Title: Modeling Air Combat by a Moving Horizon Influence Diagram Game

Authors: Kai Virtanen, Janne Karelahti and Tuomas Raivio

Status: Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol 29, No. 5, 2006, pp. 1080-1091.

Keywords: Air combat, decision analysis, game theory, influence diagram, moving horizon control.

The paper describes a multistage influence diagram game for modeling the maneuvering decisions of pilots in one-on-one air combat. The game graphically describes the elements of the decision process, contains a model for the dynamics of the aircraft, and takes into account the pilots' preferences under conditions of uncertainty. The pilots' game optimal control sequences with respect to their preference models are obtained by solving the influence diagram game with a moving horizon control approach. In this approach, the time horizon of the original game is truncated, and a feedback Nash equilibrium of the dynamic game lasting only a limited planning horizon is determined and implemented at each decision stage. To demonstrate the influence diagram and its aspects, examples with point mass aircraft model are computed and analyzed. The game model presented in the paper offers a new way to analyze optimal air combat maneuvering and to develop an automated decision making system for selecting combat maneuvers in air combat simulators.