Utility as a Key Criterion of a Decision-Making on Structure of the Ground Based Air Defence

The article devotes to a rational approach to the development of the Ground Based Air Defense (GBAD). The rational approach is influenced by the operational requirements to fulfill a given task on one hand and by a set of economic indicators on the other hand. The aim of this article is a specification of a marginal utility of GBAD elements within the operational needs and within an economic efficiency as a criterion of a decision-making on GBAD structure. As to the operational requirements, an expected efficiency of GBAD is a fundamental indicator which displays a ratio of fulfillment of the given task. At political-military level, the economic efficiency of GBAD structure is a significant indicator. The contribution of GBAD elements to the expected efficiency of the entire GBAD structure depends on joint activities. For instance, a ratio of destroyed air targets during joint activities of a radar and an effector is higher than bare sum of ratios of destroyed air targets by the radar and the effector separately. A proper contribution of GBAD elements to the expected efficiency and the expenses can be determined by the instruments of the game theory. A presented method rationalizes process of the decision-making on the structure of GBAD by defining the utility in the operational domain and in the economic domain. The method is applicable in the other branches.