Response Surface Mapping Technique Aids Warfighters

  • Published
  • By Rex Swenson, AFRL/RWOB
  • Munitions Directorate
AFRL scientists, collaborating with other Department of Defense agencies, applied innovative response surface mapping (RSM) data mining and visualization methods to aid the efficiency and effectiveness of warfighter weaponeering decisions. A team of scientists from AFRL and the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center integrated the RSM algorithms into the three-dimensional (3D) projectile penetration code (PENCURV+), creating the PENCRV3D_RSM code. The PENCRV3D_RSM software automatically performs hundreds of weapon penetration trajectory simulations before integrating the results into a single RSM chart so that planners can visualize the comprehensive data. An invaluable tool for analysis activities requiring the execution of numerous parametric simulations, PENCRV3D_RSM augments efforts such as mission planning, weapon development, and unexploded ordnance work.

When weaponeering a target, military planners pinpoint a detonation location that will result in the desired damage to the entire target, or even a particular area within the target. The warfighter then selects the most suitable delivery platform--aircraft, weapon, guidance package, release altitude, and speed--for inflicting maximum damage to the target. Determining the proper combination of variables capable of producing the desired effect on a hardened target requires the warfighter to understand the penetration dynamics of the weapon. Doing so also relies on the individual's ability to adjust the variables within his or her control, as necessary. For a scenario in which the destruction of a specific target is often coupled with the mitigation of collateral damage, it is imperative that the warfighter make proper decisions regarding weapons selection.

Prior to the implementation of the RSM techniques, mission planners made an initial assumption of release conditions. If the weapon failed to achieve the desired penetration depth, the planner selected either a new set of release conditions or a different weapon and then ran the analysis again. The advent of the RSM approach enables mission planners to run a single analysis to determine the penetration outcome for multiple guidance kits and release conditions.