Lanchester combat models

TL;DR

This paper provides an overview of Lanchester combat models, discussing their educational potential and various extensions like discrete, unaimed-fire, mixed forces, and asymmetric models, to enhance understanding of combat dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces and summarizes multiple extensions and generalizations of Lanchester models, highlighting their pedagogical value and diverse applications.

Findings

Lanchester models can be adapted for different combat scenarios

Extensions include discrete, unaimed-fire, and asymmetric models

Models help in understanding complex combat interactions

Abstract

An overview of Lanchester combat models, emphasising their pedagogical possibilities. After a description of the aimed-fire model and comments on the literature, we introduce briefly a range of further topics: a discrete equivalent, the unaimed-fire model, mixed forces, the meaning of a 'unit', support troops, Bracken's generalization and an asymmetric model.