UAV Swarm Tactics: An Agent-Based Simulation and Markov Process Analysis
Abstract
The rapid increase in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in recent decades has led to their potential use as saturation or swarm threats to Allied Forces. One possible countermeasure is the design and deployment of a defensive UAV swarm. This thesis describes the future concept of swarm-versus-swarm UAV combat, providing key insights through simulation and analysis. Contributions include the design of an agent-based simulation and the formulation of an associated analytical model. The agent-based simulation allows UAVs to be modeled as agents that follow a simple rule set that is responsible for the swarm behavior that underlies swarm tactics. A two-level Markov process is developed to model air-to-air engagements in which the first level models one-on-one UAV combat, and then incorporates the resulting insights in the transition probabilities into an expanded model of multi-UAV combat. Tactical insights obtained from this study can be contrasted with tactics for manned air combat to determine the need for new tactics for unmanned combat aviation and swarm scenarios. The thesis includes tactical recommendations for countering UAV swarms and multiple suggestions for future research.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA582919
Entities
People
- Uwe Gaertner
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School