History of Operations Research

Junaid Zamir
SP10-MM-0040
Operations Research topic
History of Operations Research

History of Operations Research
Operational research, also known as operations research, is an
interdisciplinary branch of applied mathematics and formal science that uses
advanced analytical methods such as mathematical modeling, statistical analysis,
and mathematical optimization to arrive at optimal or near-optimal solutions to
complex decision-making problems. It is often concerned with determining the
maximum (of profit, performance, or yield) or minimum (of loss, risk, or cost) of
some real-world objective. Originating in military efforts before World War II, its
techniques have grown to concern problems in a variety of industries.
As a formal discipline, operational research originated in the efforts of military

planners during World War II. In the decades after the war, the techniques began to
be applied more widely to problems in business, industry and society. Since that
time, operational research has expanded into a field widely used in industries
ranging from petrochemicals to airlines, finance, logistics, and government, moving
to a focus on the development of mathematical models that can be used to analyze
and optimize complex systems, and has become an area of active academic and
industrial research.
1936
Early in 1936 the British Air Ministry established Bawdsey Research Station,
on the east coast, near Felixstowe, Suffolk, as the centre where all pre-war
radar experiments for both the Air Force and the Army would be carried out.
Experimental radar equipment was brought up to a high state of reliability
and ranges of over 100 miles on aircraft were obtained.
It was also in 1936 that Royal Air Force (RAF) Fighter Command, charged
specifically with the air defense of Britain, was first created. It lacked
however any effective fighter aircraft - no Hurricanes or Spitfires had come
into service - and no radar data was yet fed into its very elementary warning
and control system.
It had become clear that radar would create a whole new series of problems
in fighter direction and control so in late 1936 some experiments started at
Biggin Hill in Kent into the effective use of such data. This early work,
attempting to integrate radar data with ground based observer data for
fighter interception, was the start of OR.
1937
The first of three major pre-war air-defence exercises was carried out in the
summer of 1937. The experimental radar station at Bawdsey Research
Station was brought into operation and the information derived from it was
fed into the general air-defense warning and control system. From the early
warning point of view this exercise was encouraging, but the tracking
information obtained from radar, after filtering and transmission through the
control and display network, was not very satisfactory.
1938
In July 1938 a second major air-defense exercise was carried out. Four
additional radar stations had been installed along the coast and it was hoped
that Britain now had an aircraft location and control system greatly improved
both in coverage and effectiveness. Not so! The exercise revealed, rather,
that a new and serious problem had arisen. This was the need to coordinate
and correlate the additional, and often conflicting, information received from
the additional radar stations. With the outbreak of war apparently imminent,
it was obvious that something new - drastic if necessary - had to be
attempted. Some new approach was needed.
Accordingly, on the termination of the exercise, the Superintendent of

Bawdsey Research Station, A.P. Rowe, announced that although the exercise
had again demonstrated the technical feasibility of the radar system for
detecting aircraft, its operational achievements still fell far short of
requirements. He therefore proposed that a crash program of research into
the operational - as opposed to the technical - aspects of the system should
begin immediately. The term "operational research" [RESEARCH into
(military) OPERATIONS] was coined as a suitable description of this new
branch of applied science. The first team was selected from amongst the
scientists of the radar research group the same day.
1939
In the summer of 1939 Britain held what was to be its last pre-war air
defence exercise. It involved some 33,000 men, 1,300 aircraft, 110
antiaircraft guns, 700 searchlights, and 100 barrage balloons. This exercise
showed a great improvement in the operation of the air defence warning and
control system. The contribution made by the OR team was so apparent that
the Air Officer Commander-in-Chief RAF Fighter Command (Air Chief Marshal
Sir Hugh Dowding) requested that, on the outbreak of war, they should be
attached to his headquarters at Stanmore in north London.
Initially, they were designated the "Stanmore Research Section". In 1941

they were redesignated the "Operational Research Section" when the term
was formalised and officially accepted, and similar sections set up at other
RAF commands.
1940
On May 15th 1940, with German forces advancing rapidly in France,

Stanmore Research Section was asked to analyse a French request for ten
additional fighter squadrons (12 aircraft a squadron - so 120 aircraft in all)
when losses were running at some three squadrons every two days (i.e. 36
aircraft every 2 days). They prepared graphs for Winston Churchill (the
British Prime Minister of the time), based upon a study of current daily losses
and replacement rates, indicating how rapidly such a move would deplete
fighter strength. No aircraft were sent and most of those currently in France
were recalled.
This is held by some to be the most strategic contribution to the course of

the war made by OR (as the aircraft and pilots saved were consequently
available for the successful air defense of Britain, the Battle of Britain).
1941 onward
In 1941 an Operational Research Section (ORS) was established in Coastal

Command which was to carry out some of the most well-known OR work in
World War II.
The responsibility of Coastal Command was, to a large extent, the flying of

long-range sorties by single aircraft with the object of sighting and attacking
surfaced U-boats (German submarines). The technology of the time meant
that (unlike modern day submarines) surfacing was necessary to recharge
batteries, vent the boat of fumes and recharge air tanks. Moreover U-boats
were much faster on the surface than underwater as well as being less easily
detected by sonar.
Amongst the problems that ORS considered were:
• organisation of flying maintenance and inspection
Experience showed that it required some 170 man-hours by maintenance

and ground staff to produce one hour of operational flying and more than
200 hours of flying to produce one attack on a surfaced U-boat. Hence over
34,000 man-hours of effort were necessary just to attack a U-boat.
In early 1941 the attack kill probability was 2% to 3% (i.e. between 1.1
million and 1.7 million man-hours were needed by Coastal Command to
destroy one U-boat). It is in this area that the greatest contribution was
made by OR in Coastal Command and so we shall examine it in more detail.
(Note here that we ignore the question of the U-boat being attacked and
damaged, but not killed. To include this merely complicates the discussion).
Resources:
http://people.brunel.ac.uk/~mastjjb/jeb/or/intro.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operations_research

History of Operations Research

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Junaid Zamir

Operations Research topic

History of Operations Research

As a formal discipline, operational research originated in the efforts of military

Accordingly, on the termination of the exercise, the Superintendent of

Initially, they were designated the "Stanmore Research Section". In 1941

On May 15th 1940, with German forces advancing rapidly in France,

This is held by some to be the most strategic contribution to the course of

In 1941 an Operational Research Section (ORS) was established in Coastal

The responsibility of Coastal Command was, to a large extent, the flying of

Amongst the problems that ORS considered were:

• organisation of flying maintenance and inspection

Experience showed that it required some 170 man-hours by maintenance

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