A Discrete Event Simulation of Network Centric Operations: Modeling Unbalanced Combat Configurations in Symmetric Engagements

<p>Network Centric Operations (NCO) has been dubbed the most significant revolution in military affairs (RMA) in the past 200 years. The promise of NCO is based on the notion that information sharing and connectivity is fundamental to the effectiveness of a combat force. This due to the ability of a properly networked force to self-synchronize itself as it engages enemy forces. The purposeful arrangement of assets in a combat force is what makes it 'properly networked'. What is a purposeful arrangement of combat assets? How should a force organize to enhance information sharing and connectivity? And how does connectivity within a networked force impact its combat effectiveness? This research builds a discrete-event simulation of the information age combat model, which is a representation of NCO, in an attempt to understand the impact of information sharing and connectivity among the elements of a military force on its combat effectiveness. Unbalanced combat configurations doing symmetric engagements were selected as the prime focus. They were studied and simulated to gain insights into the dynamics of networked operations. The proposed discrete event combat model displayed significant increases in efficiency and speed of running compared to previous modeling work that utilized agent-directed simulations. Linear and nonlinear regression analyses were conducted to highlight the performance metrics that wield significant predictive power over the probability of winning a combat engagement.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering

Year dc:date.available

2012

Author dc:creator

• Khasawneh, Mahmoud Turki

Contributors dc:contributor

• Ghaith Rabadi
• Shannon Bowling
• Resit Unal
• Sean Deller

• Combat simulation
• Discrete event simulation
• Network centric operations
• Unbalanced combat configurations
• Industrial Engineering
• Operational Research

Identifier

9781267668134

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.odu.edu:emse_etds-1095