The Lanchester Square Law on Combat Sectors Definitions and Structure Let us assume that ground combat occurs in N essentially independent sectors. Both sides have reserves, which constitute fractions f a and f d of their total capabilities A and D . The battles in the various sectors are then assumed to be independent frontal attacks characterized by close combat between opposing ground forces. And, because we use scalar strengths, we ignore unit structure and the interactions of various weapons types. In what follows we consider a number of special cases of increasing complexity.
Later examples consider concentration and intra-battle reinforcement and maneuver.
The usual rationale for this formulation is that the rate of kills should be proportional to the number of shooters and, for aimed fire, should not depend on the number of targets. At a value of 1, both sides' forces are shrinking at the same rate and one can say that the battle is at the break-even point. The attacker, of course, seeks an RLR much less than 1. For convenience, Table 1 summarizes in one place the principal variables used not only in this section, but in what follows as well. That is, a force ratio of 3 implies a break-even situation.