Quantifying the Value of Reconnaissance

Abstract

Quantifying the war fighting value of reconnaissance is a hard problem. Standard analytical techniques fail to identify second and higher order effects of reconnaissance when integrated in a combat model. Additionally, current simulation techniques fail to model the human factor in information transfer and decision making. Finally, conventional measures of effectiveness concentrating on attrition (loss exchange ratios, killer/victim scoreboards, etc.) are clearly inadequate when tasked to measure reconnaissance effectiveness. This study attempts to answer the question of how to quantify the value of reconnaissance. We first examine the role of reconnaissance in the battle process, to include defining reconnaissance and conducting a task/mission analysis. Next, we explore a potential methodology for Army analysts to use in quantifying the value of new reconnaissance systems, doctrine, or force structures. Lastly, this paper chronicles several ongoing efforts to validate and refine this proposed methodology.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 1993
Accession Number
ADA350238

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Military Academy

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Autonomy
  • C4I
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Artillery
  • Battles
  • Command And Control
  • Detection
  • Detectors
  • Information Science
  • Measures Of Effectiveness
  • Operating Systems
  • Operations Research
  • Simulations
  • Standards
  • Systems Engineering
  • Task Performance And Analysis
  • Test And Evaluation
  • United States Military Academy
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Geospatial Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence Analytics
  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies