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Lanchester Models for Irregular Warfare

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  • Moshe Kress

    (Operations Research Department, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 93943, USA)

Abstract

Military operations research and combat modeling apply mathematical models to analyze a variety of military conflicts and obtain insights about these phenomena. One of the earliest and most important set of models used for combat modeling is the Lanchester equations. Legacy Lanchester equations model the mutual attritional dynamics of two opposing military forces and provide some insights regarding the fate of such engagements. In this paper, we review recent developments in Lanchester modeling, focusing on contemporary conflicts in the world. Specifically, we present models that capture irregular warfare, such as insurgencies, highlight the role of target information in such conflicts, and capture multilateral situations where several players are involved in the conflict (such as the current war in Syria).

Suggested Citation

  • Moshe Kress, 2020. "Lanchester Models for Irregular Warfare," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-14, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jmathe:v:8:y:2020:i:5:p:737-:d:354938
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    7. Kress, Moshe & Caulkins, Jonathan P. & Feichtinger, Gustav & Grass, Dieter & Seidl, Andrea, 2018. "Lanchester model for three-way combat," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 264(1), pages 46-54.
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    9. Moshe Kress & Roberto Szechtman, 2009. "Why Defeating Insurgencies Is Hard: The Effect of Intelligence in Counterinsurgency Operations---A Best-Case Scenario," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 57(3), pages 578-585, June.
    10. Edward H. Kaplan & Moshe Kress & Roberto Szechtman, 2010. "Confronting Entrenched Insurgents," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 58(2), pages 329-341, April.
    11. Donghyun Kim & Hyungil Moon & Donghyun Park & Hayong Shin, 2017. "An efficient approximate solution for stochastic Lanchester models," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 68(11), pages 1470-1481, November.
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    Cited by:

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    2. N. Cangiotti & M. Capolli & M. Sensi, 2023. "A generalization of unaimed fire Lanchester’s model in multi-battle warfare," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 1-19, June.
    3. Dario Maimone Ansaldo Patti & Pietro Navarra & Giuseppe Sobbrio, 2022. "Insecure Property Rights and Conflicts: How to Solve Them?," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-32, December.

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