This paper introduces a new heuristic algorithm that aims to solve the military route vulnerability problem, which involves assessing the vulnerability of military cargo flowing over roads and railways subject to enemy interdiction.

    Design/methodology/approach

    Graph theory, a heuristic and a binary integer program are used in this paper.

    Findings

    This work allows transportation analysts at the United States Transportation Command to identify a relatively small number of roads or railways that, if interdicted by an enemy, could disrupt the flow of military cargo within any theater of operation.

    Research limitations/implications

    This research does not capture aspects of time, such as the reality that cargo requirements and enemy threats may fluctuate each day of the contingency.

    Practical implications

    This work provides military logistics planners and decision-makers with a vulnerability assessment of theater distribution routes, including insights into which specific roads and railways may require protection to ensure the successful delivery of cargo from ports of debarkation to final destinations.

    Originality/value

    This work merges network connectivity and flow characteristics with enemy threat assessments to identify militarily-useful roads and railways most vulnerable to enemy interdictions. A geographic combatant command recently used this specific research approach to support their request for rapid rail repair capability.


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    Title :

    Assessing the vulnerability of military theater distribution routes


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2019-03-07


    Size :

    23 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




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