Optimization of air vehicles operations using mixed-integer linear programming

A scenario where multiple air vehicles are required to prosecute geographically dispersed targets is considered. Furthermore, multiple tasks are to be successively performed on each target, i.e. the targets must be classified, attacked, and verified as destroyed. The optimal, e.g. minimum time, performance of these tasks requires cooperation amongst the vehicles such that critical timing constraints are satisfied, that is, a target must be classified before it can be attacked, and an air vehicle is sent to a target area to verify its destruction only after the target has been attacked. In this paper, the optimal task assignment/scheduling problem is posed as a mixed integer linear program (MILP). The solution of the MILP assigns all tasks to the vehicles and performs the scheduling in an optimal manner, including staged departure times. Coupled tasks involving timing and task order constraints are automatically addressed. When the air vehicles have sufficient endurance, the existence of a solution is guaranteed.