Determining Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) system effectiveness, and integration as part of force protection and system survivability

Situation awareness plays a critical role in all battlefields. It monitors activities, and provides essential information about the battle. It is an operational requirement, high in demand, for the forces to fight the battle smartly and accomplishing the objectives set with minimal casualties. Situation awareness enhances survivability of the fighting forces by avoiding adversary detection and acquisition, achieved via the deployment of a variety of sensors that are part of an effective and integrated ISR system network. This thesis analyzes the impact of ISR system effectiveness and integration on unit survivability, in the context of a combined arms unit. The study was approached using the Nearly Orthogonal Latin Hypercube to generate design points for simulation study. Map Aware Non-uniform Automata (MANA) was used to simulate the behavior of the units in the combined arms unit. During simulation, the parameters are varied to create a changing situation picture, as perceived by the troops. This determines the impact on survivability, by measuring the force exchange ratio between the RED and BLUE force, once the simulation is completed. The sensor capabilities and level of integration between the ISR sensors in the combined arms unit are analyzed based on the simulation results.http://archive.org/details/determiningintel1094537721Military Expert 5, Singapore Armed ForcesApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Viable short-term directed energy weapon naval solutions: a systems analysis of current prototypes

With conventional weapons nearing their peak capability, the need to identify alternative war fighting solutions suggests a look at Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs). The goal is to change the means by which warfare is conducted to improve operational efficiencies and overall effectiveness. The Naval Postgraduate School Systems Engineering and Analysis (SEA-19B) Capstone project team examined how existing directed energy technologies can provide performance across multiple warfare area domains and mission subsets for the U.S. Navy. The aim was to identify and characterize the capability gaps with conventional weapons systems, produce a coherent vision of naval missions that incorporate DEWs, and generate a roadmap for a DEW fleet. By conducting a thorough Analysis of Alternatives based on system performance, integration, schedule, and cost, the project team identified that the Tactical Laser System (with a laser beam power of 10 kW) provided the best overall capability to defend surface combatants, although none of the analyzed DEWs have the capability to replace a current conventional weapon. The Active Denial System (microwave) provided a niche capability in the Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection mission set.http://archive.org/details/viableshorttermd1094534734Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited