Verification of artillery systems' shots: selection of the most appropriate sensors based on the fuzzy evaluation model

Long-range artillery remains vital in modern warfare, where precision and innovative methods are key to completing fire missions with fewer rounds. Developing advanced techniques of artillery shots verification based on sensor systems that maximize target destruction with minimal ammunition and exposure time is essential for maintaining the combat effectiveness of artillery units. Moreover, one of the complex and important tasks that must be solved in the verification process before each shot is to determine the optimal combination of three sensors from the entire available set included in the sensor system in the firing zone. To solve this problem the paper introduces an approach for selecting the three most appropriate acoustic sensors for artillery shot verification using a fuzzy evaluation model. The approach considers location, measurement error, and probability of failure-free operation at selecting sensors to effectively register ballistic and muzzle waves, with further assessment of the suitability of each sensor. For adequate assessment of acoustic sensors, the presented approach uses a developed fuzzy logic model that allows calculating the value of the sensor suitability criterion for the verification of the current artillery shot. A computational experiment with fixed artillery shot parameters was conducted to evaluate the proposed approach and fuzzy model, successfully identifying three optimal acoustic sensors for precise recording of ballistic and muzzle waves. The obtained results confirm the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed approach and fuzzy model for selecting the best sensors for artillery shot verification and determining projectile impact coordinates under random disturbances.