Cost Effectiveness of Smoke Screens Employed by Indirect Fire Means

Angebote / Angebote:

This thesis examines cost effectiveness of smoke screens employed by indirect fire means. Large area smoke employment means are included for comparison with the indirect fire means, and for demonstration of a potential source of smoke screens unfamiliar to many tacticians. Optimal tactics for smoke screen employment are not addressed. Two computer models are developed, one for indirect fire means (60mm, 81mm, and 4.2in mortars, as well as 105mm and 155mm howitzers) and one for large area means (smoke generators and smoke pots). Performance characteristics of indirect fire smoke ammunition are incorporated into the model based on recent experimentation by the U.S. Army Systems Analysis Activity. Smoke screens are described by input parameters, which are varied by a heuristic search procedure. These parameters (and their limits) include: weather (lapse, neutral, and inverse conditions with accompanying wind), screen duration (1 through 60 minutes), and sheaf width (100 through 1050 meters). Cost effective preferences are recommended for various smoke screen employment means. Possible areas for future research are suggested.