Game Theory in Defence Applications: A Review

Area of Science:

• Operations Research
• Game Theory
• Defence Science

Background:

• Game theory effectively models decision-making for intelligent agents in various fields.
• Defence applications require predicting and modeling adversarial actions and competitive player interactions.
• Game theory's strength lies in analyzing how competitive players' actions influence each other's decisions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a structured review of game theory applications in defence decision-making scenarios.
• To classify existing literature based on warfare type, game theory models used, and player configurations.
• To identify research gaps for future game theory applications in defence.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature review of 29 relevant papers on game theory in defence.
• Classification of papers by warfare type (Command and Control, Resource Allocation, Information, Weapons Control, Adversary Monitoring).
• Categorization based on game theory types (cooperative/non-cooperative, simultaneous/sequential, discrete/continuous, zero-sum/non-zero-sum) and player numbers (two, three, multi-player).

Main Results:

• Most reviewed papers focus on Command and Control Warfare, including sub-categories like Resource Allocation and Information Warfare.
• Commonly studied areas involve sensing, tracking, and large sensor networks, with parallels to civilian sensor network analysis.
• Literature classified across various game theory types and player configurations, with analysis of player nature and payoff functions.

Conclusions:

• Game theory is a valuable tool for modeling defence decision-making, particularly in Command and Control Warfare.
• Significant parallels exist between defence applications and civilian sensor network analysis.
• Identified research gaps suggest opportunities for novel game theory applications in unexplored defence scenarios.