From combat to non-combat action

This paper examines the rationale and centrality of private military and security companies (PMSCs) in humanitarian assistance operations in Sudan, asking why PMSCs are involved in humanitarian assistance operations in Sudan and what the principles underlying their activities are. To answer this question, the paper draws attention to the link between humanitarian crises and PMSC interventions. Where there is no meaningful alternative intervention, undergirded by humanitarian concerns that are also profit driven, PMSCs come in to provide the needed services. The protracted and complicated internal armed conflicts in Sudan, which have lasted for over two decades, have produced as many as 4,8 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) – the single largest number in the world. The kind of humanitarian assistance operations provided by PMSCs in Sudan have become critical to the provision of much-needed services which were inadequately provided by governmental authorities at both unilateral and multilateral levels. This paper argues that the humanitarian crises in Sudan created a regime that permits humanitarian assistance operations by both state and non-state actors.     

Simultaneous equation production functions (cobb-douglas type) for decisions pertaining to sea-based tactical air resources

This paper proposes the use of a set of simultaneous, modified Cobb-Douglas production functions to determine the “best” mix of aircraft inputs (men, spare parts, support equipment, etc.) to achieve certain levels of output. The simultaneous equations are “solved” by the use of proxy values in an iterative search process. Tests of this production function model indicate that real world data fits quite well (R² ranges from 0.884 to 0.951) and the residuals do not appear to have any significant bias. The aircraft production functions for several types of aircraft (F-4, A-7, A-6, A-4) have been maximized for a fixed budget and specific constraints. A potential increase in output of up to 10 percent appears possible. In general the marginal value of spare parts surpasses the other inputs.     

Simulation of nonhomogeneous poisson processes by thinning

A simple and relatively efficient method for simulating one-dimensional and two-dimensional nonhomogeneous Poisson processes is presented The method is applicable for any rate function and is based on controlled deletion of points in a Poisson process whose rate function dominates the given rate function In its simplest implementation, the method obviates the need for numerical integration of the rate function, for ordering of points, and for generation of Poisson variates.     

U.S. SPACE WEAPONS

Under the administration of President George W. Bush, Pentagon rhetoric has increasingly articulated a more robust vision of space as a future battlefield. This analysis details some of the ongoing spending for research and development programs identified in current U.S. Air Force, Missile Defense Agency (MDA), and Defense Advanced Research and Planning Agency (DARPA) planning and budget documents related to “space control” and “space force projection.” This analysis finds that current support for “space superiority” and “space control” systems remains largely rhetorical—with little actual budgetary support. Unclassified technology development programs included in the six-year Future Years Defense Plan are a decade or more away from deployment. Programs related to offensive counterspace, space-based missile defense interceptors, and space-based strike total slightly less than $300 million in FY 2006 funding. We conclude significantly higher expenditures in research and development would be required to develop and deploy killer micro satellites, space-based missile defense interceptors, and military space planes.