Effects of lethality in naval combat models

What is it about?

This article analyzes the properties of the salvo model for naval missile combat. It separates the effects of ship qualities (offensive firepower, defensive firepower, and staying power) from ship quantities. It shows that there are 3 distinct categories of battles, based on the relative ship qualities of the two sides. This indicates that missile combat is quite different from gunfire combat. For example, the advice that "more is better" is often false with missile-armed ships.

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Why is it important?

Navies have centuries of experience fighting with guns, but little experience fighting with missiles. This paper provides naval officers and analysts with a better idea how missile battles might behave.