This module can be taken as a Short Course for Credit or a Standalone Short Course.

Please go to the 'Upgrade to a professional qualification' section for more information.

This course offers details of war games and combat models across a broad range of types. It covers many of the methods used in the modelling of combat and their application in support of key decisions and in the training of military and civilian personnel.

At a glance

  • Dates
    • Please enquire for course dates
  • Duration5 days
  • LocationCranfield University at Shrivenham
  • Cost£1,925 Concessions available

Course structure

Hands-on practical activities and workshops to reinforce lecture presentations by allowing students to use real examples against set analysis problems guest speakers from industry and defence (MoD) who share and discuss their experiences of wargaming and combat modelling in practical applications.

What you will learn

On completion you will be able to:
  • Critically appraise the full range of war games and combat simulations and apply them to defence problem,
  • Use the deterministic and stochastic Lanchester equations to represent combat between both homogeneous and heterogeneous forces,
  • Use interactive computer based representations of military operations,
  • Explain how the different methods of representing the operations of military forces are used in the training, testing and assessment of those forces and their equipment.

Core content

  • Introduction to the methods used in modelling combat and their application in support of defence decision making and training,
  • Combat simulation,
  • War gaming/interactive simulation,
  • Lanchester’s equations,
  • War gaming and combat modelling in practice,
  • Manual war gaming,
  • Judgmental and political analysis methods,
  • War gaming and combat modelling example studies,
  • Mathematical models of combat,
  • Human factors representation in war gaming and combat modelling,
  • Data acquisition,
  • Verification and validation.

Upgrade to a professional qualification

When taken as a Short Course for Credit, 10 credit points can be put towards either the Defence Simulation and Modelling MSc or Military Operational Research MSc.

Find out more about short course credit points.


Who should attend

This course is suitable for those requiring a general knowledge of the techniques used in war gaming, combat simulations and analytic battle models. It would be highly relevant to weapon system engineers, operational and system analysts and customers of analysis reports and outputs.

Speakers

Cranfield Staff

Industrial Speakers

The course programme typically includes speakers from Dstl and the wider UK defence industry.

Concessions

A limited number of MOD sponsored places are available. 

There are limited places on these modules. You may not receive an offer until places have been confirmed, usually 1 to 2 weeks before the start date.

Location and travel

Cranfield Defence and Security (CDS) is a Cranfield School based at the Ministry of Defence establishment on the Oxfordshire/Wiltshire borders.

Shrivenham itself lies in the picturesque Vale of the White Horse, close to the M4 motorway which links London and South Wales. It is 7 miles from Swindon, the nearest town, which lies off the M4 at the hub of Britain’s motorway network.

Bath, Cheltenham, Bristol and Oxford are all within an hour’s drive and London less than two hours away by car.

All visitors must be pre-booked in at reception by the person they are visiting on the campus.

For further location and travel details

How to apply

To apply for this course please use the online application form.

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