨论。以压制敌防空火力任务为背景对该方法进行了仿真,并将本文提出的方法和其他方法做了比较,仿真结果表明基于满意决策的多UAV协同的目标分配方法在效率上有明显优势。     

改进博弈论的舰载无人机编队协同对海突击目标分配

目标分配问题是UAV自主控制的重要问题。针对舰载无人机编队协同对海突击目标分配问题,首先建立了基于离散动态贝叶斯网络的目标价值评估模型,在此基础上构建了舰载无人机编队的益损值矩阵,设计了舰载无人机编队协同对海突击目标分配的决策函数,提出了一种基于改进博弈论的目标分配方法,为4种不同约束条件下的目标分配问题分别设计了算法。最后对所建立的目标价值评估模型和改进博弈论的目标分配算法进行了实例仿真,仿真结果表明了模型和算法的可行性和有效性。     

A differential equation model of search for randomly arriving and departing targets

In this paper we analyze optimal search strategies in an environment in which multiple, independent targets arrive and depart at random. The analysis revolves around a continuous time differential equation model which captures the time dependent nature of the search process. We explore the impact on optimal strategies of nonzero travel times between regions as well as differing target arrival rates. We derive simple closed form expressions for determining if only one region should be searched.     

Monotone optimal preventive maintenance policies for stochastically failing equipment

This paper examines various models for maintenance of a machine operating subject to stochastic deterioration. Three alternative models are presented for the deterioration process. For each model, in addition to the replacement decision, the option exists of performing preventive maintenance. The effect of this maintenance is to “slow” the deterioration process. With an appropriate reward structure imposed on the processes, the models are formulated as continuous time Markov decision processes. the optimality criterion being the maximization of expected discounted reward earned over an infinite time horizon. For each model conditions are presented under which the optimal maintenance policy exhibits the following monotonic structure. First, there exists a control limit rule for replacement. That is, there exists a number i* such that if the state of machine deterioration exceeds i* the optimal policy replaces the machine by a new machine. Secondly, prior to replacement the optimal level of preventive maintenance is a nonincreasing function of the state of machine deterioration. The conditions which guarantee this result have a cost/benefit interpretation.