Enhanced Utility of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Contested and Denied Environments
Abstract
Air Force use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and strike missions over the past decade have primarily been limited to permissive environments; however, future operations may require the employment of UAVs in contested or denied environments in which highly capable integrated air defenses challenge survivability and utility of typical UAVs. While signature reduction is one potential means for achieving increased survivability, there are other approaches that could offer various levels of enhanced utility, either by increasing survivability or by other means. Examples include onboard and offboard electronic protection, disaggregating UAV functions across multiple platforms, or deploying UAVs in numbers that substantially complicate an adversary's defensive capabilities.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 08, 2015
- Accession Number
- AD1147288