Weapon–Target Assignment Algorithm for Simultaneous and Sequenced Arrival

Abstract

Weapon–target assignment is a multi-agent control problem in which each weapon is assigned to a target to minimize the expected survival value of the targets. In this work, a multi-objective version of the weapon–target assignment problem is considered in which the quality of an assignment is dependent on both the total effectiveness of the weapons assigned to each target and the relative timing of agents’ arrival. Such timing constraints may be important in real-world scenarios in which a mission planner wishes to enforce an element of surprise on each target. Building on previous work, a new modified cost function is presented that couples weapon effectiveness and timing metrics into a combined cost. In cases where weapon–target closing speeds are limited to a certain range, this combined cost allows the inclusion of arrival time constraints in the assignment decision process. The performance of this new cost function is demonstrated through theoretical analysis and simulation. Results show that the proposed cost function balances the dual goals of optimizing effectiveness and arrival time considerations under closing speed limitations and that a user-defined tuning parameter can be used to adjust the priority of the dual goals of sequenced arrival and achieving the desired probability of kill.