No abstract

This paper presents a view of a closed-loop military air operation as a twdevel two-timescale hybrid model. Our goal is to elucidate the most essential aspects in the relationship between a transition coverage which measures the effectiveness of a tactical execution, and the strategic reconligurability which measures the resilience of a strategic plan. The paper demonstrates, using a very low resolution air operation sample model, how these two measures can serve to provide guidelines for strategic planning and for control policy making in tactical execution.

Joint Air Operations (JAO) are traditionally orchestrated using centralised planning and scheduling that assigns air assets to mission packages for the purpose of achieving campaign objectives. However, the current command and control model used by the Air Force lacks 'agility', since it neither anticipate changes in the battlespace nor take advantage of continuous information provided by the sensors in a network-centric environment. In this study, we propose a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis model that considers four competing objectives (effort, effectiveness, efficiency, and connectivity) to assess vehicle-target allocation for network-centric JAO. The proposed model uses entropy, multi-hop connectivity, and the Analytic Hierarchy Process to derive an overall measures of the performance for alternative vehicle-target allocation scenarios.

No abstract

High data rate of laser communication systems should be matched by wide operational bandwidth of beam positioning. This could be achieved by the application of nonmechanical beam steering technologies utilizing acousto-optic phenomena. Major components of acousto-optic beam steering systems, a Bragg cell, and a quadrant detector are subjected to comprehensive laboratory testing and characterization as components of a control system. A mathematical and computer simulation model of the entire steering system addressing system dynamics, cross coupling of azimuth and elevation channels, and nonlinearity, and facilitating synthesis of advanced control laws is developed.