DIRECTED ENERGY LASAR WEAPON TARGET ASSIGNMENT

THE OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP AND DEMONSTRATE DIRECTED ENERGY WEAPON (DEW) FIRE CONTROL ALGORITHMS FOR BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE. EARLIER RESEACH CONDUCTED BY ALPHATECH, INC., FOR THE AIR FORCE ROME AIR DEVLEOPMENT CENTER (RADC) DEMONSTRATED THAT THE SIMULATED BOOST-PHASE LEAKAGE THROUGH A DEW SYSTEM CAN VARY BY A FACTOR OF 2 OR MORE USING DIFFERENT TACTICS FOR ASSIGNING TARGETS TO DEWS. THIS RESEARCH DEMONSTRATED THAT STATIC RULES FOR ASSIGINING WEAPONS TO TARGETS PERFORMED SIGNIFICANTLY WORSE THAN TARGET SEQUENCING STRATEGIES THAT ACCOUNT FOR TIME-VARYING ENGAGEMENT GEOMETRIES. THIS RESEARCH SUGGESTED THAT ADVANCED FIRE CONTROL STRATEGIES ARE REQUIRED TO PROPERLY ESTABLISH DEW CAPABILITES AND EFFECTIVENESS. WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP TARGET SEQUENCING STRATEGIES THAT ACCOUNT FOR TIME-VARYING WEAPON-TARGET ENGAGEMENT GEOMETRIES. THE DETERMINATION OF THE OPTIMAL STRATEGY REQUIRES THE SOLUCTION TO A DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING (DP) PROBLEM, AN UNDERTAKING THAT IS COMPUTIONALLY INTRACTABLE FOR REALISTIC SCENARIOS. THE INNOVATION OF OUR APPROACH IS TO APPROXIMATE THE DP PROBLEM USING HEURISTICS. IN PHASE ONE OF THIS EFORT WE WILL DEVLEOP PROTOTYPE IMPLEMENTATIONS OF THESE ALGORITHMS AND INTEGRATE THEM INTO A BMD SIMULATION. WE WILL DEMONSTRATE THE EFFECTIVENSS OF THESE ALGORITHMS ON GLOBAL PROTECTION AGAINST LIMITED STRIKE (GPALS) THEAT SCENARIOS.