Pakistan’s response to US foreign policy towards South Asia 1977–1993

Relations between the USA and Pakistan have been tenuous since the 1947 partition of British India and the subsequent creation of the former. The 1979 Soviet intervention in Afghanistan focused the attention of the international community on South Asia. This article will examine the foreign policies of three successive US Presidential Administrations between 1977 and 1993, and how their decisions and corresponding actions were interpreted by the Pakistani government and its people. The key finding is the trend of the ebb and flow of US interest in Pakistan. The primary research conducted for this article shows that Pakistanis recognize this trend and consider it hypocritical of the US government. The current conditions in South Asia are ominously similar to those of 1992 with the drawdown of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan. Policy-makers would be wise to review the events of 1977–1993 so that the cycle is not repeated again.     

利用径向力平衡飞行控制的航天器高精度轨道捕获方法

为实现对探测器轨道形状与高度的精准调整,提出一种径向力平衡飞行的航天器连续推力控制新方法。建立连续推力平衡飞行的动力学极坐标模型,并推导出特殊条件下的解析轨道解,进一步分析边值条件,给出连续推力的控制律。利用这一平衡飞行控制理论,构建轨道捕获的最优控制策略。考虑推力器的推力水平,通过一次或多次的控制过程,实现对轨道形状、轨道高度及轨道相位的综合调整。数值仿真表明:利用平衡飞行的轨道控制方法,配置微小推力器的空间引力波探测器可以实现高精度的轨道捕获;该方法具有控制过程可解析、计算量小、简便、实用等特点。     

On efficient algorithms for finding efficient salvo policies

We consider the salvo policy problem, in which there are k moments, called salvos, at which we can fire multiple missiles simultaneously at an incoming object. Each salvo is characterized by a probability p_i: the hit probability of a single missile. After each salvo, we can assess whether the incoming object is still active. If it is, we fire the missiles assigned to the next salvo. In the salvo policy problem, the goal is to assign at most n missiles to salvos in order to minimize the expected number of missiles used. We consider three problem versions. In Gould's version, we have to assign all n missiles to salvos. In the Big Bomb version, a cost of B is incurred when all salvo's are unsuccessful. Finally, we consider the Quota version in which the kill probability should exceed some quota Q. We discuss the computational complexity and the approximability of these problem versions. In particular, we show that Gould's version and the Big Bomb version admit pseudopolynomial time exact algorithms and fully polynomial time approximation schemes. We also present an iterative approximation algorithm for the Quota version, and show that a related problem is NP-complete.     

The practice of strategy: South African defence in stasis

The article concerns the strategy development processes of the South African Department of Defence in South Africa. It intends to identify the probable causes of the observed failure of the South African National Defence Force to develop appropriate departmental policy and military strategy. Military strategy comprises force development, force employment, force deployment and the coordination of these elements in pursuit of national, grand-strategic objectives. (See Dennis M. Drew and Donald M. Snow, Making Twenty-first Century Strategy: An Introduction to Modern National Security Processes and Problems Montgomery, AL: Air University Press, Maxwell Air Force Base, November 2006, 103). Of these four constructs, the article concerns itself only with the first two. The article analyses two complementary approaches to strategy formation: a resource-driven, inside-out model and an interests-driven, outside-in method. The article concludes that the Department is preoccupied with the inside-out method to the lasting detriment of the declared strategic intent of the defence policy.     

军事安全视角下的军队翻译能力建设

军队翻译能力是军队外语能力的组成部分。军队翻译能力的理论框架包含构成要素、存在形式和转换机制三个组成部分。新的安全形势对我军的翻译保障在广度和深度上都有了新的要求,而军队翻译能力供给相对不足。需要对军队翻译能力进行规划,加强翻译人力资源的储备与管理,提升翻译保障信息化水平。     

A Good Ally - Norway and International Statebuilding in Afghanistan, 2001-2014

The article examines the findings of the Commission of Inquiry established by the Norwegian government in 2014 to evaluate all aspects of Norway’s civilian and military contribution to the international operation in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. Concerned with the wider implications of the Commission’s findings, it focuses on two issues in particular: (1) Norway’s relations with the US, a close and long-standing strategic ally whose resources, capabilities and dominance of decision-making dwarfed that of all other coalition partners in Afghanistan; and (2) Norway’s record in the province of Faryab, where, from 2005 to 2012, a Norwegian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team was charged with bringing security, good governance and development to the province. How Norway prioritised and managed relations with the US highlights and helps to problematise the challenges – political, practical and moral – facing small and medium-sized powers operating in a coalition alongside the US. Norwegian efforts in Faryab are revealing of the dilemmas and contradictions that plagued and, ultimately, fatally undermined the international intervention as a whole. As such, Norway’s experience provides a microcosm through which the inherent limitations of the attempt to transfer the structures of modern statehood and Western democracy to Afghanistan can be better understood.     

What Is Known About Defence Research And Development Spill-Overs?

This article surveys the body of available evidence regarding the spill-over effects of defence R&D. It reviews the routes through which defence R&D spills over to the economy with positive externalities – in terms of new products, technologies or processes; the barriers that impede or block such a process; potential negative repercussions, and the measure of such effects. The main conclusion is that the uncertainty of these effects, and the inaccurate appraisal of their value, hardly supports informed decisions concerning defence R&D policies.     

辐射传热时活塞式气缸中加热气体的最大膨胀功

对热辐射传热定律q∝Δ(T4)下,给定初态内能、体积,末态体积以及过程时间时,加热气体膨胀的最优构型进行了研究,利用最优控制理论得出最大膨胀功输出时膨胀的最优构型由两个瞬时绝热分支和一个E-L分支组成的结论.给出了各分支之间转换点参数的求解方法及最优构型的数值算例,最后将线性唯象传热定律、牛顿传热定律、平方传热定律、立方传热定律和辐射传热定律下加热气体膨胀的最优构型进行了比较.结果显示,随着传热指数的增加,理想气体的内能呈现出明显的整体增加趋势,而体积则呈现出明显的整体减小趋势.     

基于最大故障特征信息熵的测试点优化设计

为解决故障诊断和可测试性设计中普遍存在的测试点优化问题,以相关性矩阵模型为基础,建立了最大故障特征信息熵的优化准则,给出了相应的测试点优化设计方法。应用实例表明：该方法是可行的、正确的,能为武器装备的故障诊断和可测试性设计提供有力的支持。     

弹着时间可控的机动目标多弹协同制导律

针对机动目标的多导弹齐射攻击,运用最优控制和卡尔曼滤波理论探索机动目标下弹着时间可控制导律问题。设计了一种最优弹着时间可控的制导律,它由指定弹着时间和预计弹着时间的误差作为反馈信号与传统比例制导律结合推导得出,称之为弹着时间可控制导律（Impact-time-control Guidance Law,简称ITCG）,同时利用卡尔曼滤波估计了目标加速度。通过对作战模型情况的仿真,可以看出这种新型的制导律应用于引导多发导弹以指定时间同时攻击目标时的有效性和可行性。