Optimising asset placement in IAMD scenarios
Conference
21st Australian International Aerospace Congress (AIAC21)
Title
Optimising asset placement in IAMD scenarios
Abstract
Integrated Air Missile Defence (IAMD) is an integral part of protecting high-value assets such as population centres and key Defence sites against missile threats. IAMD architectures consist of a network of defence assets, such as sensors to detect incoming threats and effectors to intercept them. Due to the complex nature of coordinating the cooperation of such assets, as well as the uncertain nature of the threat the IAMD system will face, it can be difficult to design IAMD architectures and evaluate their effectiveness. Modelling and simulation provide an avenue for exploring defence scenarios, without the deployment cost.
We developed an optimisation scheme to position sensor and effector assets to best defend against simulated missile threat scenarios in the Defence Asset Placement SIMulator (DAPSIM). Threats were modelled in three dimensions on a rotating ellipsoidal Earth, with three degrees of freedom, and subject to aerodynamic drag and lift forces. Sensors were modelled as three-dimensional parametric volumes that make detections whilst threat trajectories are within the volume. After implementing these models in the simulation environment, we investigated the robustness of a basin-hopping algorithm in determining globally optimal asset placements in IAMD scenarios. It was found that the scheme could optimally place assets within a reasonable time frame, however the convergence of the optimisation scheme was sensitive to initial conditions, due to the non-smoothness of the objective. Thus, further work is required to promote optimiser convergence to enable complex IAMD scenarios to be considered practically.
Key takeaways:
- Shoal’s DAPSIM interface provides an interactive environment for investigating IAMD architectures in the context of missile defence, with modelling and simulation used to explore various defence scenarios, without the deployment cost.
- Shoal’s DAPSIM is fast to explore defence scenarios such that various IAMD architectures can be evaluated quickly to eliminate undesirable solutions and effectively select capabilities to investigate in more detail at a higher fidelity.
- Shoal’s DAPSIM’s use of mathematical optimisation techniques reduce human bias errors and help quantitatively evaluate the potential strengths of an IAMD architecture.
Authors
Emma Comino, Modelling and Simulation Analyst, Shoal Group
John Wharington PhD, Principal System Engineer, Shoal Group
Date
Monday 24 March 2025
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About Shoal
Shoal is complex systems design company. We use Systems Engineering combined with Modelling, Simulation and Analysis to help our clients define, analyse, decide, optimise, and deliver technology-intensive projects in complex environments across Defence, Space, Transport, Energy and Infrastructure.
More: shoalgroup.com
Contact
Matthew Wylie
Chief Engineer, Shoal Group
[email protected]
