Analysis of Unit Breakpoints in Land Combat

Abstract

The thesis considers battle termination (a unit reaching its so-called 'breakpoint') in ground combat as a rational decision process. A commander's decision to break contact with an enemy force and withdraw from the battlefield is analyzed for company-size infantry units. Two approaches to terminate an engagement are presented. The first approach is based on extrapolation of observations on past battle history into the future with no assumption about combat dynamics. The second is based on the assumption of known Lanchaster-type combat dynamics (possible with unknown parameters to be estimated) and uses Kalman filtering. Possible applications of such models are discussed, and related areas for future study are recommended.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1975
Accession Number
ADA010855

Entities

People

  • Richard C. Adkins

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Attrition
  • Battles
  • Casualties
  • Computational Science
  • Computer Simulations
  • Computers
  • Differential Equations
  • Filters
  • Filtration
  • Kalman Filtering
  • Kalman Filters
  • Mathematical Filters
  • Military Operations
  • Probability
  • Random Variables
  • Simulations
  • Warfare

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