Analyzing helicopter evasive maneuver effectiveness against rocket-propelled grenades

It has long been acknowledged that military helicopters are vulnerable to ground-launched threats, in particular, the RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenade. Current helicopter threat mitigation strategies rely on a combination of operational tactics and selectively placed armor plating, which can help to mitigate but not entirely remove the threat. However, in recent years, a number of active protection systems designed to protect land-based vehicles from rocket and missile fire have been developed. These systems all use a sensor suite to detect, track, and predict the threat trajectory, which is then employed in the computation of an intercept trajectory for a defensive kill mechanism. Although a complete active protection system in its current form is unsuitable for helicopters, in this paper, it is assumed that the active protection system’s track and threat trajectory prediction subsystem could be used offline as a tool to develop tactics and techniques to counter the threat from rocket-propelled grenade attacks. It is further proposed that such a maneuver can be found by solving a pursuit–evasion differential game. Because the first stage in solving this problem is developing the capability to evaluate the game, nonlinear dynamic and spatial models for a helicopter, RPG-7 round, and gunner, and evasion strategies were developed and integrated into a new simulation engine. Analysis of the results from representative vignettes demonstrates that the simulation yields the value of the engagement pursuit–evasion game. It is also shown that, in the majority of cases, survivability can be significantly improved by performing an appropriate evasive maneuver. Consequently, this simulation may be used as an important tool for both designing and evaluating evasive tactics and is the first step in designing a maneuver-based active protection system, leading to improved rotorcraft survivability

Designing a Framework for Target-Site Assignment in Naval Combat Management

In this study, using operational research techniques, a model has been presented to assess battlefield threat, to prioritise aggressive targets, to evaluate the capability of own sites and the risks of the conflict with the targets, to define conflict scenarios and finally to select the best scenario using an assignment model. The above proceedings were added as an intermediate phase of target-site assignment, called ‘deciding the best conflict scenario’, to the ‘threat assessment’ and ‘weapon-target assignment’ in the naval combat management system. For each of the own site, the data collected from the environment together with the panels of experts are shown in a two-dimensional matrix, in which the four areas of the matrix represent the conflict scenarios. Considering that the study was done in a simulated environment, the expert’s verification and the convergence of the results in Monte Carlo method were used to validate the research. The proposed model can offer optimised decision to the operational commander through predicting the battlefield and managing the site’s capacity and the interaction in between during the combat

The improvement of uncertainty measurements accuracy in sensor networks based on fuzzy dempster-shafer theory

Threat Assessment is one of the most important components in combat management systems. However, uncertainty is one of the problems that occur in the input data of these systems that have been provided using several sensors in sensor networks. In literature, there are some theories that state and model uncertainty in the information. One of the new methods is the Fuzzy Dempster-Shafer Theory. In this paper, a model-based uncertainty is presented in the air defense system based on the Fuzzy Dempster-Shafer Theory to measure uncertainty and its accuracy. This model uses the two concepts naming of the Fuzzy Sets Theory, and the Dempster-Shafer Theory. The input parameters to sensors are fuzzy membership functions, and the basic probability assignment values are earned from the Dempster-Shafer Theory. Therefore, in this paper, the combination of two methods has been used to calculate uncertainty in the air defense system. By using these methods and the output of the Dempster-Shafer theory are calculated and presented the uncertainty diagrams. The advantage of the combination of two theories is the better modeling of uncertainties. This makes that the output of the air defense system is more reliable and accurate. In this method, the air defense system’s total uncertainty is measured using the best uncertainty measure based on the Fuzzy Dempster-Shafer Theory. The simulation results show that this new method has increased the accuracy to 97% that is more computational toward other theories. This matter significantly increases the computational accuracy of the air defense system in targets threat assessment

Aircrew-aircraft integration: A summary of US Army research programs and plans

A review of selected programs which illustrate the research efforts of the U.S. Army Aeromechanics Laboratory in the area of aircrew-aircraft integration is presented. Plans for research programs to support the development of future military rotorcraft are also described. The crew of a combat helicopter must, in general, perform two major functions during the conduct of a particular mission: flightpath control and mission management. Accordingly, the research programs described are being conducted in the same two major categories: (1) flightpath control, which encompasses the areas of handling qualities, stability and control, and displays for the pilot's control of the rotorcraft's flightpath, and (2) mission management, which includes human factors and cockpit integration research topics related to performance of navigation, communication, and aircraft systems management tasks

Southwest Border Violence: Issues in Identifying and Measuring Spillover Violence

[Excerpt] There has been a recent increase in the level of drug trafficking-related violence within and between the drug trafficking organizations in Mexico. This violence has generated concern among U.S. policy makers that the violence in Mexico might spill over into the United States. Currently, U.S. federal officials deny that the recent increase in drug trafficking-related violence in Mexico has resulted in a spillover into the United States, but they acknowledge that the prospect is a serious concern. Currently, no comprehensive, publicly available data exist that can definitively answer the question of whether there has been a significant spillover of drug trafficking-related violence into the United States. Although anecdotal reports have been mixed, U.S. government officials maintain that there has not yet been a significant spillover. In an examination of data that could provide insight into whether there has been a significant spillover in drug trafficking-related violence from Mexico into the United States, CRS analyzed violent crime data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Report program. The data, however, do not allow analysts to determine what proportion of the violent crime rate is related to drug trafficking or, even more specifically, what proportion of drug trafficking-related violent crimes can be attributed to spillover violence. In conclusion, because the trends in the overall violent crime rate may not be indicative of trends in drug trafficking-related violent crimes, CRS is unable to draw definitive claims about trends in drug trafficking-related violence spilling over from Mexico into the United States. This report will be updated as circumstances warrant

A review of US Army aircrew-aircraft integration research programs

If the U.S. Army's desire to develop a one crew version of the Light Helicopter Family (LHX) helicopter is to be realized, both flightpath management and mission management will have to be performed by one crew. Flightpath management, the helicopter pilot, and the handling qualities of the helicopter were discussed. In addition, mission management, the helicopter pilot, and pilot control/display interface were considered. Aircrew-aircraft integration plans and programs were reviewed

Target threat assessment using fuzzy sets theory

The threat evaluation is significant component in target classification process and is significant in military and non military applications. Small errors or mistakes in threat evaluation and target classification especial in military applications can result in huge damage of life and property. Threat evaluation helps in case of weapon assignment, and intelligence sensor support system. It is very important factor to analyze the behavior of enemy tactics as well as our surveillance. This paper represented a precise description of the threat evaluation process using fuzzy sets theory. A review has been carried out regarding which parameters that have been suggested for threat value calculation. For the first time in this paper, eleven parameters are introduced for threat evaluation so that this parameters increase the accuracy in designed system. The implemented threat evaluation system has been applied to a synthetic air defense scenario and four real time dynamic air defense scenarios. The simulation results show the correctness, accuracy, reliability and minimum errors in designing of threat evaluation syste

Effective Counterterrorism: What Have We Learned so Far?

The fight against terrorism, in particular of Islamist nature, has become a focus area of foreign and security policies in Western countries and around the world. This substantial effort is however only to a limited extent matched by adequate evaluations as to its actual success. This paper offers an overview of the counterterrorism effectiveness literature in terms of main areas of interest, conceptualisation and operationalisation difficulties as well as methodological considerations regarding the types of methods used, validity and reliability evaluations. It discusses the different understandings of causality and proposes a working definition of counterterrorism effectiveness. We find that a main focus of the literature lies on the impact component of effectiveness, often in the sense of a reduction of terrorist attacks in general or a reduction of certain methods of terrorism such as suicide attacks. Our model article "What Happened to Suicide Bombings in Israel? Insights from a Terror Stock Model" by Kaplan et al. (2005) illustrates the above-mentioned issues and reflects the mainstream approach in this field. The article uses econometric methods to determine the impact-effectiveness of counter-terrorism and reflects the problematique associated with attempts to infer a causal relationship between counterterrorism policies and the occurrence of terrorism.Counterterrorism, effectiveness, causality, quantitative and qualitative research methods