Some comments on MacKay's Lanchester mixed forces model

Liu, P L; Sun, Huai-Ku; You, Y T

doi:10.1057/jors.2011.162

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 2 publications

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“…These reflect that a commander may have a choice in how to distribute fire at the start of a battle but thereafter it evolves according to the proportion of units of a particular type. This was challenged by (Liu et al, 2012) who allowed for targets to change during battle as adversary units were eliminated. This also was questioned by MacKay, noting that in the fog-and-friction of war, such reallocation of targets may be unrealistic after the battle has begun (MacKay, 2012).…”

Section: Status Of Lanchester Combat Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimising structure in a networked Lanchester model for fires and manoeuvre in warfare

Kalloniatis

Hoek

Zuparic

et al. 2020

Journal of the Operational Research Society

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We present a generalisation of the classical Lanchester model for directed fire between two combat forces but now employing networks for the manoeuvre of Blue and Red forces, and the pattern of engagement between the two. The model therefore integrates fires between dispersed elements, as well as manoeuvre through an internal-to-each-side diffusive interaction. We explain the model with several simple examples, including cases where conservation laws hold. We then apply an optimisation approach where, for a fixed-in-structure adversary, we optimise the internal manoeuvre and external engagement structures where the trade-off between maximising damage on the adversary and minimising own-losses can be examined. In the space of combat outcomes this leads to a sequence of transitions from defeat to stalemate and then to victory for the force with optimised networks. Depending on the trade-off between destruction and self-preservation, the optimised networks develop a number of structures including the appearance of so-called sacrificial nodes, that may be interpreted as feints, manoeuvre hubs, and suppressive fires. We discuss these in light of Manoeuvre Warfare theory.

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Section: Status Of Lanchester Combat Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%