Stochastic Game Approach to Air Operations

A Command and Control (C2) problem for Military Air Operations is addressed. Specifically, we consider C2 problems for air vehicles against ground based targets and defensive systems. The problem is viewed as a stochastic game. In this paper, we restrict our attention to the C2 level where the problem may consist of a few UCAVs or aircraft (or possibly teams of vehicles); less than say, a half-dozen enemy SAMs; a few enemy assets (viewed as targets from our standpoint); and some enemy decoys (assumed to mimic SAM radar signatures). At this low level, some targets are mapped out and possible SAM sites that are unavoidably part of the situation are known. One may then employ a discrete stochastic game problem formulation to determine which of these SAMs should optimally be engaged (if any), and by what series of air vehicle operations. Since this is a game model, the optimal opponent strategy is also determined. We provide analysis, numerical implementation, and simulation for full state feedback and measurement feedback control within this C2 context