Situational Force Scoring

In the real world of combat, different types of assets (e.g., infantry, armor, or artillery) perform better or worse in different types of terrain or engagements, and each asset type is more or less effective depending upon the mix of weapons in both sides' forces. The situational force scoring (SFS) methodology has been developed to better account for situation-dependent combined arms effects in aggregate combat. This Note describes the SFS methodology and its current and planned applications in the RAND Strategy Assessment System. It presents an overview of the four-stage process of the SFS methodology: varying asset strength as a function of the combat situation, varying the force strength as a function of asset mix, performing combat assessment, and calculating casualty distribution. It also discusses some optional calculations that can be performed, including conserving scarce assets at the cost of reduced combat effectiveness, accounting for extreme differences between lethality and vulnerability, and accounting for different generations of armor and anti-armor assets.