Machine-Aided Design of an Air-Launched Missile Defense System

摘要

The power of today's computers is altering design methodologies at the system level. Instead of manually comparing and contrasting a dozen or so options for configuring a system, machine aids can now quantitatively evaluate thousands of candidate configuration on the time scale of minutes. We apply a machine aid to improve the design of an air-launched missile defense system that intercepts ballistic targets during both their boost and terminal phases. First, the specific problem statement and corresponding quantitative formulation are defined. The discussion then moves on to the overall procedure executed by the machine aid, followed by delving into the quantitative models employed.