Calculating a Value for Dominant Battlespace Awareness

Abstract

In times of ever-tightening military budgets, methodologies are required that can compare the contributions of various systems involved in the warfighting process. While many tools are in use that directly measure the effects of greater numbers of enhanced hardware, and even improved processes, no validated methodology exists to measure elements that contribute to Command, Control, Communications, and Computers (C4); Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR); or to analytically compare these elements with more traditional hardware. This thesis develops a methodology for mathematically quantifying awareness in a military command and control (C2) environment. This methodology begins with the Observe-Orient-Decide-Act Loop to show the connections between levels of command and control, and to show influences. Entropy, in an information theory context, is modified to reflect not only how much is known at any level, but to show how well that information is known, producing a mathematically quantified measure of awareness. The awareness capability for various systems is calculated, and the rate of awareness loss is shown over time. Finally, an awareness curve is developed that shows the awareness of the C2 system throughout the process of attacking a ground target from the air.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1998
Accession Number
ADA342139

Entities

People

  • Eric A. Beene

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Human Systems
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Power
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Command And Control
  • Command And Control Systems
  • Control Systems
  • Fighter Aircraft
  • Information Systems
  • Information Warfare
  • Military Operations
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • Operations Research
  • Random Variables
  • Satellite Imaging
  • Surveillance
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering.
  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

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