Automated Support for Battle Operational–Strategic Decision-Making

Battle casualties are the subject of study in military operations research, which applies mathematical models to quantify the probability of victory vs. loss. In particular, different approaches have been proposed to model the course of battles. However, none of them provide adequate decision-making support for high-level command. To overcome this situation, this paper presents an innovative high-level decision-making model, which uses an adaptive and predictive control architecture. The paper reports empirical evidence supporting our model by considering one of the greatest battles of World War II: the Battle of Crete.

Lanchester Models for Irregular Warfare

Military operations research and combat modeling apply mathematical models to analyze a variety of military conflicts and obtain insights about these phenomena. One of the earliest and most important set of models used for combat modeling is the Lanchester equations. Legacy Lanchester equations model the mutual attritional dynamics of two opposing military forces and provide some insights regarding the fate of such engagements. In this paper, we review recent developments in Lanchester modeling, focusing on contemporary conflicts in the world. Specifically, we present models that capture irregular warfare, such as insurgencies, highlight the role of target information in such conflicts, and capture multilateral situations where several players are involved in the conflict (such as the current war in Syria).