An Integer Goal Programming Model for Determining Military Aircraft Expenditures

The decision-making process involved in the procurement of military weapon systems, although quite critical and complex, still encompasses the basic characteristics of a capital budgeting problem. Given a number of expenditure items and a limited budget, it is desired to procure those weapon systems that will achieve the goals and objectives of the government and/or military in the most efficient manner. Since these objectives are typically numerous and diverse, traditional decision-making techniques are not applicable. As such, integer goal programming is suggested as a technique to be employed to determine the number of military aircraft to be procured, given conflicting expenditure, budget and effectiveness goals. This method is demonstrated via a case example in which the solution results are presented.