A Method of Computing Survival Probabilities of Several Targets Versus Several Weapons

Jane Ingersoll Robertson
Additional contact information
Jane Ingersoll Robertson: Operations Research Office, The Johns Hopkins University, Chevy Chase, Maryland

Operations Research, 1956, vol. 4, issue 5, 546-557

Abstract: Infantry squad weapons are evaluated against the background of a rifle squad attacking a position defended by riflemen. The behavior of Attackers and Defenders is characterized by simultaneous action within each squad. The Defenders, acting independently of one another, each choose at random an Attacker as target and all Defenders fire simultaneously. The process is repeated in a sequence of volleys. As independent variables there are the original number, T , of Attackers, the number of Defenders, the single-shot hit probability, and the number of volleys fired. After each volley there is defined a set of probabilities of the survival of 0, 1, ..., T Attackers. Taken as a sequence, these sets form a Markov chain, which is the basis for weapons comparison. All results of this paper are applications of the Markov theory. This technique is most useful for squads with a maximum of 15 men, some numerical examples are included. There are suggested ways in which tactical features can be reflected in the independent variables.

Date: 1956
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/opre.4.5.546 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:oropre:v:4:y:1956:i:5:p:546-557

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Operations Research from INFORMS Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Asher ().