Comparing Organic vs. Assigned UAV Support to the Maneuver Company
Abstract
The US Army has plans to deploy a dedicated UAV system at every echelon. However, there are disadvantages to fielding such a large number of different and separately controlled vehicles. This research addresses one key part of this issue of selecting the right mix of UAV systems: How shall a company be supported? We consider two alternatives for the company commander, loosely based on systems currently under development: (1) the Organic system, which consists of two vehicle-transported VTOL vehicles of ~50 kg each assigned to each company; and (2) the Assigned system, a second tactical UAV system of the same type as the battalion's system and maintained and launched at the battalion level, but operated in direct support of the companies. We are interested in the architectural decision of which of these two types of systems shows the most promise, not in selecting between two existing systems. Consequently, we focus on performance measures that are strongly affected by the architecture. We formulate the problem in a decision analysis framework, using a linear additive value model, in order to define the parameter regions where each of the alternatives is preferable. We identify 19 criteria for the decision, which we intend to capture all important considerations in making this selection. Of the 19 criteria, 9 show no difference between the two systems at the architectural level. Another 7 criteria we could only evaluate qualitatively, but in the aggregate these seem to strongly favour the Assigned system. The remaining three criteria are our focus because for them neither system has an obvious advantage, because some of them are of great importance (e.g. responsiveness), and because high-level analytical models for them can provide important insight into architectural performance. The three criteria are responsiveness, reliability, and number or aircraft in the air.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA478690
Entities
Organizations
- United States Military Academy