An historical review of US defense strategy from Vietnam to operation Iraqi freedom

Facing nearly half a billion dollars in spending cuts over the next five years, US defense planners and strategists must simultaneously rebuild a war-weary Army weakened from over a decade of war, build new sea and air capabilities for the Pacific theater, and reduce manpower, procurement, and contractor budgets while promoting innovation. The US defense department is embarking on what may be the most sweeping period of defense transformation in recent memory. This article reviews the history of American defense transformation, focusing on an important but largely overlooked period of military innovation that began in the shadow of Vietnam and ended with troops fighting through blinding sandstorms at night on the road to Baghdad. The multifaceted transformation strategy conceived in the 1970s paved the way for a military revolution in the 1990s and enabled unprecedented battlefield adaptation in the 2000s. After reviewing the revolutionary changes that led to American dominance in conventional warfare in the 1990s, the article examines US transformation policies in the 2000s to inform defense strategy and planning efforts in the 2010s.     

The elephant in the room: US ballistic missile defence under Barack Obama

Conventional wisdom seems to hold that under Barack Obama, the US ballistic missile defence programme has been pushed aside to allow for a refreshed domestic and international agenda. Proponents point to Obama's campaign thinking and rhetoric, the ballistic missile defence (BMD) budget cuts, the decision to end the Third Site in Europe, and the reset relations with Russia through the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) as evidence that the programme has undergone a significant period of change, retraction and rationalisation. This article argues instead that BMD has not fallen from prominence and that there is a change in focus rather than retraction of its strategic goal. Consequently, BMD continues to grow in importance as a component of US national security strategy.     

基于AMESim的液压混合动力车辆建模仿真研究

在阐述并联式液压混合动力车辆的结构原理及液压系统参数设计的基础上,利用AMESim创建了整车模型。根据液压混合动力系统的工作特性,以改善车辆燃油的经济性为目标,提出了基于车辆扭矩需求的发动机和液压泵/马达扭矩控制策略。仿真结果表明:该混合动力系统能合理控制扭矩分配,实现不同工作模式的平顺切换,在满足车辆动力性能指标的前提下,有效地提高了燃油的经济性。     

基于自适应变异粒子群算法的火力分配方法研究

针对最优火力分配的特点,分析了火力分配优化问题的数学模型,设计了一种求解该类问题的自适应变异粒子群算法（Adaptive Mutation Particle Swarm Optimization, AMPSO）。该算法采用十进制编码方法和基于数值运算的个体更新方法;为平衡算法的局部搜索能力和全局收敛性能,设计了一种关键参数自适应调整方法;为增强种群在进化后期的多样性,提出了一种变异策略。仿真结果表明,所提AMPSO算法具有良好的寻优性能,是优化火力分配的一种有效算法。     

基于半马氏决策过程的电容器维修策略优化

针对电容器随机劣化失效的特点,采用半马氏决策过程解决其预防性维修方案设计和维修策略优化问题.在电容器随机劣化的Gaussian-Poisson模型基础上,以检测周期为优化变量,同时考虑预防性维修次数阈值的影响,建立电容器长期运行费用率优化模型.分析表明,对该型号电容器来说,预防性维修相比于事后修理更加有利于节省部件长期运行的费用率.     

航空集群机载网络Failure-Oblivious路由策略

航空集群机载网络作为集群成员间信息交互的纽带,其路由策略性能优劣直接影响信息传输实时性与可靠性,从而制约网络化集群作战效能发挥.考虑到航空集群机载网络具有诸多不确定性,为应对路由失效以及尽可能避免路由更新,从路由选择算法的角度,在软件定义网络架构下提出Failure-Oblivious路由策略.与传统路由策略不同的是,...     

‘Clean’ bombs: Nuclear technology and nuclear strategy in the 1950s

The idea of ‘clean’ bombs, nuclear weapons with a reduced amount of radioactive fallout resulting from their fission part, has met much ridicule since its public inauguration in 1956. Many scholars have regarded the bombs as a propaganda tool, stopping short of analyzing their role in the transformative phase of US nuclear strategy in the 1950s. This paper reexamines the clean bomb episode through 1958, shedding light upon the dynamic relationship between the development of nuclear weapons technology and the evolution of nuclear strategy from massive retaliation to flexible response. It also discusses the mechanism and momentum of nuclear weapons technology innovation until the US suspended nuclear testing in late 1958.     

Russian Reactions to Reagan's ‘Maritime Strategy’

The US Navy's audacious Maritime Strategy of the 1980s is often credited with acting as a key catalyst to the demise of the USSR. In assessing the role of strategic missile submarine “bastions” in the country's overall military strategy, the authors are skeptical of the above thesis, explaining that Moscow actually viewed deployments of Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles on to US submarines (versus direct threats against the Soviet Navy itself) as the most alarming threat. The authors concede that the arms race played a role in the collapse of the USSR, but deny a direct connection with Soviet naval development citing the relatively minor naval proportion of overall defense spending. For the difficulties facing the fleet at the end of the Cold War, they instead blame deep systemic problems internal to the Soviet Navy.     

Major Stepan Stebelski of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army: examples of insurgency leadership and tactics

This is a biographical analysis of Stepan Stebelski (‘Khrin’) and his time in the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. His military command is an example of classic insurgency tactics and strategies. He was trained in underground tactics before the Second World War, used his image very effectively during his time in the UPA, and used his knowledge of the terrain to become an exceptional enemy against Soviet and Polish authorities.     

The vanguard's dilemma: understanding and exploiting insurgent strategies

The purpose of this paper is to provide a better conceptualization of insurgent strategies. Specifically, I shall examine Che Guevara's ‘Foco’ theory of insurgency, as it is one of the most theoretically popular and most pervasive strategies of insurgency currently practiced throughout the world. After briefly examining the origins, objectives, and theoretical strengths of the Foco theory (also known as the Vanguard Theory), I will argue that Guevara's theory suffers from an internal tension that I term the ‘Vanguard's Dilemma’. The significance of this dilemma creates a tension within the Vanguard Theory that can be fatal for insurgents if properly exploited by counterinsurgent operations. This paper will examine in detail this dilemma and show how it can be exploited. Given that several insurgent groups within Iraq and Afghanistan currently adhere to the Vanguard Theory of insurgency, a proper understanding of this insurgent strategy is an essential first step in the long road towards confronting and winning asymmetrical conflicts.