Effective in battle: conceptualizing soldiers’ combat effectiveness*

How do we understand combat effectiveness – soldiers’ performance in battle? Despite the broad consensus that understanding combat effectiveness is important both for scholars and policymakers, there is widespread disagreement about what combat effectiveness is. More specifically, studies of effectiveness tend to focus on either the skill of soldiers in battle, or their will to fight. Yet both skill and will are essential components of an effective fighting force. This article argues that understanding combat effectiveness requires understanding both of these key components of effectiveness. In other words, combat effectiveness requires both the skill and will to engage the enemy in an organized manner. It then demonstrates the usefulness of this conceptualization by applying it to the cases of British, Indian, and Australian forces fighting the Japanese during the Second World War. Only when scholars are talking about the same concept will our understanding of the conditions under which militaries are effective in battle progress. By comparing different units fighting the same opponent under the same material conditions, I demonstrate that units vary both in their combat skill and their will to fight, and that understanding their effectiveness in battle requires analyzing both of these key factors.     

积极探索训练规律,加强学员军事基础素质的培养

通过研究“4+1”人才培养模式下学员军事基础素质培养过程,改革军事基础课程教学体系和学员队管理模式,实现军事基础教学与学员队管理的有机衔接,强化学员旅的教学管理职能,形成“三位一体”的学员军事基础素质培养模式,建立学员军事基础素质评价的指标体系。     

军队高等工程院校教师的人文修养

大学教师本身的人文修养所体现出来的师德水平、学识水平、人格魅力以及教学艺术水平,是新时期教师素质的重要组成部分。要在军队高等工程院校中全面推进素质教育,全体教师必须首先提高自身的人文修养水平。     

Markovian models of three‐on‐one combat involving a hidden defender

In this paper, Markovian models of three‐on‐one stochastic firefights between ground‐based weapon systems are developed. These models address a common scenario of interest to the military, but one which has been much neglected in analytic combat models, that of combat between a hidden defender and an exposed attacking force. Each combatant must detect an opponent before commencing their firing cycle, a task which is considerably more difficult for the attacker. In the models developed here, the defender detects the exposed attacking group after an exponentially distributed time interval, while each attacker has a fixed probability of detecting the defender via the flash signature produced after each shot fired by him. The utility of the approach is demonstrated by investigating what impact the introduction of a coordinated gun‐laying system for the attacking force might have, a system made possible by battlefield digitization. The method used here allows models to be developed incrementally. This and other advantages of the Markovian approach are discussed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 49: 627–646, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/nav.10041     

“算法战”及其在空战领域中的应用

随着战争从体能较量、技能较量发展为智能较量,"算法战"与人工智能和指挥控制系统相关联并在其中占据关键地位,是实现智能化作战和建设智能军队的技术基础。通过梳理与总结美军在落实"算法战"研究方面所进行的开创性工作,理清"算法战"发展的脉络,重点对"算法战"产生背景、基本概念与内涵以及发展现状进行了探讨,结合课题组在航空集群作战领域的研究基础,探讨"算法战"在空战领域的落脚应用的可鉴之策,为我空军装备的信息化升级和智能化转型奠定基础。     

武器装备试验计量保障有关问题的思考

计量保障是武器装备试验数据准确和试验质量可靠的重要保证,是考核与评价装备战术技术指标的关键环节,在武器装备的发展建设中发挥着不可替代的基础作用。本文结合目前武器装备试验计量保障工作的现状,从计量管理的法制化、试验计量保障能力建设、试验装备的强制检定和装备计量保障信息数据库等若干方面深入阐述了试验需求和法律法规要求,探讨了做好试验计量保障工作应采取的改进措施。     

基于HHM的军事演习风险识别

军事演习风险对军事演习的安全顺利进行有很大的影响。有效控制演习风险,首先需要全面、系统地识别出军事演习中存在的风险因素。本文在给出军事演习风险定义的基础上,运用等级全息模型(hierarchical holographic modeling,HHM)~([1])的思想和方法建立HHM风险识别模型,对军事演习中存在的风险进行分析和识别,有助于提升军事演习风险识别的准确性和全面性,为军事演习风险的评估和控制打下坚实的基础,对军事演习的安全进行和军事训练水平的提升具有重要意义。     

军事装备采购邀请招标的对象数量法律规范研究

招标采购因其管理规范性和采购过程的透明性,逐渐成为我国军事装备采购的主要方式之一。国家军事法规和规章规范了公开招标和邀请招标两种军事装备招标采购方式。本文对我国部分军事法规和军事规章中的军事装备邀请招标相关法律规范进行了梳理,并通过与我国招标投标法、招标投标法实施条例等法律法规的对照分析,发现目前我国相关军事法规和军事规章中关于军事装备邀请招标采购的对象数量的相关规定与我国招标投标法存在不一致之处,其规定本身也存在不尽完善之处。最后,根据我国立法体系,提出应按照招标投标法的规定,进一步完善我国军事法规和军事规章中邀请招标的相关法律规范,以更好地提升军事装备采购的质量,推进我国国防和军队现代化建设。     

Learning ‘Under Fire’: Israel’s improvised military adaptation to Hamas tunnel warfare

What organisational attributes enhance a military’s ability to effectively adapt on the battlefield? Upon the outbreak of war in July 2014 between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) encountered an expansive network of tunnels from which Hamas was launching large-scale assaults into Israel. This article illustrates that the IDF’s ability to successfully adapt ‘under fire’ to this battlefield surprise was facilitated by several important attributes related to its organisational learning capacity: a dynamic, action-oriented organisational culture, a flexible leadership and command style, specialised commando units which acted as ‘incubators’ for learning and innovation, and a formal system to institutionalise and disseminate lessons learned.     

Whistleblowing in the Irish Military: The Cost of Exposing Bullying and Sexual Harassment

Whistleblowing has gained increasing media attention over the past 40 years, as incidents of abuse and wrongdoing associated with businesses, religious institutions, the media and politics have come to light. In this article, we investigate the consequences of a military whistleblower’s actions for both himself and the military institution that he was a part of. The case concerns former army officer Dr. Tom Clonan and his findings concerning the bullying and sexual harassment of female personnel in the Irish Defence Forces at the turn of the century. As these revelations came to light over 17 years ago we are able to examine their consequences for the military since that time.