Dynamics of Heterogeneous Warfare

The relative importance of single-shot kill probabilities, rates of fire, weapon allocation strategies, and the size of initial force in warfare between two force with heterogeneous multiple weapon systems are considered by examining their effect on a natural measure of effectiveness, the expected number of survivors. Attrition equations are derived via stochastic formulation to represent the mean course of battle having an underlying probability distribution. It is assumed that each side uses indirect area fires. Level of intelligence activities are reflected in the availability of spontaneous information on the current enemy status. Depending on the availability of the information on the current enemy status, each participatory unit may follow 1) a prescribed attack pattern (fraction of the available units assigned to various enemy targets) or 2) an adaptive attack pattern depending on the enemy status at that time. Conditions for possible stalemate are discussed.