An Exploration of the Extent of Defense's Risk-Taking Using GIS and Fuzzy Logic in the Geographical Area of the Country

The necessity of taking into account the high-risk defense areas is a fundamental issue to be considered by military planners in order to mitigate the armament and human casualties in critical and emergency situations. The study of land surfaces and capturing its different features using updated and efficient means counts as a critical factor in achieving military advantages. Taking these places into account is of much consequence in defense doctrine, otherwise a military and security failure will be followed, as they play a key role in the battlefield and active and passive defense actions. This research aims to detect the militarily vulnerable parts, as well as to conduct a scientific analysis of it using spatial analyses in GIS and multiple-criteria decision-making methods. For this purpose, some comprehensive factors have been studied such as slope length, drainage, vision and concealment, the soil type, the dip direction, the existing obstacles and fortifications, the land uses, road and railway communication lines, the geological formations, population centers, the distance from the borders, border landforms, the climatic conditions in the border areas, the temperature of the surface of the earth, etc….After the preparation of the data and formation of the required database, the criteria were weighted through the application of the Fuzzy-AHP method and the fuzzy overlay operation was conducted in the ArcGIS software environment. These were followed by zoning the areas in five groups: very low-risk, low-risk, risky, high-risk, and very high-risk. With a view to the final risk plan achieved, the research findings show that open areas that lack natural and artificial barriers, as well as proximity to the main highways, population centers and axes are regarded as high-risk areas, which are required to get managed carefully by the creation of artificial obstacles and fortifications in order to strengthen its defense system. Also, the final plan highlights the matchless role surface waters play in passive and active defense, introducing them as influential factors in regional and moving defense.