A study on the analysis of NCW (Network Centric Warfare) combat effectiveness using cellular automata simulation

The recent notion of Network Centric Warfare (NCW) emphasizes the ability to distribute the right information at the right time to maximize the combat effectivenes. Accordingly, in the modern combat system, the importance of non-physical elements, such as communication system, is increasing. However, an NCW-support communication network system is expensive. Therefore, it is essential to develop a proper combat system evaluation method to establish an efficient NCW-support combat system. Traditionally, combat system effectiveness is measured in terms of physical elements such as men and fire power. Obviously, such method is hardly applicable to a modern combat system. To overcome this difficulty, we propose an evaluation model based on CA (Cellular Automata) simulation. A set of preliminary combat simulations show that CA simulation may be promising in evaluating non-physical element of a modern combat system.