Defense Before or After Bomb-Release-Line

We compare two alternative modes of defense against attacking aircraft: Engagement BEFORE Bomb-Release-Line (BRL), versus engagement—with a higher kill probability—AFTER BRL. The model examines what mode is preferable under various combinations of criteria, target arrays, defense systems, durations of war and morale vulnerabilities. Engagement BEFORE BRL is only justified when the defender has plenty of forces at his disposal or if the duration of war is going to be very short. Defense AFTER BRL is preferable under the more prevalent conditions of limited resources and moderate attrition rates. The value of the defended targets is relevant to the problem only in a few cases. The implications of this work bear on defense tactics and deployment, as well as on tradeoffs between parameters of defensive weapon systems under development.