A Study on the Development of the Weapon System Effectiveness Indices (I)

한국적 무기체계 효과지수 개발에 관한 연구 (I) -무기체계 효과측정 방법론-

Weapon System effectiveness indices are a key factor to the cost-effectiveness analysis in the process of allocating national resources in an optimal fashion. First part of this paper reviews the need of weapon -effectiveness indices, historical development of methodologies on military strength evaluation with various models of indices, and the interrelation-ship between weapon effectiveness indices and war-game. Second part of this paper analyzes the concepts and usage of the already developed methodologies, i .e., index of power, weapon lethality index (W.L.I.), index of fire power potential (I.F.P), fire power potential (F. P. P), and weapon effectiveness indices/weighted unit value (W. E. I/W. U. V.). Finally, weaknesses and limits of these methodologies are compared and evaluated. Result of this research shows that the W. L. I, I. F. P, and F. P. P seem to possess many non-scientific or ambiguous facets, but the W. E. I/W. U. V method produces more detailed, inclusive, and reasonable indices. The paper concludes with the emphasis on the importance of the provision of the theoretical bases to develop effectiveness indices which can be used to evaluate Korean weapon systems, and the early establishment of a specialized research group to manage and develop methodologies on the weapon effectiveness indices.