The Quest for a C3 Theory: Dreams and Realities,

Abstract

What is a theory? The Random House Dictionary tells us that it is A coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena. The phenomenon of concern here is the command and control process. Note that it took a number of years to agree that command and control is a process that is supported by the C2 systems. Indeed, we have a family of systems: C2, C3, C3I, C4I, where communications, intelligence, and computers have been added explicitly to emphasize different components and functions of the underlying systems. The challenge that we set for ourselves is to develop a theory that not only explains, but can also be used to design and evaluate C3 systems. Keywords: Decision making; Military commanders; Systems engineering.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1987
Accession Number
ADA187458

Entities

People

  • Alexander H. Levis
  • Michael Athans

Organizations

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Algorithms
  • Cognition
  • Command And Control
  • Command And Control Systems
  • Control Systems
  • Data Fusion
  • Databases
  • Engineering
  • Fuzzy Sets
  • Information Theory
  • Massachusetts
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Research
  • Models
  • National Security
  • Set Theory
  • Systems Engineering

Readers

  • Computer Science.
  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Theoretical Analysis.

Technology Areas

  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control