• Refine Query
  • Source
  • Publication year
  • to
  • Language
  • 345
  • 255
  • 13
  • 10
  • 3
  • 2
  • 2
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • Tagged with
  • 808
  • 808
  • 120
  • 118
  • 118
  • 101
  • 101
  • 80
  • 78
  • 63
  • 61
  • 58
  • 55
  • 46
  • 35
  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
621

An exploratory analysis of village search operations

Aydin, Mehmet 06 1900 (has links)
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / Following the cold war a new kind of threat emerged; terrorism became the most important threat used by individuals, organizations and countries to reach their goals. Turkey has suffered from terrorism for years. In Turkey, the main logistic resource for the terrorist is the villages located in remote areas. A search operation is one of the techniques used to capture the terrorists. Five village search operations scenarios are developed based on a previous study done for the New Zealand Army and the author's personal experiences. For this study, the agent-based model MANA (Map Aware Non-uniform Automata) is used. To investigate the effects of 16 variables state-of-the-art Near Orthogonal Latin Hypercube Designs are used. With a personal computer and the computational capabilities of supercomputers run by Mitre for the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab (MCWL) approximately 15000 runs are completed. In comparing the five scenarios, the significant effects on the outcome of a possible skirmish in search operations are the proficiency level of the soldiers, the employment of village guards and the support of the local people to the terrorists. The results of the analysis suggest that the most important factor affecting the Blue casualties is the initial speed and synchronization of the Blue search unit entering the village and the most important factor affecting the Red casualties is the Red Stealth. / First Lieutenant, Turkish Army
622

Fourth generation war paradigm for change

Katoch, Ghanshyam Singh. 06 1900 (has links)
This thesis argues that a shift in the doctrine, organization, equipment and training of armies is required due to a shift in the nature of war. This thesis refers to the "new way of war" as Fourth Generation War (4GW) and this analysis is restricted to the army component of the defense forces. Armies at present are geared to fight the earlier generation of attrition and maneuver wars. In 4GW, an army structured for earlier generations of warfare is militarily dysfunctional. The thesis statement is: Infantry based armies practicing unconventional warfare (UW) are essential for the 4GW battlefield. The thesis argues for the conventionalization of UW. Hypothesis One states that heavy armor/artillery based armies should give way to infantry based armies. Hypothesis Two states that the military doctrine of these infantry based armies should be based on UW. The thesis explains 4GW and examines the relationship between terrorism and 4GW. It studies the impact of 4GW on the Principles of War. It examines whether Special Forces (SF) are the panacea for 4GW and whether increasing the size of SF is the solution. Lastly, the thesis discusses the changes required in the army to fight in a 4GW environment and provides recommendations.
623

Transforming the American soldier educating the warrior-diplomat / Educating the warrior-diplomat

Warman, Steven A. 06 1900 (has links)
In this thesis, we examine the current levels of cultural understanding and irregular warfare being taught in U.S. Army conventional military schools. Given engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is our view that the military needs a deeper understanding of the indigenous people due to the extremely close and on-going interaction between American Soldiers and the local populations. Current analysis of the difficulties being reported suggests U.S. Army Soldiers are having trouble combating irregular warfare due to cultural misunderstandings and a lack of counterinsurgency training, thereby reflecting a likely educational gap in the U.S. Army's formal military educational training system. This thesis analyzes the current problems and difficulties Soldiers are reported to be having while attempting to combat irregular forces in non-western environments. We analyze the amount of training U.S. Army Soldiers receive in cultural understanding and irregular warfare in the military schools pipeline and conclude that there is a connection between problems Soldiers currently face and a lack of training for the conduct of operations in foreign countries. We propose a number of solutions to overcome these suspected gaps in education and suggested changes to the Army's professional education curriculum.
624

Rethinking global engagement the requirement for knowledge before action

Hasler, Jeffrey L. 06 1900 (has links)
The type of engagement necessary for US security is not compatible with the interests of today's US SOF. America requires a Global Engagement Plan (GEP) that is unprecedented in its patience and persistence, and that maintains a diffuse presence everywhere on the planet. Such a plan envisions and necessitates deliberate, intimate, and continuous American contact with the predominantly non-elite majority that is inadequately observed and reported on by extant instruments of American power. Operatives tasked with executing the GEP would be permanently immersed in the host environment, taking a U.S. Army Special Forces (SF) mantra to "operate by, with, and through indigenous forces and peoples" to an extreme. Current American governmental structures and methods of foreign engagement are unequal to such a task. America already has a force whose mission includes acting as "global scouts": SF. Nevertheless, the traditional method of SF employment is inadequate to provide such continuous observation and reporting. Better methods of global engagement can be found in both a (military) Regional Engagement Concept (REC), and a proposed Global Engagement Agency within the Department of State for (civilian) operatives. Retired and/or transitioned SF soldiers provide an ideal nucleus for the forming of such an agency.
625

Analysis of communist Vietnamese special operations forces during the Vietnam War and the lessons that can be applied to current and future U.S. military operations

Cloninger, James M. 06 1900 (has links)
This thesis examines the role of communist special operations forces during the Vietnam War and the relevancy of the lessons learned from these units. The United States military, specifically Army Special Forces, Rangers, and Navy SEALS, were not the only forces capable of conducting successful special operations during the conflict. The People's Army of Vietnam also had a highly organized, well trained, and well equipped organization capable of carrying out special operations. This organization was the sapper arm, and it was composed of three separate types of units. The Urban Sapper was concerned with intelligence gathering, terrorism, assassination, and special operations in the large urban areas such as Saigon and Hue. The Naval Sapper was responsible for attacking shipping, bridges, and bases located near waterways. The Field Sapper conducted operations against deployed US and South Vietnamese troops, trained other communist troops as sappers, and gave the communist leadership an elite force for lightning raids. The sapper force had certain operational principles, organizational constructs, and functional methods that set it apart from any other communist military element used during the Vietnam War.
626

Intelligence architecture in the Hungarian Special Operations Forces

Bari, Gabor 06 1900 (has links)
Based on the challenges of the new global security environment, Hungary conducted a strategic Defense Review, which served as the basis of a reform of the Hungarian Defense Forces. One of the consequences of this reform is that the Hungarian Government has directed the establishment of a Special Forces group within the HDF. The government based this decision on an examination of the current security environment, likely threats, and its responsibilities as a member of NATO and the European Union. Recent experience has shown that in the GWOT one of the most important requirements is information dominance. Information gathered by human intelligence becomes even more important in asymmetric warfare. The role of the SOF in the collection of important information in theater requires a robust intelligence architecture at the unit level. The final goal should be the complete integration of SOF-based intelligence into the national intelligence community, both as an information provider and as an information user. The aim of this thesis is to address the importance of the proper intelligence structure within the Hungarian SF unit, especially in the current global security environment, as well as its cooperation with other intelligence agencies in the global war on terrorism.
627

Communication aspects in urban terrain

Pfeiffer, Volker 12 1900 (has links)
The nature of warfare has changed dramatically during the last decade. Western armies are increasingly required to conduct complex operations in urban terrain against asymmetric threats. These opponents use cities and their inhabitants for cover and concealment. In such situations, modern equipped armies often cannot fully utilize many of their most powerful weapons. To overcome this situation, modern communication systems are being acquired and deployed to provide real-time reconnaissance; thereby, attempting to neutralize the threat through enhanced situational awareness. This research addresses the potential impacts of communication from airborne sensors on assisting a convoy in finding its way through a hostile city quarter (based on Mazar-E-Sharif, Afghanistan) in which militia forces try to interdict them via street blockades and ambushes. The implementation is done in the agent-based simulation Map Aware Non-Uniform Automata (MANA). The results show that the current MANA version is not sufficiently capable to handle routing problems in urban terrain. Specifically, the movement algorithm is â locally greedyâ and not flexible enough to project into the futureâ as real human decision makers do. Many workarounds were developed to mitigate this limitation. The analysis shows that the number of blockades is the single most important factor in determining the convoyâ s success. Of the communication factors, network latency has the most impact. For the convoy to effectively use the information, it needs to get from the sensor to the convoy in 11 seconds.
628

SAR & slow-moving target detection

Kennedy, Stuart Alan January 2015 (has links)
This Engineering Doctorate concerns the enhancement and detection of slow-moving targets in SAR images. Moving targets are incorrectly located or not captured at all in SAR images. Slow-moving targets within the clutter-Doppler-band appear at incorrect locations within the SAR image. Detecting these slow targets would have broad applications in defence surveillance, traffic monitoring and perimeter protection. As an industrially motivated project, partnered with Selex ES, this work goes beyond the explanation and confirmation of theories and looks at the practicality of implementing techniques. The goal of the research is to develop algorithms with general applicability that can also be specifically exploited on current Selex ES SAR systems. Additionally, the benefit of larger numbers of channels should be evaluated to help guide future product development. After finding the capabilities of single channel SAR to be limited to the detection of very bright targets, the main focus of the research is the use of multiple spatial channels to improve moving target capabilities. A multichannel SAR simulator has been developed that, along with multiple flight trials with the PicoSAR radar system, provides data sets that are used to develop and test the algorithms presented in this work. A theoretical background is given that includes analysis of deramp-on-receive processing, multichannel SAR image formation and the Selex ES PicoSAR system. Also included is a novel derivation of the effects of moving targets in spotlight SAR imagery that confirms previous results without the previous approximations. The derivation uses an entirely new approach that considers the closing velocity of moving targets rather than explicit analysis of the signal phases. The main thrust of the research looks at image-domain exploitation of dual channel SAR to suppress stationary clutter and enhance the returns from moving targets. Adaptive channel alignment is used to calibrate and align multiple channels such that the magnitude and phase differences between the channels can be used to cancel stationary clutter contributions. After this clutter suppression, the velocity of bright targets can be then estimated so that they can be correctly focused and positioned within the SAR image. In the more common case where moving targets remain dim after clutter suppression, a third channel is needed to estimate target velocity. Simulated data is used to demonstrate clutter suppression interferometry as a technique to achieve this. The use of real data throughout all of these considerations leads to the conclusion that current dual-channel radar systems such as PicoSAR can be used to detect dim, slow-moving targets. To correct the motion-induced degradation of these targets, it will be necessary to have a third spatial channel but significant gains can be made with only two.
629

The Royal Navy and economic warfare in North America, 1812-1815

Arthur, Brian January 2009 (has links)
This study examines the evolution of offensive and defensive maritime economic warfare and the Royal Navy’s use of commercial and naval blockades and mercantile convoys during successive wars, particularly its successful use by Britain in the Anglo-American war of 1812-15. Its legality, tactical and strategic development and contemporary government policy, including impressments are studied. Comparison is made of the nature and development of the British and American economies, their vulnerability to economic warfare and the expediency of its use by Britain against the United States discussed. Legal and practical constraints upon British convoys and blockades are studied and practical solutions reviewed. Economic aspects of the causes, conduct and effects of the war are surveyed, including the impact of Britain’s commercial blockade on American commercial, fiscal, financial, economic and political infrastructures, and therefore the United States’ ability and preparedness to continue fighting. The effectiveness of the naval blockade supplementing Britain’s commercial blockade of the United States is also assessed. The long-standing problem of the relative effects of British commercial blockade, and the at times contemporaneous American legislative ‘restricting system’ is resolved by comparison of current New England commodity prices at specific times. Prices before the repeal of Madison’s second Embargo are compared with subsequent prices, and with those after the British blockades are later extended to neutral trade with New England. The effectiveness of British economic warfare on the American economy under two successive commanders is evaluated. An objective assessment of the strategy’s eventual impact on the war’s outcome and later policies is made, and of how far each belligerent’s war aims were met by the negotiated peace. The effectiveness of Britain’s use of economic warfare against the United States has long been seriously under-estimated.
630

Metallurgical characterisation of 1st and 2nd century AD Roman copper-alloy military equipment from north-western Europe

Fernández Reyes, Pablo January 2014 (has links)
Roman military equipment has traditionally been studied from a typological perspective based on a linear concept of change. Whilst Roman alloys have been analysed scientifically and general studies on them have been published, analysis of military equipment has been scarce and mostly secluded as part of excavation reports of individual sites. Scientific analysis though, can provide independent ways of studying military equipment. It can answer questions about production and distribution of the raw materials and finished objects and is capable of informing on reasons for technological choices (the intention of obtaining determinate colours, for example), and identification of military units. A total of 216 copper-alloy military objects from the British sites of South Cadbury Castle, Ham Hill, Usk, Carlisle, Chester and Kingsholm, and the German site of Kalkriese were selected for obtaining metallurgical characterisation: chemical analysis at major, minor and trace element level and microstructural analysis to obtain fabrication history and identifying any plating. The analytical techniques employed were atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDS), optical microscopy and multivariate statistics methods such as principal component analysis (PCA), discriminant analysis (DA) and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The aim of the project was to characterise the chemical and physical make-up of Roman military copper-alloy metalwork from the 1st century AD, with especial interest in the immediate post-conquest period. The results of the analysis show a difference between the Roman military equipment from British sites and the equipment from Kalkriese, based on trace element patterns. This difference can be explained by a large input of material into Britain that had been made in the years before AD43 in preparation for the conquest. Contrary to recent scholarship, and based on compositional and microstructural evidence, some lorica segmentata brass fittings seem to have been centrally produced. Primary brass and specific gunmetal compositions seem to be associated with the military and probably chosen primarily for their appearance and resemblance to gold, rather than for their mechanical properties. The possibility of mechanised production of brass is explored based on the brass ingot from Sheepen.

Page generated in 0.0883 seconds