Decision support of the deployment of weapons for the defense of a naval vessel

In a complex coastal region, naval ships must be prepared to defend against attack from a multitude of sources. The merit of each defensive action must be rationally weighed against alternatives, in order to make the best possible choices. Information is often incomplete and uncertain. Time is often scarce. This complex problem can overwhelm the human decision-maker, invoking desperation in place of rationality.; In response to the problem, this work focuses on modeling the decision support of the deployment of weapons for naval ship defense using Markovian temporal Bayesian decision networks as a methodology. The belief is that Markovian temporally extended Bayesian decision networks have strengths that can be leveraged to assist with the planning process in a complex real-world domain like naval vessel defense. As a conclusion of this experimental application, this work recommends how theory might better address issues critical to the practical application of this technology.