Modeling and control of a joint air operations environment with imperfect information

A key component of the Joint Air Operations (JAO) environment is the dynamic control of resources in the presence of uncertainty. This control involves the allocation of resources (e.g., different aircraft types) to prosecute targets and collect information while accounting for uncertain future events and partial, imperfect observations. The objective is to maximize the reward associated with the effective prosecution of targets, which is contingent on information collection, while minimizing loss of resources. In this paper, we extend an earlier formulation of an optimal dynamic resource allocation problem to explicitly include the dynamics of information collection and to identify the complexities involved. We then describe a simulation-based approach that was developed to solve the dynamic JAO control problem in the presence of partial and imperfect information.