Integrated Missile Defense Planner Algorithmic Architecture

"Since tactical ballistic missiles of increasing capabilities will be a major feature of future battlefields, a critical need exists to provide the capability to evaluate the best utilization of missile defense elements such as launchers, sensors, battlemanagement, and communcications assets. The task is to position these elements to provide a defense that meets or exceeds the commander's campaign objectives in real-time battle. This task is complicated and entails multi-dimensional considerations, notonly in the space-time domain, but also constraints such as weapons effectiveness, enemy threat lethality, friendly asset value, asset hardness, enemy and friendly inventories, etc. This parameter space is too large to be effectively explored bysemi-automated search methods with human intensive evaluation. A potentially optimal method will require sophisticated automated computational and dimensional reduction approaches. Currently implemented solutions are embryonic, partly automated andessentially elaborate calculators employed by a human planner. The operator employs "drag and drop" interfaces to position defensive assets; invokes calculation agents; and surveys output that presents a plan "score." Depending on the score the operatorrepositions assets to improve the overall coverage and iterates until a satisfactory plan is found. This "place and score" method is a time intensive "trial and error" approach guided by automated c