SURFACE SURVEILLANCE AND SEARCH ENHANCEMENTS USING PREDICTION OF ENEMY TACTICS

THE PROPOSED PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A SYSTEM WHICH WILL (1) PREDICT THE LOCATION OF ENEMY SURFACE UNITS BASED ON CURRENT TACTICAL DATA, ESTIMATES OF PROBABLE ENEMY TACTICS, AND PREVIOUS UNSUCCESSFUL SEARCH FOR THE UNIT, AND (2) PRODUCE RECOMMENDED SEARCH AND SURVEILLANCE PLANS BASED ON AVAILABLE RESOURCES, THEIR EFFECTIVENESS, AND THE EFFECT OF SEARCH RESULTS AND TARGET TACTICS ON OWN FORCE ACTIONS. THE FOUNDATION FOR THIS SYSTEM WILL BE THE TECHNIQUES IN THE PROGRAM PACSEARCH, WHICH HAVE BEEN USED SUCCESSFULLY (PRIMARILY IN ANTI-SUBMARINE WARFARE) FOR PRODUCING TARGET LOCATION ESTIMATES BASED ON CONTACT DATA, ESTIMATED MOTION OF THE UNIT, AND UNSUCCESSFUL SEARCH AGAINST THE UNIT, AS WELL AS FOR EVALUATING AND PRODUCING SEARCH PLANS. THIS PROJECT WILL BE AN ESSENTIAL FIRST STEP TOWARD APPLYING THESE TECHNIQUES SPECIFICALLY TO ANTI-SURFACE WARFARE (ASUW). IN PHASE I, WE WILL IMPROVE THE ALGORITHMS USED IN CONTACT UPDATING, AND ADD ADDITIONAL ENEMY SURFACE TARGET TACTICS AND NEW APPROACHES AND DATA FOR PRODUCING RECOMMENDED SEARCH AND SURVEILLANCE PLANS. THIS WILL PREPARE FOR A PHASE II PROJECT IN WHICH THE SYSTEM WILL BE IMPROVED AND DEVELOPED INTO A PROTOTYPE FULL SCALE ASUW SEARCH AND SURVEILLANCE PLANNING SYSTEM. IN PHASE III, WE INTEND TO INTEGRATE IT INTO AN OPERATIONAL NAVY ASUW SYSTEM.