The Effects of Cold Weather on Tactical Operations.

Abstract

The study of weather effects on tactical military operations has focused almost exclusively on human factor; with the majority of those efforts addressing the effects of hot temperatures. Considerably less effort has been devoted to man/machine factors, and less yet to integration of known weather effects into commonly used training and analysis simulations. Through a survey of human factors studies, exploration into cold weather effects in a combat simulation, the need is highlighted for additional research. Four experiments were conducted to measure the effects of snow cover in a widely used Army combat simulation. Experiments focused on degrading the mobility for frozen ground and for 7 and 14 inches of snow. Speed predictions were provided by a high resolution mobility model. From a mounted operations perspective, cold weather and snow can affect many factors. This study concentrated simply on one of those factors - mobility. Mobility degradation due to snow produced a predictable effect (i.e., the enemy had more time to acquire, track, and kill the blue force). In summary, this study mechanized units move from a no-snow to a snow environment. However there is no significant difference in effectiveness between the 7-inch and 14-inch levels. This study examined only one factor, mobility due to snow conditions. Further research should be directed towards assessing the synergistic effects of human factors and man/machine effects during cold weather. A studied directed at quantifying the effects of cold weather with regards to countermobility and mine warfare would be of interest. Atmospheric conditions unique to cold weather also warrant attention. Detections and laser effectiveness are two areas that may be studied.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1997
Accession Number
ADA345906

Entities

People

  • Gerald D. Ingalls
  • Gregory S. Fortier
  • John V. Farr
  • Kevin D. Lilly
  • Paul D. West

Organizations

  • United States Military Academy

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Autonomy
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Armored Personnel Carriers
  • Cold Regions
  • Combat Simulations
  • Detection
  • Environment
  • High Resolution
  • Literature Surveys
  • Military Operations
  • Motor Skills
  • Psychology
  • Simulations
  • Snow Cover
  • Systems Engineering
  • Training
  • United States
  • United States Military Academy
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Combustion and Flow Dynamics.
  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy