SOFT KILL OF FIELDED WEAPON SYSTEMS

IN A CONVENTIONAL WAR, NEUTRALIZATION OF OPPOSING ARMOR IS A KEY MILITARY OBJECTIVE. TRADITIONALLY, SUCH ACTION IS ACHIEVED BY FIREPOWER. HOWEVER, OTHER METHODS (SOFT-KILL) ARE ALSO AVAILABLE; THESE METHODS HAVE THE ADVANTAGE THAT THEY DO NOT HAVE TO OVERCOME THE PROTECTIVE ARMOR OF OPPOSING COMBAT VEHICLES AND OTHER FIELDED WEAPONS. THE WORK PROPOSED HEREIN IS AIMED AT INVESTIGATING A WIDE RANGE OF SOFT-KILL CONCEPTS WITH A VIEW OF SELECTING ONE OR MORE LEADING CONCEPTS FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT. INITIAL CONCEPT GENERATION WILL BE CARRIED OUT THROUGH A MORPHOLOGICAL MODEL FOR SOFT-KILL ATTACK. TARGET ARMORED VEHICLES (AND FIELDED WEAPONS) WILL BE IDENTIFIED AND REPRESENTATIVE EXAMPLES SELECTED FROM FOUR PRIMARY CLASSES (TANKS, SELF-PROPELLED GUNS, MOBILE MISSILE LAUNCHERS AND ARMORED PERSONNEL CARRIERS). A VULNERABILITY ANALYSIS OF THE REPRESENTATIVE VEHICLES WILL BE CARRIED OUT. SOFT-KILL CONCEPTS THAT CAN EXPLOIT SPECIFIC VEHICLE VULNERABILITIES WILL BE IDENTIFIED AND IMPLEMENTATION SCHEMES FOR THESE CONCEPTS WILL BE FORMULATED. SUCH CONCEPTS AND THEIR IMPLEMENTATION WILL THEN BE EVALUATED ANALYTICALLY TO ASSESS THEIR FEASIBILITY AND PRACTICALITY OF USE UNDER BATTLEFIELD CONDITIONS. THE LEADING CONCEPT(S) WILL BE SELECTED FOR PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING IN PHASE II.