The NATO Response Force: A qualified failure no more?

With much fanfare, NATO declared its rapid reaction force—the NATO Response Force (NRF)—an Initial Operational Capability in 2004. This article addresses four questions: Where did the NRF come from? What does it look like in 2017? What have been the major obstacles for the NRF fulfilling its promises? And where is the NRF likely to go? The article holds two main arguments. First, due to inadequate fill-rates and disagreements as to the force’s operational role, the NRF was for many years a “qualified failure.” The force failed to become the operational tool envisioned by the allies in 2002. While not without effect, it fell hostage to the harsh reality of the expeditionary wars of Iraq and Afghanistan. Second, the NRF is off to a fresh beginning and will likely be considered at least a partial success by the allies in the years to come.     

一种航天侦察任务的关联度分析与去冗余方法

针对航天侦察需求响应中可能存在的任务重复产生问题,综合考虑任务的需求来源、质量要求、时间偏好及空间范围,提出一种基于任务关联度的任务冗余分析方法。首先,对航天侦察的相关要素进行分析度量,给出了基于四类要素的任务关联度计算方法,然后提出了通过任务之间的关联度来降低可替代任务产生概率的具体算法,进一步考虑了准确优先、公平优先以及混合等不同情况下的冗余度计算方法,最后,给出一个应用示例,说明所述分析方法的有效性。研究结果表明,该方法具有良好通用性,可为航天侦察任务的预处理提供有效支持。     

The Dutch COIN approach: three years in Uruzgan, 2006–2009

Rarely has a military commitment led to such intense discussion in the Netherlands as the Task Force Uruzgan (TFU) mission in Afghanistan. In February 2010, the Netherlands' coalition government even collapsed after the two largest parties failed to agree on the withdrawal of Dutch troops from Afghanistan later this year. This article deals first of all with the difficult discussion over the Afghanistan mission of the TFU. The authors then subject three ISAF operations to close scrutiny. The authors provide some suggestions to help understand better this pivotal point in the execution of the whole operation and thus give a fuller picture of the Dutch counterinsurgency approach in Uruzgan.     

Clash of counterterrorism-assistance-seeking states and their super power sponsors: Implications on the war against Boko Haram

ABSTRACT

Decade-long security cooperation and counterterrorism engagements in Nigeria have failed to bring down Boko Haram or at least weaken its terrorist structures and transnational spread. I argue that disconnects between counterterrorism-assistance seeking states and their superpower sponsors are implicated in the intractability of Boko Haram's insurgency in Nigeria. Why is the U.S. counterterrorism intervention to individual MNJTF countries (i.e. troop contribution, military funding and intelligence support) ‘lopsided’, ‘fragmented’ and ‘unevenly distributed;’ and how are these implicated in the fight against Boko Haram terrorism? This has impacted negatively on MNJTF countries – lack of cooperation, divisiveness and individualism in coordinating and forging offensives against Boko Haram. These concerns interface several blind spots in the picture of external influences on military’s approach to Boko Haram. I elicit primary data from top military officers. I conclude by predicting the implications and consequences of these counterterrorism complexities, and their potency to defeat or encourage Boko Haram terror.     

成像卫星任务周规划模型与算法

作为卫星运控系统中的一个重要模块,卫星任务短期规划对充分发挥卫星系统效能有着重要影响。与卫星任务的日规划的作用和特点不同,它既涉及到任务规划的技术问题又涉及到卫星管理问题。针对周规划任务,本文分析周规划的需求和特点,兼顾周规划的四项主要作用,构造周规划的分层框架;分析周规划优化目标及约束条件,建立卫星任务的负载度周规划模型;针对模型求解属于高维离散组合优化问题,仿真实验评价了几种基本智能优化求解算法,并应用引入分布式并行技术的遗传模拟退火算法求解。     

基于agent的多传感器管理原型系统研究

近年来,基于agent的分布式智能系统已成功应用于众多领域。将多agent技术应用于多传感器管理领域研究,以开发多传感器智能管理的多agent系统,提出了其原型系统的基本框架和系统实现途径及方法,其中着重研究了融合agent与传感器agent的原型系统结构、基于多a-gent理论的传感器管理问题分布式任务分解与控制问题以及agent之间的协调合作问题。原型系统的研究,为实际应用系统的研制开发提供了理论指导和方法依据。     

一种卫星对地观测任务完成概率的估计模型

针对及时响应用户提出的观测需求、高效实施卫星任务规划调度的需要,提出快速估计卫星对地观测任务完成可能性的现实问题,利用Logistic回归方法建立了一种卫星对地观测任务完成概率的估计模型。首先分析影响侦察任务完成概率的相关因素,包括侦察任务自身属性、资源约束、任务之间竞争关系等;其次,从影响因素中提炼出刻画影响因素的模型变量,给出其量化方法,并初步构建了Logistic回归分析模型;第三,基于卫星成像侦察任务规划系统开展实验,获取自变量与规划结果方面的样本数据;最后,采用Logistic回归分析方法对样本数据进行分析,确定模型中的变量、参数及函数形式,结论表明,模型具有很好的统计特性。     

Close Encounters of the Tribal Kind: the Implementation of Co-option as a Tool for De-escalation of Conflict – The Case of the Netherlands in Afghanistan's Uruzgan Province

Abstract

In contemporary counter-insurgency campaigns de-escalation is typically achieved by obtaining the local population's collaboration. The rationale underlying this approach is that such collaboration spawns control over the population and therefore weakens the insurgent's position. This article seeks to understand how this approach is practised in the reality of contemporary counter-insurgency warfare. In Iraq as well as Afghanistan counter-insurgents were confronted with fragmented indigenous societies in which the various local segments were dominated by local power-holders. Consequently, obtaining the local population's collaboration required co-option of these agents. As such a strategy of co-option is a highly localized approach, this article focuses on Afghanistan's Uruzgan province and analyzes the implementation of co-option by the Netherlands' Task Force Uruzgan (TFU), which operated there from 2006 to 2010. The analysis discusses how the counter-insurgents obtained a profound understanding of Uruzgan's societal landscape and how co-option of local power-holders became part of the counter-insurgency routine. In the end, co-option was successfully implemented as TFU even succeeded in obtaining the collaboration of previously marginalized elements of the population. However, as the methods employed for co-option were mainly of a persuasive nature, the TFU co-option strategy was less effective in containing the influence of notorious spoilers. Thus this case study provides an insight into the dynamics and limitations of co-option as a tool for de-escalation in contemporary counter-insurgency warfare.     

任务型教学法在高职高专英语听力教学中的应用

本文针对高职高专学生英语听力交际能力的现状,通过对任务型语言教学理论的研究,将任务型教学哩念运用于高职高专英语听力教学中。通过对任务型教学理论的定义、特征和理论基础等方面的分析,提出任务型听力教学的总体设计思路和具体教学改革措施。运用实验研究、问卷调查等方法,摸索切实有效的、提高高职高等学生英语听说能力的新途径。     

基于半实物仿真的水面无人艇测试系统构建方法

水面无人艇是一种新型无人自主作战舰艇,能够通过任务设定、预规划航路、搭载不同的任务载荷,完成多种任务,包括警戒巡逻、侦察监视、反潜反水雷等.由于水面无人艇对工作环境要求较高,因此为了能够在实艇海上试验之前,在实验室条件下进行充分的测试,提出一种基于半实物仿真的水面无人艇测试系统构建方法,测试系统基于由实物岸基航行任务指...