Modeling the Combat Power Potential of Marine Corps Close Air Support

Abstract

This thesis proposes a numerical measure of the combat power potential of U.S. Marine Corps close air support (CAS) aircraft. The combat power potential of a weapon system is defined as the rate at which the system could deliver lethal fire to any point on the battlefield, accounting for particular and relevant battlefield and enemy characteristics. This measure is expressed in units of 'kills per minute,' where each point is hypothesized to have an infinite supply of instantaneously replaced targets. The collection of these values (i.e., kills per minute for each battlefield point) is suitable for display as a 'combat potential surface,' overlaid on a battlefield map. In this thesis, points of higher potential are keyed to brighter colors (e.g., red, yellow, orange). The end result is a battlefield visualization tool to assist commanders and staffs in CAS planning.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 1997
Accession Number
ADA336885

Entities

People

  • Thomas C. Gillespie

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerial Warfare
  • Air Power
  • Armored Personnel Carriers
  • Detection
  • Fire Control Systems
  • Laser Target Designators
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • Munitions
  • Operations Research
  • Psychology
  • Tactical Air Support
  • Target Designators
  • Two Dimensional
  • Visualizations
  • Warfare
  • Weapon Systems

Readers

  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).
  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.