Urban Battlespace Control: A New Concept for Battle Command
Abstract
An accurate picture of areas controlled by opposing forces would help commanders gauge battle progress. The Army Research Laboratory has a well-developed prototype to visualize degree of control in open battlespace regions. The system computes power projection over time and space, based on probabilities of hit and kill, position, weapon effectiveness, and damage, and updates its display as new information is received. The urban battle presents difficulties in transforming the mathematics and portraying control. This paper discusses our efforts to extend the ownership paradigm and software for urban operations. Urban ownership may be essentially categorical, rather than numerical. It is more subjective, reflecting dismounted presence, imperfect pictures of the enemy, and novel weapon utilization. To what extent is a building owned if it can be destroyed? Is a floor owned if weapons can be fired from below? Infrastructure influences (communications, water, power, transportation) must be carefully modeled, and line-of-sight issues are complex. Demographic, human-intelligence data in multi-sided operations involving civilians must be considered. Multi-dimensional regions must be displayed intuitively. This is challenging research, but with a high-payoff: predicting urban battle areas of concern in a timely way provides a significant new type of command and control decision aid.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA463168
Entities
People
- Andrew Neiderer
- Charles Hansen
- Janet O'may
- Richard Kaste
Organizations
- United States Army Research Laboratory