On determining an optimum C4ISR architecture: The sensor-platform allocation analysis tool

In today's environment of constrained resources, decision makers know they cannot have unlimited numbers of every type of C4ISR sensor and associated platforms; they are searching for the best mix of types and numbers of sensors and platforms to get the C4ISR job done. This article describes a classical OR approach to prescriptively modeling and analyzing the performance–cost–benefit trades of combinations of C4ISR assets and architectures. The Sensor-Platform Allocation Analysis Tool (SPAAT) (formerly known as the Sensor-Platform Allocation Model/Analysis Tool) allows users to model various assets (sensors, platforms, ground stations) to optimize performance or costs of C4ISR force mixes. It also provides analysts an interface with combat models to measure the military worth or utility of C4ISR assets and architectures. We have found no other tool that does what SPAAT does.