Software Toolkit for Optimizing Mission Plans (STOMP)
The Situation
Recent and future military operations have been characterized by more timely and accurate employment of air assets. The importance of speed and precision is tantamount, as in time-sensitive targeting. Time-sensitive targets (TSTs) are targets where modifiers that are “emerging, perishable, high-payoff, short dwell, or highly mobile” can be used (USJFCOM 2002). Time-critical targets (TCTs) further the criticality of TSTs with respect to achievement of mission objectives and a limited window of opportunity for attack. The importance of TSTs within air operations has been met with a significant investment in advanced technologies and platforms to meet these challenges. Developments in ISR systems, manned and unmanned air platforms, precision guided munitions, and network-centric warfare have made significant strides for ensuring timely prosecution of TSTs and TCTs. However, additional investments are needed to further decrease the targeting decision cycle.
The Charles River Analytics Solution
Given the operation needs for decision support systems to enable time-sensitive targeting and the associated modeling and simulation infrastructure to support a high fidelity synthetic battlespace, Charles River Analytics is building a decision support tool for rapid development of air campaign mission plans to address TSTs/TCTs. Our Software Toolkit for Optimizing Mission Plans (STOMP) is applicable to the Capabilities Analysis, Commander’s Decision and Force Assignment, and Mission Planning and Force Execution phases of the Joint Targeting Cycle (USJFCOM 2002). Applicability to Capabilities Analysis is addressed via the selection or optimization of the most promising assets available to meet targeting objectives. The Commander’s Decision and Force Assignment phase is addressed via animation of generated mission plans for appropriate vetting of plans through coordinating bodies. For the Mission Planning and Force Execution phase, STOMP is applicable by providing access to information on high-level targeting and asset allocation to tactical-level planners to support detailed planning.
The Benefit
STOMP uses a genetic-algorithm based approach to decide which air assets should be re-tasked to address the TCT and generates a plan for how they should approach the target. Planners can specify their priorities for the following: the required probability of destruction for the target, the time required to destroy the target, the vulnerability of the friendly aircraft to enemy air defenses, and the disruption to the current Air Tasking Order (ATO). STOMP generates multiple plans that planners can then animate in order to choose which one is best based on the criteria specified by planners.
Related Papers:
Gonsalves, P. and Burge, J. (2005) "Multi-objective Optimization to Support Rapid Air Operations Mission Planning," SPIE Defense and Security Symposium, vol 5805. Orlando, FL (March). Abstract
Gonsalves, P., and Burge, J. (2004) "Software Toolkit for Optimizing Mission Plans (STOMP)," The AIAA 1st Intelligent Systems Technical Conference, Chicago, IL (September).
Rosenberg, B., Burge, J., and Gonsalves, P. (2005) "Applying Evolutionary Multi-objective Optimization to Mission Planning for Time-sensitive Targets" Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO) 2005 - Late Breaking Papers. Washington, DC (June). Abstract
