Operational implications of propagation models used in communications evaluation in tactical electronic warfare planning

Propagation models are used to estimate both desired and unwelcome signals in communications systems used in tactical military operations. The variability associated with propagation influences, particularly in the highly mobile and uncertain locales of representative scenarios, introduces unusual factors in the evaluation of simulation results. Practical constraints on resources that can be devoted to communications and jamming effects during simulation require various approximations. The several applications for which propagation models are used are identified and several descriptive classifications within which models may be evaluated are discussed. A series of performance measures popularly used in communications and electronic warfare planning are reviewed and are used as the basis for describing the implications which arise from the use of each class of models. Implications with regard to communications and jamming range, reliability, and detection range are discussed.