MARV EVASIVE TRAJECTORY OPTIMIZATION

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO DEVELOP A SOUND THEORETICAL BASIS FOR THE SELECTION OF MARV EVASION AND INTERCEPTOR PURSUITE TRAJECTORY OPTIMIZATION BY (1) PROVIDING CONFIDENCE THAT THE EXPECTED ENGAGEMENT OUTCOME IS OFFENSE-ENFORCEABLE (I.E. THE DEFENSE CANNOT MAKE BETTER USE OF ITS CAPABILITIES) AND (2) REDUCING THE FURTHER COMPUTATIONAL EFFORT INVOLVED IN HIGH FIDELITY SIMULATIONS BY PROVIDING A GOOD STARTING POINT FOR STRATEGY REFINEMENT. WE PROPOSE TO START AS SIMPLY AS IS APPROPRIATE AND PROGRESSIVELY EXPAND THE NUMBER OF FACTORS INCLUDED IN THE ANALYSIS. THE MARV WILL ALWAYS BE "BLIND".INITIALLY WE GIVE IT KNOWLEDGE OF INTERCEPTOR LAUNCH TIME AND LAUNCH SITE; THE DEFENSE HAS PERFECT INFORMATION; VEHICLE AND INTERCEPTOR DYNAMICS ARE SIMPLE AND 2-DIMENSIONAL. IF WE CAN SOLVE THIS GAME THE NEXT STEPS IN PHASE I ARE TO ESTIMATE THE FEASIBILITY AND COMPUTATIONAL EFFORT OF OBTAINING SOLUTIONS IN 3-DIMENSIONS AND WITH HIGHER FIDELITY DYNAMICS. INTERCEPTOR LAUCH TIME AND SITE UNCERTAINTIES WOULD BE ADDRESSED MAINLY IN PHASE II. ANALYSIS RESULTS ARE APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE BGV IN BOTH TERMINAL AND GLIDE PHASES.