Optimal Resource Partitioning in a Military Conflict based on Lanchester Attrition Models

This paper develops a model for military conflicts where the defending forces have to determine an optimal partitioning of available resources to counter attacks from an adversary in two different fronts. The Lanchester attrition model is used to develop the dynamical equations governing the variation in force strength. Three different allocation schemes – Time-Zero-Allocation (TZA), Allocate-Assess-Reallocate (AAR), and Continuous Constant Allocation (CCA) – are considered and the optimal solutions are obtained in each case. Numerical examples are given to support the analytical results.