RESEARCH PAPER
Dynamic Resilience Assessment of Combat System of Systems: A Dual-Dimensional Framework Integrating Mission and Inherent Capabilities
1
School of Management and Engineering, Nanjing University, China
2
School of Robotics and Automation, Nanjing University, China
3
North Automatic Control Technology Institute, China
Submission date: 2026-02-02
Final revision date: 2026-03-06
Acceptance date: 2026-03-23
Online publication date: 2026-04-02
KEYWORDS
Resilience evaluationCombat system of systemsMission capability-inherent capabilityWargame simulation
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
In dynamic confrontation scenarios, units within a combat system of systems (CSoS) alternate between mission-active and standby states. Standby units act as reserves and affect resilience continuity. Existing work mostly assesses capability via active-unit performance, leaving standby contributions unquantified. To bridge this gap, we propose a dual-dimensional framework integrating real-time mission metrics with standby units’ inherent reconnaissance and strike capabilities. It quantifies instantaneous combat capability and latent recovery potential. To avoid sensitivity loss from cumulative disruptions in prolonged confrontations, we develop a dynamic phase-segmented resilience evaluation model (DPS-RE) with time-varying baselines. Simulations show standby units shape CSoS degradation and support targeted replenishment; multi-domain joint simulation data further enable DPS-RE to identify vulnerability windows and issue early warnings for resource supplementation, providing decision support in adversarial environments.
REFERENCES (51)
2.
Clark B, Patt D, Schramm H. Mosaic warfare: exploiting artificial intelligence and autonomous systems to implement decision-centric operations. Washington, DC, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments: 2020.
3.
Chen J, Sun J, Wang G. From unmanned systems to autonomous intelligent systems. Engineering 2022; 12: 1216–1219, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.....
4.
Li Z, Zhao D, Jiang J, Yang K, Chen Y. Capability oriented equipment contribution analysis in temporal combat networks. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems 2021; 51(2): 696–704, https://doi.org/10.1109/TSMC.2....
5.
Zhi R, Zhang D, Tang S, Xiong W, Yang SH. Cooperative maneuver decision making for multi-UAV air combat based on incomplete information dynamic game. Defence Technology 2023; 27: 308–317, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dt.2....
6.
Liu C, Sun S, Tao C, Shou Y, Xu B. Sliding mode control of multi-agent system with application to UAV air combat. Computers and Electrical Engineering 2021; 96: 107491, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comp....
7.
Payuna U, Karen M. Exploiting stand-in redundancy to improve resilience in a system-of-systems (SoS). Procedia Computer Science 2013; 16: 532–541, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proc....
8.
Paulette A, Cihan D. Modeling resilience in system of systems architecture. Procedia Computer Science 2016; 95: 111–118, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proc....
9.
Dreesbeimdiek K M, von Behr C M, Brayne C, Clarkson P J. Towards a contemporary design framework for systems-of-systems resilience. Proceedings of the Design Society 2022; 2: 1835–1844, https://doi.org/10.1017/pds.20....
10.
Holling C S. Resilience and stability of ecological systems. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 1973; 4: 1–23, https://doi.org/10.1146/annure....
11.
Dakos V, Kéfi S. Ecological resilience: what to measure and how. Environmental Research Letters 2022; 17(4): 043003, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9....
12.
Yi C, Jackson N. A review of measuring ecosystem resilience to disturbance. Environmental Research Letters 2021; 16(5): 053008, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9....
13.
Gülçin B, Öykü I, Orhan F. A review of urban resilience literature. Sustainable Cities and Society 2022; 77: 103579, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.....
14.
Datola G. Implementing urban resilience in urban planning: a comprehensive framework for urban resilience evaluation. Sustainable Cities and Society 2023; 98: 104821, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.....
15.
Rojas J F, Patil P, Masterson A M, Bradley T H, Ekti A R, Asher Z D. Automated vehicle lane centering system requirements informed by resilience engineering and a solution using infrastructure-based sensors. IEEE Access 2024; 12: 97605–97620, https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS....
16.
Barrero-Arciniegas H, Asghar A A, Davide D, Erwin R, Dominik T M. Design parameters for resilience in cyber-physical production systems. Procedia Computer Science 2025; 253: 2316–2326, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proc....
17.
Liu J, Xu R, Li J, Yang K, Lou Z. Enhancing the resilience of combat system-of-systems under continuous attacks: novel index and reinforcement learning-based protection optimization. Expert Systems with Applications 2024; 251: 123912, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa....
18.
Wang Y, Tao J, Zhang X, Bai G, Zhang Y. Mission-oriented capability evaluation for combat network based on operation loops. Defence Technology 2024; 42: 156–175, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dt.2....
19.
Sun Q, Li H, Wang Y, Zhang Y. Multi-swarm-based cooperative reconfiguration model for resilient unmanned weapon system-of-systems. Reliability Engineering and System Safety 2022; 222: 108426, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress....
20.
Jiao T, Li X, Wang J, Luo A. Resilience evaluation method of combat system-of-systems based on hierarchical structure. In: 2024 5th International Conference on Computer Engineering and Application (ICCEA); 2024: 1503–1508, https://doi.org/10.1109/ICCEA6....
21.
Chen Z, Hong D, Cui W, Xue W, Wang Y, Zhong J. Resilience evaluation and optimal design for weapon system of systems with dynamic reconfiguration. Reliability Engineering and System Safety 2023; 237: 109409, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress....
22.
Han Q, Pang B, Li S, Li N, Guo P, Fan C, Li W. Evaluation method and optimization strategies of resilience for air & space defense system of systems based on kill network theory and improved self-information quantity. Defence Technology 2023; 21: 219–239, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dt.2....
23.
Liu T, Bai G, Tao J, Zhang Y, Fang Y, Xu B. Modeling and evaluation method for resilience analysis of multi-state networks. Reliability Engineering and System Safety 2022; 226: 108663, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress....
24.
Liu T, Bai G, Tao J, Zhang Y, Fang Y. A multistate network approach for resilience analysis of UAV swarm considering information exchange capacity. Reliability Engineering and System Safety 2024; 241: 109606, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress....
25.
Zhu Y, Bai G, Xu Z, Wang L, Xu B. Disintegrating the information exchange network of UAV swarm based on relative resilience. Reliability Engineering and System Safety 2026; 266: 111745, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress....
26.
Zhang C, Liu T, Bai G, Tao J, Zhu W. A dynamic resilience evaluation method for cross-domain swarms in confrontation. Reliability Engineering and System Safety 2024; 244: 109904, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress....
27.
Kong L, Wang L, Cao Z, Wang X. Resilience evaluation of UAV swarm considering resource supplementation. Reliability Engineering and System Safety 2024; 241: 109673, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress....
28.
Zhao X, Wang C, Wang S, Han H. Standby component replacement strategy for a balanced system with a standby pool. Reliability Engineering and System Safety 2025; 254: 110627, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress....
29.
Wang X, Gao X, Wang L, Su X, Jin J, Liu X, Deng Z. Resilient multi-objective mission planning for UAV formation: a unified framework integrating task pre- and re-assignment. Defence Technology 2025; 45: 203–226, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dt.2....
30.
Wang N, Wu M, Yuen K F. Modelling and assessing long-term urban transportation system resilience based on system dynamics. Sustainable Cities and Society 2024; 109: 105548, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.....
31.
Tian T, Liang Y, Peng Z, Cheng Y, Chen K. Assessing the dynamic resilience of urban rail transit networks during their evolution using a ridership-weighted network. PLOS ONE 2023; 18(9): e0291639, https://doi.org/10.1371/journa....
32.
Bai G, Li Y, Fang Y, Zhang Y, Tao J. Network approach for resilience evaluation of a UAV swarm by considering communication limits. Reliability Engineering and System Safety 2020; 193: 106602, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress....
33.
Henry D, Ramirez-Marquez J E. Generic metrics and quantitative approaches for system resilience as a function of time. Reliability Engineering and System Safety 2012; 99: 114–122, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress....
34.
Uday P, Marais K B. Resilience-based system importance measures for system-of-systems. Procedia Computer Science 2014; 28: 257–264, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proc....
35.
Uday P, Marais K. Designing resilient systems-of-systems: a survey of metrics, methods, and challenges. Systems Engineering 2015; 18(5): 491–510, https://doi.org/10.1002/sys.21....
36.
Watson B C, Chowdhry A, Weissburg M J, Bras B. A new resilience metric to compare system of systems architecture. IEEE Systems Journal 2022; 16(2): 2056–2067, https://doi.org/10.1109/JSYST.....
37.
Watson BC, Morris Z B, Weissburg M, Bras B. System of system design-for-resilience heuristics derived from forestry case study variants. Reliability Engineering and System Safety 2023; 229: 108807, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress....
38.
Chen W, Li W, Zhang T. Complex network-based resilience capability assessment for a combat system of systems. Systems 2024; 12(1): 31, https://doi.org/10.3390/system....
39.
Zhang X, Mahadevan S, Sankararaman S, Goebel K. Resilience-based network design under uncertainty. Reliability Engineering and System Safety 2018; 169: 364–379, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress....
40.
Fan JR, Li DG, Li RP, Wang Y. Analysis on MAV/UAV cooperative combat based on complex network. Defence Technology 2020; 16(1): 150–157, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dt.2....
41.
Xu R, Liu J, Li J, Yang K, Zio E. Tsosra: a task-oriented resilience assessment framework for system-of-systems. Reliability Engineering and System Safety 2024; 248: 110186, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress....
42.
Chen Z, Zhao T, Jiao J, Chu J. Performance-threshold-based resilience analysis of system of systems by considering dynamic reconfiguration. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture 2022; 236(14): 1828–1838, https://doi.org/10.1177/095440....
43.
Tran H T, Balchanos M, Domercant J C, Mavris D N. A framework for the quantitative assessment of performance-based system resilience. Reliability Engineering and System Safety 2017; 158: 73–84, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress....
44.
Zhong Y, Li H, Sun Q, Huang Z, Zhang Y. A kill chain optimization method for improving the resilience of unmanned combat system-of-systems. Chaos, Solitons and Fractals 2024; 181: 114685, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chao....
45.
Feng Q, Liu M, Dui H, Cai B, Fan D, Ren Y, Wang Z. A general design-oriented resilience measurement and evaluation method for engineering systems: resilience cube. Reliability Engineering and System Safety 2024; 245: 110038, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress....
46.
Sun Y, Li Y, Li H, Liu J, Zhou X. Intuitionistic fuzzy MADM in wargame leveraging with deep reinforcement learning. IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems 2024; 32(9): 5033–5045, https://doi.org/10.1109/TFUZZ.....
47.
Mittal V, Davidson A. Combining wargaming with modeling and simulation to project future military technology requirements. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management 2021; 68(4): 1195–1207, https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.20....
48.
Yang D, Li Q, Zhu F, Cui H, Yi W, Qin J. Parallel emergency management of incidents by integrating OODA and PREA loops: the C2 mechanism and modes. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems 2023; 53(4): 2160–2172, https://doi.org/10.1109/TSMC.2....
49.
Yadav P, Kim S. OODA loop for learning open-world novelty problems. Advances in Computers 2024; 134: 91–130, https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.adc....
50.
Pan X, Wang H, Yang Y, Zhang G. Resilience based importance measure analysis for SoS. Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics 2019; 30(5): 920–930, https://doi.org/10.21629/JSEE.....
51.
Hu T, Zong Y, Lu N, Jiang B. Toward the resilience of UAV swarms with percolation theory under attacks. Reliability Engineering and System Safety 2025; 254: 110608, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress....
| eISSN: | 2956-3860 |
| ISSN: | 1507-2711 |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
