South Africa's threat environment: a guide for the National Planning Commission

Abstract

The mandate of South Africa's recently appointed National Planning Commission includes addressing ‘defence and security matters’. This article seeks to outline the central elements of the threat environment facing South Africa in the foreseeable future. It is argued that South Africa faces no meaningful existential threat from conventional military forces but that its security forces will need to be prepared to address possible raids and attacks by conventional military forces both on home soil and on vital interests beyond the nation's borders. Other threats highlighted include the threats posed by potential insurgencies, by terrorism, and by crime, social unrest and banditry. Also addressed is the danger of so-called hybrid threats, in which two or more of the single threat types outlined here are combined. Finally, the article challenges the National Planning Commission to rethink South Africa's policy on peace operations in the light of the need to ensure the safety and security of the nation's citizenry.     

履带车辆下长坡液力辅助制动控制策略仿真研究

针对履带车辆下长坡制动过程中不同制动力的分配关系,在液力减速器和整车下坡动力学分析的基础上,研究了基于液力辅助制动的履带车辆下长坡制动控制策略,建立了基于SIMULINK的履带车辆整车动态仿真模型,对液力减速器的持续制动性能和控制策略的有效性进行了仿真．结果表明,车辆下坡持续制动时,适时应用液力减速器,能够有效分流整车制动功率,明显降低机械制动器的工作负荷,满足整车安全恒速下坡的要求．     

基于可能性决策的敌对危机行动预测与仿真

可能性决策能较好地应对军事领域常常出现的概率难以获得,或者强调“出奇制胜”而有意规避概率风险的情形,是解决知识不完备情况下敌对行动预测的有力手段。从可能性理论基本公理体系出发,结合动态规划方法,提出并证明可能性决策的最优化定理,给出多步条件下可能性决策的实现算法,结合危机条件下敌对行动预测的范例和仿真分析,与传统概率风险决策进行比较,体现可能性决策的优越性,为该方法的推广应用创造条件。     

基于粒子群优化的模糊交通控制器设计

城市中存在着一些关键路口,其交通通畅与否会对周围路网的交通流起着很大的影响,这些路口需要优先保持通畅.针对此情况,设计了基于上下游交通信息的二级模糊交通控制器来对路网进行协调控制.在此基础上,提出了针对交通特性改进的粒子群优化算法（TIPSO）,并采用TIPSO对第一级模糊规则进行优化,实验结果表明TIPSO对模糊规则具有较好的优化效果,能够离线训练,获取到比人工设定的更优的模糊规则.     

The 1907 Naval War Plans and the second Hague peace conference: A case of propaganda 1

The phenomenon of mutual sea denial had rendered offensive naval actions such as commercial blockade impossible in the narrow seas around Europe. Consequently, the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir John Fisher, abandoned commercial blockade for the safer option of interdicting enemy commerce on the high seas where the Royal Navy could control communications. The proposal to extend immunity to all private property at sea at the 1907 Hague Conference threatened this strategy. As part of a wider campaign to convince the British establishment to oppose immunity, Fisher created the 1907 Naval War Plans to directly influence Cabinet decision-making. Fisher's close involvement in the creation of the ‘Plans’ indicates that they are an expression of Fisher's strategic vision. Moreover, Fisher's attempt to influence the Cabinet asks questions of the bureaucratic decision-making process within the British establishment before 1914.     

Coordination mechanisms for a three‐stage reverse supply chain to increase profitable returns

In this article, we consider a generic electronic product that can be remanufactured or recycled at the end of its life cycle to generate new profit. We first describe the product return process and then present a customer segmentation model to capture consumers' different behaviors with respect to product return so that the retailer can work more effectively to increase the return volume. In regard to the collaboration between the retailer and the manufacturer, we explore a revenue‐sharing coordination mechanism for achieving a win‐win outcome. The optimality and sensitivity of the critical parameters in four strategies are obtained and examined both theoretically and numerically, which generate insights on how to manage an efficient consumer‐retailer‐manufacturer reverse supply chain, as well as on the feasibility of simplifying such a three‐stage chain structure. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2013     

导弹武器维修保障装备规模优化

维修保障装备是在信息化条件下的导弹武器保持良好技术状态的关键组成部分。首先阐述了维修保障装备的概念,对维修保障装备体系结构进行了描述;然后立足于系统动力学理论,建立了考虑攻防对抗的维修保障装备规模优化SD模型,深入开展了维修保障装备配置仿真分析,得出了一些有意义的结论,并验证了模型及方法的有效性。     

改进的粒子群神经网络在飞控中的应用

针对BP神经网络对初始值敏感、容易陷入局部寻优且收敛速度较慢,提出用粒子群对神经网络的参数进行优化,同时设计了衰减的指数函数对惯性权重进行动态调整以提高算法性能.并应用该算法对导弹飞控系统的逆误差进行补偿,仿真结果表明,该方法对逆误差进行了有效的补偿,避免了局部寻优并提高了学习效率.     

The 1983 Nuclear Crisis – Lessons for Deterrence Theory and Practice

This article distills insights for the scholarship of deterrence by examining the 1983 nuclear crisis – the moment of maximum danger of the late Cold War. Important contributions notwithstanding, our understanding of this episode still has caveats, and a significant pool of theoretical lessons for strategic studies remain to be learned. Utilizing newly available sources, this article suggests an alternative interpretation of Soviet and US conduct. It argues that the then US deterrence strategy almost produced Soviet nuclear overreaction by nearly turning a NATO exercise into a prelude to a preventive Soviet attack. Building on historical findings, this article offers insights about a mechanism for deterrence effectiveness evaluation, recommends establishing a structure responsible for this endeavor, and introduces a new theoretical term to the strategic studies lexicon – a ‘culminating point of deterrence’.     

基于费效分析的地空导弹火力配系优化

为科学评价地空导弹火力配系方案,针对不同的地空导弹火力组成体系,采用费效分析方法,结合地空导弹操作使用,首先给出了地空导弹火力配系费效分析步骤,然后分别对火力配系的费用和效能进行了讨论,并建立了火力配系费效准则和综合费效比模型,最后通过区域反导实例验证了该方法的可行性.