Optimal asset network planning for counter piracy operation support, part 2: Results

A companion article (SYSTEMS Magazine, May 2014, 29 5, pages 4-11.) proposed a system to allocate surveillance resources in areas of high piracy risk when the satellite AIS coverage is low, resulting in an improved maritime traffic situational awareness. Here, the methodology has been applied to realistic scenarios in the Indian Ocean using real-world data evaluated by comparing extreme and trade-off solutions to assess the effectiveness of the proposed scheme for timely delivery of the solutions and achievement of mission objectives. The proposed asset planning system has a highly flexible architecture that can be expanded to account for different application-dependent risks and performance metrics. Possible directions for future studies include developing models for adaptive (adversarial) pirate behavior, as recently shown to exist and to be expected. A game theoretical approach would be suitable to model not only the optimal asset network planning but also the adaptive response of pirate activities.