Game-Theoretic Anti-Submarine Warfare Mission Planner (heuristic-based, fully Excel capable)

Abstract

This thesis introduces a Game-Theoretic Anti-Submarine Warfare Mission Planner (G-TAMP) that can quickly operate on a Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) computer without any software other than NMCI-standard Microsoft Office, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), and a freely-available optimization package called LPSOLVE employed as a dynamically linked library. We replace the expensive and non-NMCI approved mathematical modeling software used by Adam Thomas in his 2008 thesis with a purpose-built, fast heuristic solver implemented in VBA. This heuristic, called the Alternating Flows Heuristic, approximately solves the Thomas defenderattacker/ defender (D-A/D) model, thereby deploying both visible and secret anti-submarine warfare (ASW) platforms around a high-value unit (HVU) to minimize the probability that a hostile diesel-electric submarine (SSK) penetrates these platforms undetected and reaches the HVU. We analyze five scenarios and compare our heuristic solution with the optimal ones produced by Thomas' D-A/D model.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.Outstanding ThesisUS Navy (USN) author.http://archive.org/details/gametheoreticant10945462