Page 17 - Flipmag-01

connaissance omy and human-swarm teaming, the program seeks to en-
(ISR). In other able rapid development and deployment of breakthrough
set tings, large capabilities.”
num bers of drones What makes a swarm of drones superior to past technol-
could over whelm an ogy is the fact that the drones communicate with one an-
ad versary’s ability to at- other to adjust the behavior of the entire swarm in re-
tack our military personnel, allowing sponse to real-time information collected from sensors on
them to complete their mission unim- the drones in the swarm. As new information is gathered,
peded. the swarm can maneuver or otherwise adjust its behavior.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Response decisions can be programmed into the swarm’s
(DARPA) describes one such application: “DARPA’s OFFen- control system or a single operator can manage the swarm
sive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET) program envisions as an entity. To make the swarm less vulnerable to disrup-
future small-unit infantry forces using swarms comprising tion, all the members of the swarm can be programmed to
upwards of 250 unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) and/or take on “leadership roles,” or swarm-level behavior can be
unmanned ground systems (UGSs) to accomplish diverse designed to emerge from the independent, minimally co-
missions in complex urban environments. By leveraging ordinated contributions of each drone, foregoing a tradi-
and combining emerging technologies in swarm auton- tional leadership role.

Aerospace & Defense Technology, May 2020 www.aerodefensetech.com 15