When hostile missile raids are launched, protecting allied assets requires that many targets be tracked simultaneously. In these raids, it is possible that the number of missiles could outnumber the sensors available to measure them. In these situations, communication between sensors can be utilized along with dynamic task planning to increase the amount of knowledge available concerning these missiles. Since any allied decisions must depend on the knowledge available from the sensors, it follows that improving the overall knowledge will improve the ability of allies to protect their assets through improved decision making. The goal of the this research effort is to create a Sensor Resource Management (SRM) algorithm to optimize the information available during these missile raids, as well as strengthening the simulation framework required to evaluate the performance of the SRM. The SRM must be capable of near-real-time run time so that it could potentially be deployed in a real-world system. The SRM must be capable of providing time-varying assignments to sensors, allowing more than one target to be observed by a single sensor. The SRM must predict measurements based on sensor models to assess the potential information gain by each assignment. Using these predictions, an optimal allocation of all sensors must be constructed. The initial simulation, upon which this work was built, was capable of simulating a set number of missiles launched simultaneously, providing appropriate charts to display the accuracy of knowledge on each target as well as their predicted impact locations. Communication delays are implemented within the simulation, and sensor models are refined. In refining the sensor models, they are given geometric limitations such as range and viewing angles. Additionally, simulated measurements incorporate geometric considerations to provide more realistic values. The SRM is also improved to account for the details added to the simulation. These improvements include creating assignment schedules and allowing a time-varying numbers of targets. The resulting simulation and SRM are presented, and potential future work is discussed. / text

The global Cold War is used frequently by historians to frame the context of political, economic, social, military, and geographic history of the 20th century. This is often the case in Africa as well. This thesis set out to explore U.S.- South African relations during the 1960s. After conducting research in Record Group 59 (State Department Records) of the National Archives from 1967-1973, three case studies emerged that suggested that reexamination of how historians traditionally view U.S.-South African relations during this time period is necessary. The three case studies include U.S. use of naval ports in South Africa, the strategic geographic location of South Africa and its importance to NASA's satellite and missile tracking stations, and the policy of selling of weapons to South Africa by the U.S. While this is by no means an exhaustive study of this time period due to limited time in the National Archives, it does offer promise for more research involving this topic.