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Drone Swarms

A Transformational Technology

ack in 2016, hundreds of Intel drones flew over natural disasters, delivery of emergency
the skies at Disney World, choreographed to supplies and everyday packages, fire sup-
music as part of a holiday show titled “Starbright pression, search and rescue missions, space
BHolidays.” Intel’s drones also performed behind exploration, weather monitoring and forecast-
Lady Gaga during the Super Bowl in 2017. And earlier this ing, patrolling borders and wildlife preserves, and
year, China celebrated Chinese New Year with a massive mapping on land and underwater are just some of the many
drone show. Although these displays are impressive and examples of applications for this incredible technology.
are certainly a technological achievement, they are pre- The potential for deployment of a revolutionary set of
scripted and do not demonstrate the transformational po- battlefield tactics is driving the US military to prioritize
tential of swarms of autonomous drones that can respond development of this critical technology as a means to re-
to, and act on, their environment. Choreographed drone duce risk to our warfighters. Obvious contributions are
shows represent just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the drone swarms that monitor the threat environment and
full capabilities of swarm systems. defend military assets against enemy attacks. Swarms of
Any quick search of recent literature will spotlight appli- drones, each relatively low in cost and collectively diffi-
cations already being tested, along with many other envi- cult to thwart, could replace expensive systems and plat-
sioned future applications that are far more demanding than forms that are vulnerable to attack in various missions,
drone shows. Reconnaissance missions in areas of conflict or such as those involving intelligence, surveillance, and re-

14 www.aerodefensetech.com Aerospace & Defense Technology, May 2020