Heuristic for the simultaneous target allocation and fire sequencing problem

In this study the artillery fire system is investigated in consideration of the characteristics of the troop and the target. Two kinds of decision are to be made on the target allocation with fire ammunition and the fire sequencing for the target with duties in charge. The objective is to minimize the completion time for all troops. Each target has the specified amount of load of fire, which can be accomplished by a single troop or the combination of the troops having different capabilities. Mathematical model is suggested, and the heuristic algorithm which yields a solution within a reasonable computation time is developed. The algorithm consists of iterative three steps : the initial solution generation, the division improvement, and the exchange improvement. The performance of the heuristic is evaluated through the computational experiment.