Coordinated dynamic planning for air and space operations

Abstract

Planners of military air and space operations in a battlefield environment seek to allocate resources against targets in a way that best achieves the objectives of the commander. In future conflicts, the presence of new types of assets, such as tactical space-based sensors and Operationally Responsive Spacelift (ORS) assets, will add complexity to air and space operations decisions. In order to best achieve objectives, planners of different types of assets will likely need to work collaboratively when formulating tasking for their resources. The purpose of this research is to investigate the challenges of air and space collaboration and to quantify its potential benefit. We model a future threat scenario involving a rogue nation with Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) capability and a significant air defense force. We consider three separately-controlled resource groups - aircraft, satellites, and ORS assets - to combat the target threat. In addition, we formulate a top-level coordination controller, whose job it is to effect collaborative decision-making among resource groups. Using a combination of pre-existing software and new algorithms, we develop the Coordinated Dynamic Air and Space Operations Control System (CDASOCS), which simulates controller-generated plans in a battlefield environment recurring over multiple planning periods. New algorithms are presented for both the top-level coordination controller and the ORS controller. The benefits of resource coordination in CDASOCS are demonstrated in three main experiments along with several parameter variation tests.