Mirror,mirror on the wall,who is the most offensive of them all? – Explaining the offensive bias in military tactical thinking

This article explores why the offensive predominates military tactical thinking. With survey results showing an offensive bias among 60 per cent of senior Swedish officers and as many as 80 per cent in the case of the army, it is clear that this is not just a problem of the past but is equally relevant today. The article asks why there is a tendency to perceive and understand offensive tactics as the preferred choice and the way to conduct battle that should be encouraged and preferred. Drawing on existing research and the findings of a pilot study, ten propositions for why the offensive bias exists are tested using a mixed-method approach. Based on the findings, the article develops a model to understand why the offensive dominates military tactical thinking. It is found that the two key constitutive factors behind the offensive bias are military culture and education. These factors most directly and profoundly influence an officer’s identity, perceptions, and thinking. Military culture and education, in turn, work as a prism for four other factors: military history, the theory and principles of war, doctrine and TTPs, and psychological factors.     

The Joint Chiefs of Staff,the atom bomb,the American Military Mind and the end of the Second World War

ABSTRACT

The decision by the US government to drop the atomic bombs on Japan is one of the most heavily debated questions in history. This article examines one element of that debate, in many ways the most surprising. That was the different views of the top of the military hierarchy in the USA, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The JCS was on the whole more sceptical about using atomic weaponry than the USA’s civilian leadership, for ethical and strategic reasons. As such they were willing to consider very different ways of ending the war.     

Nobody wins the victory taboo in just war theory

ABSTRACT

This article examines how scholars of the just war tradition think about the ethical dilemmas that arise in the endgame phase of modern warfare. In particular, it focuses upon their reticence to engage the idiom of ‘victory’. Why, it asks, have scholars been so reluctant to talk about what it means to ‘win’ a just war? It contends that, while just war scholars may have good reason to be sceptical about ‘victory’, engaging it would grant them a more direct view of the critical potentialities, but also the limitations, of just war reasoning.     

发射药的分解机理及其安定性研究

在研究发射药中硝酸酯的分解机理及其与发射药安定性关系的基础上,分析了热分解,水解和自动催化作用对发射药安定性的影响,以色谱法和粘度法等实验手段探索发射药安定性的变化规律,通过不同温度下发射药老化过程的动力学研究,提出了确定发射药安全使用寿命的可靠方法。     

标准型方案与链型方案的转换

在考虑标准型方案与链型方案抽查特性曲线基本一致的前提下,研究了标准型方案与链型方案样本量之间的差异,指出在同样的辨别力条件下,链型方案可比标准型方案节省大量的样本。在生成等效方案的过程中,本文利用求累积和搜索法,较好地解决了大样本方案生成的计算问题。     

故障类别的模糊聚类分析

本文通过故障状态-特征的模糊聚类分析,按故障间的相似性对故障进行分类,然后按类别实施故障诊断,可在最少监测点的条件下,获得最多的设备运行故障信息。从而简化故障诊断过程,提高诊断速度和精度。     

火炮射表数据处理方法评述

主要介绍火炮射表数据处理方法,对国内目前较为流行的两种射表逼近方法进行了全面、系统的分析与比较,指出了逐步回归射表逼近方法存在的缺陷和不足。对国外近几年采用的插值法文中也进行了比较详细的讨论,并指出了未来的研究问题。     

双机空战的仿真与分析

用矩阵博弈理论、计算机仿真的方法研究了空战过程,使双机的空中格斗阶段─目标的跟踪、射击、弹道计算及射击效果的评定连续化,并用ＦＯＲＴＲＡＮ─７７语言编程在计算机上进行了Ｆ＿Ａ、Ｆ＿Ｂ两种飞行的空战,仿真结果与实际情况基本一致。本程序具有通用性,可对不同种类的飞机及武器系统的性能作出定性和定量的分析和评估。     

陆军作战复杂系统ABMS机理研究

研究陆军作战复杂系统,需要解决两个不可回避的基本问题。一是怎样利用复杂性理论研究陆军作战系统的复杂性,即怎样借鉴复杂性理论构建复杂性思维模式。要解决这个问题,首先必须弄清复杂性理论概念的核心原理。二是在复杂性思维模式下,怎样进行陆军作战复杂系统的ABMS。要解决这个问题,首先必须弄清陆军作战复杂系统ABMS的机理所在。就这两个问题,在研究复杂性理论概念核心原理的基础上,构建了复杂性思维模式框架——复杂性分析二维结构,并由此探索了陆军作战复杂系统ABMS的机理:二维结构、"四个要素"、基本过程和陆战Agent模型框架,为陆军作战复杂系统的ABMS奠定了基础。     

航母编队航渡过程中防空哨戒舰阵位确定方法研究

研究了一种航母编队航渡过程中防空哨戒舰的阵位确定方法。通过对航母编队防空区域划分与防空作战过程的分析,总结了航母编队航渡过程中防空哨戒舰阵位确定的原则,建立了防空哨戒舰阵位的数学模型,仿真计算了模型中各个参数对防空哨戒舰前出距离的影响。这些模型可用于确定防空哨戒舰的前出距离和方位,满足航母编队作战使用的需要。