Date of Award

9-17-2015

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Department of Operational Sciences

First Advisor

Richard F. Deckro, PhD.

Abstract

Mission planners seek to target nodes and/or arcs in networks that have the greatest benefit for an operational plan. In joint interdiction doctrine, a top priority is to assess and target the enemy's vulnerabilities resulting in a significant effect on its forces. An interdiction task is an event that targets the nodes and/or arcs of a network resulting in its capabilities being destroyed, diverted, disrupted, or delayed. Lessons learned from studying network interdiction model outcomes help to inform attack and/or defense strategies. A suite of network interdiction models and measures is developed to assist decision makers in identifying critical nodes and/or arcs to support deliberate and rapid planning and analysis. The interdiction benefit of a node or arc is a measure of the impact an interdiction task against it has on the residual network. The research objective is achieved with a two-fold approach. The measures approach begins with a network and uses node and/or arc measures to assess the benefit of each for interdiction. Concurrently, the models approach employs optimization models to explicitly determine the nodes and/or arcs that are most important to the planned interdiction task.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-ENS-DS-15-S-032

DTIC Accession Number

ADA623457

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