A reliability-based approach to mission planning in multi-platform phased missions

Many systems perform phased missions consisting of several distinct, sequential phases. Mission success depends on the successful completion of all mission phases. Increasingly, for example in military theatre, platforms operating phased missions are required to collaborate in order to achieve an overall mission objective, with specific platform phases containing specific tasks that contribute to that objective. Particularly, but not exclusively, in the case of autonomous vehicles, the calculation of phase and mission failure probabilities can be used to assist in making decisions on the future course of a mission. This paper describes how this decision making process can be implemented.