Applying Tabu Heuristic to Wind Influenced, Minimum Risk and Maximum Expected Coverage Routes

The purpose of this thesis is to provide Air Combat Command a method for determining the number of predator unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) required to cover a pre-selected target. Extending previous research that employs reactive TABU search methods for deterministic vehicle routing problems, this thesis incorporates wind effects that can significantly alter the travel times for any given scenario. Additionally, it accounts for possible attrition by introducing minimum risk route and expected number of target covered to the objective function. The results of the TABU search and subsequent Monte-Carlo simulation: gives the number of predator\u27s required to cover a target set, identifies \u27robust\u27 routes, and suggests routes that increase expected number of targets covered while reducing losses