Privatizing the struggle against Somali piracy

Pirate attacks against commercial vessels in the Western Indian Ocean and nearby seas reached an unprecedented level in 2011. Despite concerted efforts by the international community and shipping companies to address this threat by conducting naval patrols and equipping commercial vessels with non-lethal defenses, the frequency of pirate attacks continues to increase. The general ineffectiveness of existing anti-piracy measures has sparked interest in expanding the use of armed private security contractors to protect commercial vessels from pirate attacks. This article argues that armed private security contractors can, indeed, enhance the security of commercial vessels because these actors can provide onsite protection for commercial vessels, which should allow them to respond very quickly to pirate attacks, and because these actors are willing to use deadly force against pirates. However, this article also argues that expanding the use of these actors may increase the degree of violence used during pirate attacks, pose threats to the safety of innocent civilians, and violate a number of domestic and international laws.     

The failure of defense planning in European Post-Communist Defense Institutions: ascertaining causation and determining solutions

By any objective measure, defense institutions in Central and Eastern Europe have all but universally been incapable of producing viable defense plans that are based on objective costing and operational planning data. This situation exists in spite the provision of considerable Western advice and assistance, let alone reporting to and receiving assessments by NATO’s International Staff under Partnership for Peace, as well as via the integrated defense planning and reporting systems. An explanation for this systematic failure across European post-Communist defense institutions can be found in the continued slow development of an over-arching policy framework which directs and approves all activities of the armed forces, as well as the de-centralization of financial decision-making down to capability providers. The essay ends with an examination of the adverse effects of the early introduction of planning programming, budgeting system (PPBS), have had on the development of effective policy and planning capabilities within these defense institutions.     

HARNESSING GLOBAL TRADE DATA FOR BIOLOGICAL ARMS CONTROL

Unlike treaties dealing with nuclear and chemical weapons, the Biological Weapons Convention still lacks formal verification measures, 31 years after entering into force. Here we propose a global export-import monitoring system of biological dual-use items as an additional measure for a web of biological arms controls that could complement traditional export controls. We suggest that such a measure may help to guide consultation or verification processes in the biological area.     

“GOOD COP/BAD COP” AS A MODEL FOR NONPROLIFERATION DIPLOMACY TOWARD NORTH KOREA AND IRAN

Scholarly and popular literature in the recent past has framed nonproliferation diplomacy toward both Iran and North Korea as an example of “good cop/bad cop,” a social-psychological strategy borrowed from law enforcement to describe a process for forcing a confession by subjecting a target to stressful emotional contrast. This article examines those two cases, roughly covering the period since 2003, when the most recent attempts to deal with the Iranian and North Korean proliferation threats began, in light of criteria for employment of the good cop/bad cop strategy. There is some evidence that within the framework of the six-party talks with North Korea and within the framework of the EU-3-U.S. diplomacy toward Iran, the players seeking nonproliferation have adopted good cop/bad cop roles to that end. The article concludes, however, that while there are similarities to the interrogation room technique, the complexity of the international political environment as compared to the interrogation room has prevented the states involved from successfully adopting or effectively exploiting good and bad cop roles. Substantial and exploitable differences of interest among them, and the availability of alternative “escape routes” for the target state, raise serious questions about the applicability of the good cop/bad cop strategy to these two nonproliferation cases, and even about its applicability in future nonproliferation challenges.     

Allocating the U.S. Department of Defense Budget: Revisiting the ‘Incremental/Fair Share Model’

Abstract

This article examines the ‘incremental/fair share model’ that was proposed by Alex Mintz in 1988 concerning the budget allocation of the U.S. Department of Defense. Although Mintz was unable to confirm the correctness of his model, this study demonstrated it to be statistically significant. In the statistical analyses, I used the two-stage least squares method and Durbin’s h-test to better scrutinize the model’s adequacy. Few previous studies have addressed the allocation of the U.S. defence budget; consequently, the incremental/fair-share model should constitute a starting point for further research on the U.S. defence budget allocation.     

基于秘密共享的卫星网络组密钥管理方案

针对卫星网络组密钥管理的重要性,提出了一个可认证的基于门限秘密共享的组密钥管理方案．结合卫星网络的动态拓扑结构特点,将地面站作为组成员的身份注册中心,以实现对组成员的身份认证,确保节点的合法性．为了提高组密钥的生成效率,选取≠一1颗可见时间长的卫星构建组密钥份额分发中心,降低了组密钥联合生成过程中的通信量．组密钥协商无需安全信道,节省了系统资源．安全性及性能分析表明,该方案不仅具有较强的安全性,而且还具有计算和通信量小的优点．参数分析表明,门限值k与组密钥更新周期T是影响方案安全性的2个重要因子．     

基于TCP/IP协议的无人机IFFC系统仿真

为了提高无人机自主飞行、自主攻击的能力,设计一种整体式的无人机综合火力/飞行控制系统(IFFC系统),并对激光制导炸弹模态下的系统进行数字仿真.系统基于Winsock的TCP/IP协议的C/S模式,在服务器上完成无人机火控解算、火飞耦合器设计,在客户端设计基于PID算法的飞行控制模块.火控系统根据飞行状态和目标信息实时计算炸弹可达区域,瞄准距离误差经过火飞耦合器形成航向和俯仰控制命令反馈给飞控系统,驱动载机消.除瞄准误差,实现闭环控制.实验结果表明,无人机的瞄准速度和攻击精度都有所提高,为进一步开展自主式UAV的研究打下基础.     

基于Q-MMSPF的海杂波多重分形互相关分析和目标检测

提出一种研究长程互相关和多重分形的新方法——Q阶混合矩结构分割函数法(Q-MMSPF),并利用Q-MMSPF分析了海杂波时间序列的多重分形互相关特征。通过对实测海杂波数据的计算分析发现,海杂波互相关多重分形特征较弱,目标信号之间的互相关多重分形特征明显,而目标信号与海杂波之间的互相关多重分形程度介于二者之间。据此,本文采用一种新的特征值进行海杂波背景下的目标检测。通过对不同条件下的实测海杂波数据验证,表明使用本文提出的特征值测量方法可以十分有效地检测出海杂波背景下的小弱目标。     

Effects of Mg/PTFE pyrotechnic compositions on reignition characteristics of base bleed propellants and heating mechanism

The effects of magnesium/polytetrafluoroethylene (Mg/PTFE) pyrotechnic compositions on the coupled flow field and reignition mechanism are important aspects governing the performance and range of base bleed projectiles (BBPs).Owing to a decrease in pressure and temperature when the BBP leaves the muzzle,rapid depressurization occurs,which extinguishes the base bleed propellant.The Mg/PTFE py-rotechnic composition pressed in the igniter of the base bleed unit (BBU) provides additional energy to the BBU via a chemical reaction.Thus,the extinguished base bleed propellant is reignited under the effect of high-temperature combustion gas jets from the igniter.In this study,a numerical analysis is conducted to evaluate the effects of PTFE and Mg granularity as well as Mg/PTFE pyrotechnic compo-sitions.Owing to the rapid depressurization,the temperature and pressure was found to decrease for different Mg/PTFE pyrotechnic compositions.However,the depressurization time increased as the PTFE granularity increased,the Mg granularity decreased,and the Mg content increased.When the pressure in the combustion chamber of the BBU decreased to the atmospheric pressure,the combustion gas jets from the igniter expand upstream (rather than downstream).However,these combustion gas jets exhibit different axial and radial expansion characteristics depending on the pyrotechnic compositions used.The results show that the reignition delay time,td,of the base bleed propellant was 377.608,94.27,387.243,523.966,and 221.094 ms for cases A-E,respectively.Therefore,it was concluded that the Mg/PTFE pyrotechnic composition of case B was the most beneficial for the reignition of the base bleed propellant,with the earliest addition of energy and mass to the BBP.     

基于粗糙集-神经网络编队协同空战决策系统

为了提高空战决策的实时性和准确度,将粗糙集理论和神经网络引入到编队协同空战战术决策研究中,提出了应用SOM网络-粗糙集-BP网络集成进行编队协同空战战术决策的方案:应用SOM网络离散化决策系统输入数据的连续属性值;利用粗糙集数据分析方法,从数据中提取出规则将输入映射到输出的子空间上;在这个子空间上用BP网络进行逼近.2:4编队空战实例仿真结果验证该方案的可行性,在数据充分的条件下,该方案可以推广应用于其它空战决策系统.