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The article focuses on the assessment and calculation of the combat worthiness level of military subunits and units. It presents several things to consider in assessing combat worthiness of subunits which include the exclusion of battle readiness in the calculation, the five components of combat worthiness such as the state of the personnel, and the levels of these components. It notes that the combat worthiness of a particular unit depends on the combat worthiness level of its various subunits.

The article focuses on the concept and methodological basis for determining and evaluating the combat capability indicators of military units through potential combat readiness. It defines combat potential as technical equipment, military skill, and morale which comprise the components of Armed Forces. It asserts that weapons and materiel (WM), combat worthiness (CW), and combat readiness (CR) are the main elements in assessing the potential combat capabilities of military units.

This study discusses a diagnostic approach to examining the lifecycle support system of a weapon system- specifically illustrating the approaches for the US Navy Phalanx Close-in Weapon System (CIWS). The study gauges the status of current readiness and analyzes a snapshot of cost structures. The study identifies the program's influential cost factors and system performance drivers. As a diagnostic approach to the lifecycle support of the Phalanx Weapon System, the study creates a hypergraph describing the relation between factors and drivers and their effect on operational readiness. The research also suggests areas for further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on identified Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) by the Congress and senior defense officials as a means of responding to future threats to U.S. space systems. The ORS focus includes the ability to launch, activate and employ low-cost, militarily useful satellites to provide surge capability, reconstitute or augment existing constellations, or provide timely availability of tailored or new capabilities.

Testing and evaluation (T&E) of the effectiveness of unmanned autonomous systems (UAS) is a very serious challenge. UAS are ideal target platforms for implementation of intelligent and cognitive capabilities. UAS are often used in hostile and harsh environments where human presence is not desirable, including air, space, surface, or undersea operations. This requires a high degree of UAS autonomy and human independence. To increase effectiveness, UAS may exhibit some social behavior, interacting with each other in a dynamic and flexible fashion. Finally, UAS are capable of carrying lethal weapons. Design and implementation of such intelligent systems is a very difficult task indeed, but even more difficult is the task of T&E of capabilities and operational readiness of these systems. In this article we attempt to lay the system-theoretic foundation for analysis and testing of cognitive and social capabilities of UAS. We propose a cognitive analysis framework and then show how this leads into analysis of the social interaction capabilities of UAS. This cognitive framework is a key to development of comprehensive UAS T&E methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protected core networking (PCN) is a con- cept intended to be used to implement a flexible transport infrastructure that supports future mil- itary operations based on network enabled capa- bility (NEC). PCN is based on creating a loose coupling between information domains and the transport infrastructure, and focusing on the provision of high service availability, also in high-threat environments. This architectural approach highlights a number of emerging and novel concepts where research and development is needed to properly support NEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the draft proposal, in which administration officials termed as "status of forces agreement" (SOFA) of the U.S. government for Iraq. The author explains that provisions of the draft include a guarantee of immunity for American troops and civilian contractors, broad U.S. authority to conduct combat operations, and the right to detain Iraqi prisoners. Iraq's Kurdish Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari emphasizes that the agreement is a continued commitment by the U.S. government to stand by the Iraqi government against foreign and internal threats.

Over the last decade the US. Department of Defense (DoD) has moved to a network-centric environment in which the sensors, weapons, and command and control systems are networked for executing military missions at tactical and operational levels. Although not all systems are Internet Protocol based, they are all networked with different means, including data links. This reality makes the operations of combatant commands and the Services vulnerable to network attacks by casual hackers as well as nation states. Information assurance, which consists of protection, detection, and reaction, has become a critical test issue for net-centric systems, whether it is a sensor, weapon, or command and control system. Information assurance must be assessed systematically during operational test and evaluation. Technical aspects of information assurance (availability, confidentiality, integrity, authentication, and non repudiation) are generally assessed during developmental test and evaluation or during the certification and accreditation process, which supports interim/final authority to operate certification. The emphasis of this article is on subsequent information assurance assessments during operational test and evaluation, focusing on system operation after receiving the authority to operate. Information assurance posture is not just dependent on system designs, but also involves how systems are networked and operated; hence, information assurance is dependent on the abilities of system operators, systems administrators, and network designers to detect, protect from, and react to potential attacks. This article references the policies and guidelines issued by the DoD, operational metrics to be used in evaluation, and the process to conduct operational test and evaluation for most acquisition programs. The article also references a congressionally-mandated effort underway in which fielded systems are assessed for information assurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the Defense Information Systems Agency's Operational Test Agency since 1987, the Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) has integrated operational realism into major test programs and efforts through a variety of methods and strategies. Developing and using net- centric test approaches is a fundamental concept that JITC uses to enhance the operational testing environments for Information Technology and National Security Systems. Complementing JITC's net-centric testing strategies are three other key mission activities that enable JITC to assess and test Information Technology and National Security Systems in operationally realistic environments. JITC's roles and responsibilities with numerous military exercises around the globe, JITC's core mission of interoperability certification through testing, and expanding and executing the Department of Defense Interoperability Communications Exercise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information about the Operational Test and Evaluation Force (OPTEVFOR) headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia. OPTEVFOR is the U.S. Navy's sole independent Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) command that ensures all system be effective, suitable, and survivable and convey their capabilities and limitations to the warfighter. Moreover, OPTEVFOR is engaged in developing methods, procedures, and policies for the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of the Navy.

The article presents the author's views on mobility in the present-day combat readiness system in Russia. He sees it as the essence of current dynamic processes in military affairs and as a notion to carry out strategic deployments. He states that mobile forces must be composed of attack, controlling and supporting subsystems. He believes that organizationally, large mobile strategic formation is good, and that the mobility factor in combat employment of Russia's armed forces will grow.

Physical combat readiness of military personnel ensures maximal effectiveness of combat forces during wartime. Combat readiness has always been linked to the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT). Each raw score is converted to a standard score and corrected for age and gender. There is no standard measurement to evaluate combat readiness in the Royal Thai Army. To determine standardized criteria for physical combat readiness of Royal Thai Army personnel through systematic review, the APFT was used to determine fitness levels and to promote health. To pass the test, each soldier in each unit must attain a minimal standard score for each individual subtest. At present, each unit in the armed forces derives its own standard, based on different missions. The APFT might be an acceptable method to measure physical combat readiness. However, no studies have established the general measurements to evaluate combat readiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the development of a metric to relate maintenance (MX) personnel skill level to operational readiness in the U.S. Air Force. It measures the mission capable (MC) rate as a function of the MX personnel skill level. MC rate refers to the percentage of time that aircraft are fully or partially mission capable. The Air Force needs to maintain percentages of seven and nine level maintainers to ensure that the value for MC rate does not fall below the threshold of 84 percent.

The article discusses the problems encountered in the organization of joint coordinated actions of multi-agency military formations in Russia Federation during a special operation. These problems were classified as legal, theoretical, organizational and technical. Also examined were the combat training system for multi-agency military units.

The article provides an analysis regarding the deployment of the joint grouping of aviation and air defense troops and the qualifying features and conditions for the realization of military activity modes. It examines the necessity of using radio-technical formations as well as electronic warfare units in air battles. It stresses the significance of a common design and elaborated plan for the deployment of the joint grouping of aviation and of air defense troops in the operation.

The article discusses the theory of interaction on the concept of operation of military troops. It reveals the essence of interaction pertaining to military activities including that it is a solution of a contradiction between centralization of control and flexibility, build up horizontal control of military operations, and the coordination in the actions of troops is achieved through preparation of an operation. Three models on interaction are given.

With rapid and frequent deployments around the world, the current high level of military operations demands combat readiness of every military member. In the U.S. Armed Forces, women represent 15% of active duty troops and 17% of reserve and Guard troops and are a critical component for mission accomplishment. The operational issues of menstruation and unintended pregnancy, unique to this population, can decrease a female member's military readiness and affect her ability to deploy. Strategies to mitigate and even eliminate these concerns include the optional use of hormonal medications to induce reversible menstrual cycle suppression. These medications, traditionally indicated for contraception, should be considered essential for female troops during training and deployment. This article, tailored specifically for military women, provides valuable information regarding the risks and benefits, as well as the various options available for menstrual cycle suppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article focuses on the analysis of the military activity in the context of military sciences using various methods of disciplines such as philosophy, psychology, and sociology. It points out that an approach to the military activity concept is not at all casual in society since it stems from the previous development stages of the native scientific idea. However, such interpretation of the relations between culture and military science is overcome as it lacks adequate conformity.

The article discusses the form of defense, a type of combat action in which one of the opposing sides realizes its combat capability. It is noted that defense operations are always a retaliatory reaction to initiative displayed by an advancing adversary. The ultimate objective of the defense will be neutralization of an attacking force. The main method of achieving defense objectives is depriving the adversary of its offensive capability.

Focusing on four critical components of combat cohesion--leadership, morale, trust, and training--the author argues that under Boris Yeltsin, combat cohesion deteriorated to the point where the Russian military was not in a position to carry out combat operations--as demonstrated by the army's poor showing in the First Chechen War. As a result, the military that Putin inherited was in shambles. Planes were not flying, ships were not sailing, and soldiers were not training. While the outcome is not assured, Putin has provided the generals with the two factors they value the most: stability and predictability. For the first time since the collapse of the USSR, the steep decline in combat readiness has begun to be reversed--even so, success is not assured, and there is a long way to go before Moscow will be able to boast of an army approaching that fielded by the Soviets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a theoretical discussion of military logistics. The author begins by broadly defining logistics as the link between a state's general economic resources and its defense-military subsystems. He follows this with a discussion of both the Prussian and the French schools of logistics. He illustrates the importance of logistics in modern warfare with an analysis of some combat variables, then dwells on the phenomenon of the logistic vacuum, and describes the way military logistic systems function. Finally, he presents a case study analysis of the German attack on the Soviet Union in 1941, otherwise known as Operation Barbarossa.

On the basis of archival and printed sources, this article examines the role that Russian military intelligence played in miscalculating the Japanese threat before the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese war of 1904–05. The treatment focuses on three general problem areas: assessments of Japanese military and naval strength and combat readiness; perceptions of war imminence and the related possibility of surprise; and Japanese intentions. Evidence indicates that the overall quality of intelligence was uneven, although reasonably accurate with regard to the Japanese navy. However, genuine situational and structural constraints clouded perceptions of the Japanese ground forces. Still other constraints obscured Russian perceptions of war imminence and Japanese intentions. The cumulative result was that Russia would enter far eastern conflict at a substantial disadvantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the importance of strategic training among echelons of command and troops of the Russian Federation (RF) Armed Forces towards succeeding combat operations. The authors account on the Great Patriotic War and several combat activities that RF Armed Forces should learn. The author also a presentation in an attempt to alert RF defense capability in countering possible aggressions.

The Soviets developed heavy mortars to destroy enemy field fortifications. In the late 1970s, Soviet designers began work on a precision-guided mortar round. The Soviet "Daredevil" 240mm high-precision mortar round has an optical-electronic tracking head that is guided onto the target by a laser beam. The 240mm mortar is mounted on a tracked chassis called the 2S4 "Tulip". In 1985, the Soviets sent the round to Afghanistan for combat testing. The article discusses the successful combat testing of the round in the Pandjshir Valley of Afghanistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article informs that the core of the Russian Federation Defense Ministry's military-technical policy in the operation and maintenance of arms and military equipment (AME) is ensuring the combat readiness of AME as the key component of the combat system of the Armed Forces. It takes into account the general systemic and branch of service priorities of its development; introduces advanced and economical resource saving procedures and technologies for the operation, maintenance, and disposal of AME and new information and analysis systems and technologies to control these processes on different levels.

Ideally, early warning analysis provides information in a form that is easily digested by senior decision makers, serving as a first step in planning conflict prevention and preparedness measures. This paper outlines how practical early warning analysis can be undertaken, identifying seven central early warning factors within which individual indicators can be aggregated. While we can continue to search for the holy grail of early warning – that is the parsimonious polynomic equation which yields robust predictions, this should not come at the cost of the policy relevant tin cup that can be used today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the changes in the forms and methods of warfare employed in various branches and arms of service and special task force. Details on the combat readiness of missile and artillery units; Accounts on the organizational aspects of the creation and development of a Missile Forces and Artillery (MFA) automated command and control system; Assessment of command and control impacts on MFA performance in combat.

Provides information on trends in military clothing and uniforms. Essential outward signs of pieces of military clothing and uniform; Details of information on the problems involved in the provision of clothing and related military gear; Consideration of improvement of military clothing as one of the important conditions in maintaining high combat readiness.

Focuses on the organization and conduct of Air Force tactical exercises (TE) in Russia. Importance of tactical exercises in combat training; Factors that influence the organization and conduct of TE; Account of problems generated by the factors.

Focuses on the unified combat training and indoctrination system for the Russian Armed Forces. Account of factors influencing combat capability of combined units, military units and subunits; Problem with the influence of the morale on the course and outcome of warfare; Assertion concerning the goal for the entire training of troops and indoctrination of personnel.

Focuses on the control of moral and psychological support (MPS) of combat operations of the Russian Armed Forces. Problem concerning the mechanism development of the efficient operation of MPS; Explanations with regard to the development of a combat operations MPS model; Account of basic tasks of combat operations MPS.

Provides information on the methods and modes of warfare. Significance of air operations in warfare; Account of organizational characteristics of air operations; Implications of the failure of troops to operate according to an earlier developed concept.

Focuses on the importance of appropriate methods for modeling armed confrontation processes. Explanations concerning the method for evaluating the situation by elements of an operation plan; Problem with the evaluation of the situation by elements; Significance of the formalized representation of the modes of operations by troops.

Discusses the role of full combat support in the preparation and implementation of measures designed to maintain high combat readiness and operational effectiveness of troops. Combat principle that has undergone much change in the past 100 years; Four main types comprised in full support; Factors predetermining the complex system of the combat principle.

Focuses on the implementation process of the combat support command and control (CSC2) strategy of the U.S. Air Force. Role of CSC2 in the transition of the agency to a more expeditionary force; Institutionalization of best practices and evolution of organizations through doctrine; Endorsement of the CSC2 nodal construct; Decision made to the standing CSC2 organizations. INSET: Major General Sullivan.

Examines government expenditures towards the development of the Russian Navy. Recommendations for efficient use of material resources; Formation of the necessary sections of the Armament Program and a system for production cooperation in naval construction; Determination of the operational-strategic and operational-tactical requirements for mission performance levels and combat readiness of naval forces.

Examines the influence of geophysical conditions on the effectiveness of combat operations. Impact of weather conditions on combat employment; Necessity for commanding officers and staffs to know and take into consideration the actual and forecast weather conditions in preparing for and conducting combat operations; Account of the defeat of the Nazis in the battle near Moscow, Russia during World War II.

Determines the rational composition of missile forces and artillery weapons in a combat operation. Importance of the effective delivery of conventional fires (DCF) against an adversary in a war; Impact of DCF on the course and outcome of an operation; Dependence of DCF on the composition of weapons and totality of munitions used in fire missions in an operation.

Presents discussions on the combat readiness of the Russian Air Force. Role of the Air Force in preserving national security; Significance of enhancing early warning systems and information transmission; Details on personnel combat training.

Focuses on the decline of combat readiness of the Armed Forces in the U.S. Assessment of the operational and funding decisions; Total of aircraft not mission capable rate for maintenance; Factors affecting the construction of mathematical model.

The article presents information on a research regarding the motivational factors referred in the U.S. narrative accounts of the ground war in Vietnam. The researchers examined eighteen works written by the participants of the Vietnam that include the combat experiences of the participants during the ten-year period of the war. The study analyzes ten motivational factors that motivated the soldiers during the war period. It is noted that the ground level participants of the war were not properly informed about the goal. The unit spirit is considered as one of the ten important motivational factors of the primary group in the war.

Focuses on the role of air support of troops in the Armed Forces of Russia. Definition of air combat operation in support of ground troops; Impediments to the decision-making and operation-planning process; Distinction between air combat operations conducted according to frontal, army division or air assault plans.

Analyzes the operational efficiency of command and control system in Russia. Evaluation of the disorganization of complex systems; Difficulty in formalizing input data and command and control goals in an operation; Aim of improving the command and control process.

Reports the integration of a measure as part of an integrated troop protection system in combat operations in Russia. Neutralization of the effects of enemy strikes; Rehabilitation of the operational effectiveness of combined units; Distribution of command and control functions in performing tasks in combat operation.

Formulates a working concept of network-centric warfare that is critical to the United States' military power. Technological revolution involved in increasing the impact of military force; Optimization of combat efficiency; Methods in increasing the ability of network-centric forces to undertake effects-based operations; Self-synchronization and asymmetric warfare.

Enumerates the characteristics that the United States Navy must possess in order to deal with conflicts within the Asia-Pacific region. Strategies in acquiring a body of knowledge through immersion in an area and through experience, judgments, feedback and assessment; Development of a network-centric operations and warfare; Application of naval capabilities into the mental models of the region.

Presents information on a study which discussed the optimization of hybrid electric vehicle components for combat missions. Mission sequences; Results; Conclusions.

Focuses on the relevance of space surveillance in the over-all military-political global situation. List of countries with outlets foro outer space surveillance; Function in the revelation of direct preparations for combat preparations in aggressor countries; Implications for the establishment of an outer space surveillance center through international cooperation.