Vladimir Yakhnis

The Primary Language of ancient battles

Linguistic Geometry (LG) is a type of game theory for extensive discrete games scalable to the level of real life defense systems. This scalability is based on changing the paradigm for game solving: from search to construction. LG was developed by generalizing experiences of the advanced chess players. In this paper we embolden further a hypothesis that LG is an objective reality that existed long before the invention of the game of chess. We suggest that LG is a formal model of human thinking about armed conflict, a mental reality that existed for thousands of years. LG is a special purpose network-based language, a warfighting component of the Primary Language of the human brain. (Existence of the Primary Language was suggested by J. von Neumann in 1957.) Moreover, the origin of the warfighting component could be traced back for hundreds of thousands of years to the origin of human species. We suggest that the development of this model of the human brain was stimulated by constant hunting and fighting. In this paper we also discuss striking similarities and differences of the LG language and another biological coding system, the genetic code. A major part of this paper is devoted to the detailed LG-based analysis of the three battles of Hannibal demonstrating that the LG-based software will generate the same resource allocation, deception and courses of action as those reported by the historians. It appears that by the time of Hannibal, the LG component and, probably, the entire Primary Language, had already been developed to full capacity.

Winning strategies for robotic wars: defense applications of linguistic geometry

This paper reports new results of research, which started in 1972 in Moscow, USSR. For 16 years Boris Stilman was involved in the advanced research project PIONEER led by a formed World Chess champion, Professor Mikhail Botvinnik. The goal of the project was, at first, to discover and mathematically formalize methodologies utilized by the most advanced chess experts (including Botvinnik himself) in solving chess problems almost without search. The next step was to apply this new theory to complex search problems from various problem domains. In the 1980s, in Moscow, Stilman developed the foundations of the new approach. In 1991, while at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, Stilman coined the term “Linguistic Geometry” (LG) as a name for the new theory for solving Abstract Board Games. After 1991, this research continued at the University of Colorado at Denver, USA. In 1995, V. Yakhnis joined the LG effort. In the 1990s, it was shown that LG is applicable to a wide class of higher-dimensional, multi-agent games with concurrently moving agents, which are ideally suited for combat planning and control. Also, it was proved that for several classes of games LG generates optimal strategies in polynomial time. This groundbreaking results also suggests that for much wider classes of games LG strategies are also optimal or close to optimal. Over a hundred papers on LG have been published. Stilman wrote the first scholarly book on LG,Linguistic Geometry: From Search to Construction, published in February 2000. Over the last two years, defense applications of LG have attracted so much attention at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Rockwell, and Boeing that the number of LG-based projects has skyrocketed. In 1999, recognizing the maturity and power of this technology, a group of scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs founded a company, STILMAN Advanced Strategies, to facilitate development of government and commercial applications of LG.

Operational level decision Aids with LG-based tools

The LG approach permits a game representation of the Engagement Theater in two modes, called the planning mode and the execution mode. The planning mode assumes that the computations are to be performed well before the actual engagement and thus a sophisticated (but slower) planning component of the LG hypergame is to be activated. On the planning stage, the emphasis is on the following. 1) distributing the battlefield resources to optimize some battlefield related criteria. Important optimization criteria are battlefield related, ones such as probabilities to achieve desired ends and survivability of the friendly forces; 2) developing of preliminary strategies for the commander to achieve certain desired end; 3) playing several what if situations to develop alternative strategies. Whereas the COA options for the resource distribution game could influence the COA options for selection of the preliminary and alternative strategies, the strategies are used to validate the effectiveness of the resource distribution, thus creating a feedback loop tying together the resources and battlefield actions. On the execution stage, the emphasis is on protecting the commander from possible errors caused by the information blizzard. The commander could have so many things on his/her mind that some negative consequences of a COA being decided upon may be overlooked. A faster execution version of the LG-based tool is intended to catch the undesired consequence and warn the commander.

Deception discovery and employment with linguistic geometry

No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy - this is a famous adage attributed to a great many military thinkers from Belisarius to Clausewitz, but which is essentially timeless. Indeed, while the Blue side is trying to anticipate and predict the enemy action, this enemy is actively trying to do the same with respect to Blue while simultaneously trying to deny Blue sufficient information on which to predict Reds actions. It becomes even worse when the Red side is actively engaged in deceptive behavior leading to ambushes and other deceptive schemes causing losses to the Blue side. Linguistic Geometry (LG), a new game-theoretical approach, permits uncovering enemy deceptive schemes via indicators and probes. We will describe the theory behind the LG approach to deception and discuss a specific example of discerning enemy deception via LG algorithms.

Linquistic geometry: new technology for decision support

Linguistic Geometry (LG) is a revolutionary gaming approach which is ideally suited for military decision aids for Air, Ground, Naval, and Space-based operations, as well guiding robotic vehicles and traditional entertainment games. When thinking about modern or future military operations, the game metaphor comes to mind right away. Indeed, the air space together with the ground and seas may be viewed as a gigantic three-dimensional game board. Refining this picture, the LG approach is capable of providing an LG hypergame, that is, a system of multiple concurrent interconnected multi-player abstract board games (ABG) of various resolutions and time frames reflecting various kinds of hardware and effects involved in the battlespace and the solution space. By providing a hypergame representation of the battlespace, LG already provides a significant advance in situational awareness. However, the greatest advantage of the LG approach is an ability to provide commanders of campaigns and missions with decision options resulting in attainment of the commanders intent. At each game turn, an LG decision support tool assigns the best actions to each of the multitude of battlespace actors (UAVs, bombers, cruise missiles, etc.). This is done through utilization of algorithms finding winning strategies and tactics, which are the core of the LG approach.

LG wargaming tool for effect-based operations

The LG-WGT approach to EBO may be summarized as follows. 1) Causes and Effects will be defined as game state properties. 2) LG algorithms will automatically generate strategies to attain desired effects. The strategies will be generated through LG Zones. LG will model effects as properties of the game pieces and relations among the pieces and the board. 3) The overall Engagement Theater will be modeled as LG hypergame, that is several concurrent abstract board games (ABG) linked together via inter-linking mappings (ILM). LG will represent indirect effects in a related game linked with the game of interest via several ILMs. With LG-WGT, a commander will observe the entire operation as an omnipresent ghost with a virtual camera. He/she would be able to view the operation from the cockcpit of a fighter flying on a SEAD mission, from the cabin of an amphibious vehicle, through the periscope of an attack submarine, or from a virtual AWACS flying over the entire battlefield. Even a normally invisible element, like damages to adversarial infrastructure or political changes, will be made visible in virtual reality together with the chain of events causing this effect. The LG-WGT will provide explanation for all the decisions made employing probabilities of kill, integrated probabilities of survival, threshold for retreat, etc.

Discovering role of linguistic geometry

Linguistic Geometry (LG) is a type of game theory for extensive discrete games scalable to the level of real life defense systems. LG was developed by generalizing experiences of the advanced chess players. In this paper we summarize experiences of highly successful application of LG to a diverse set of board games and military operations. We believe that LG has a more fundamental nature than simply yet another mathematical theory of efficient wargaming. Every LG application generated new ideas that experts evaluated as brilliant. We suggest that LG is a mathematical model of human thinking about armed conflict, a mental reality that existed for thousands of years. The game of chess was invented 1.5-2 thousand years ago (following different accounts) as a formal gaming model of ancient wars. In our case, chess served as a means for discovering human methodology of efficient warfare. To test this hypothesis we would have to demonstrate power of LG software on wars happened at times when the game of chess had been unknown. In this paper, we present an approach to LG-based analysis of the battles of Alexander the Great demonstrating that after tuning the LG-based software will generate the same courses of action as those reported by the historians.

Linguistic geometry for technologies procurement

In the modern world of rapidly rising prices of new military hardware, the importance of Simulation Based Acquisition (SBA) is hard to overestimate. With SAB, DOD would be able to test, develop CONOPS for, debug, and evaluate new conceptual military equipment before actually building the expensive hardware. However, only recently powerful tools for real SBA have been developed. Linguistic Geometry (LG) permits full-scale modeling and evaluation of new military technologies, combinations of hardware systems and concepts of their application. Using LG tools, the analysts can create a gaming environment populated with the Blue forces armed with the new conceptual hardware as well as with appropriate existing weapons and equipment. This environment will also contain the intelligent enemy with appropriate weaponry and, if desired, with a conceptual counters to the new Blue weapons. Within such LG gaming environment, the analyst can run various what-ifs with the LG tools providing the simulated combatants with strategies and tactics solving their goals with minimal resources spent.

LG based decision aid for naval tactical action officer’s (TAO) workstation

In the increasingly NetCentric battlespace of the 21st century, Stilman Advanced Strategies Linguistic Geometry software has the potential to revolutionize the way that the Navy fights in two key areas: as a Tactical Decision Aid and for creating a relevant Common Operating Picture. Incorporating STILMANs software into a prototype Tactical Action Officers (TAO) workstation as a Tactical Decision Aid (TDA) will allow warfighters to manage their assets more intelligently and effectively. This prototype workstation will be developed using human-centered design principles and will be an open, component-based architecture for combat control systems for future small surface combatants. It will integrate both uninhabited vehicles and onboard sensors and weapon systems across a squadron of small surface combatants. In addition, the hypergame representation of complex operations provides a paradigm for the presentation of a common operating picture to operators and personnel throughout the command hierarchy. In the hypergame technology there are game levels that span the range from the tactical to the global strategy level, with each level informing the others. This same principle will be applied to presenting the relevant common operating picture to operators. Each operator will receive a common operating picture that is appropriate for their level in the command hierarchy. The area covered by this operating picture and the level of detail contained within it will be dependent upon the specific tasks the operator is performing (supervisory vice tactical control) and the level of the operator (or command personnel) within the command hierarchy. Each level will inform the others to keep the picture concurrent and up-to-date.

LG-ANALYST: linguistic geometry for master air attack planning

We investigate the technical feasibility of implementing LG-ANALYST, a new software tool based on the Linguistic Geometry (LG) approach. The tool will be capable of modeling and providing solutions to Air Force related battlefield problems and of conducting multiple experiments to verify the quality of the solutions it generates. LG-ANALYST will support generation of the Fast Master Air Attack Plan (MAAP) with subsequent conversion into Air Tasking Order (ATO). An Air Force mission is modeled employing abstract board games (ABG). Such a mission may include, for example, an aircraft strike package moving to a target area with the opposing side having ground-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft batteries, fighter wings, and radars. The corresponding abstract board captures 3D air space, terrain, the aircraft trajectories, positions of the batteries, strategic features of the terrain, such as bridges, and their status, radars and illuminated space, etc. Various animated views are provided by LG-ANALYST including a 3D view for realistic representation of the battlespace and a 2D view for ease of analysis and control. LG-ANALYST will allow a user to model full scale intelligent enemy, plan in advance, re-plan and control in real time Blue and Red forces by generating optimal (or near-optimal) strategies for all sides of a conflict.