Lanchester's laws

Lanchester's laws are mathematical formulae for calculating the relative strengths of military forces. The Lanchester equations are differential equations describing the time dependence of two armies' strengths A and B as a function of time, with the function depending only on A and B.[1][2]

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In 1915 and 1916 during World War I, M. Osipov[3]^{: vii–viii} and Frederick Lanchester independently devised a series of differential equations to demonstrate the power relationships between opposing forces.[4] Among these are what is known as Lanchester's linear law (for ancient combat) and Lanchester's square law (for modern combat with long-range weapons such as firearms).

As of 2017 modified variations of the Lanchester equations continue to form the basis of analysis in many of the US Army’s combat simulations,[5] and in 2016 a RAND Corporation report examined by these laws the probable outcome in the event of a Russian invasion into the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.[6]

Lanchester's laws

Formulae for relative strengths of military forces / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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