The effects of splitting exponential stochastic Lanchester battles

Abstract

The Exponential Stochastic Lanchester (ESL) model of attrition is well known and can be found in many combat models. This paper is concerned with exploring the effects of applying the ESL attrition model to battles which have been split into different arrangements of smaller engagements or fire fights. These fire fights were mainly resolved using a Markov chain formulation of the ESL model. Some interesting and non-intuitive trends were uncovered. It is shown that the ESL model predicts an increasing advantage for the defending side as a battle is split into a larger number of smaller parallel engagements.