Multi-agent system and its application in combat simulation

Most conventional methods show their disadvantages in modern combat simulation. Multi-agent system (MAS) is an important research field of distributed artificial intelligence (DAI) and it proposes a new way of combat simulation. The focus of this paper is the MAS theory and its application in combat simulation. Definition of agent and MAS was proposed firstly and then the differences between MAS based and conventional combat simulation methods ware analyzed. After a discussion over the characteristics of combat, we found the combat was a complex adaptive system (CAS). MAS based CAS should be a new way of combat simulation. Finally, as an example, ISAAC, a famous MAS based combat simulation system, was analyzed to show the application of MAS in combat simulation. The analysis shows that MAS has many characteristics of modern warfare and is a promising way of combat simulation.