A Future Vision for Remotely Piloted Aircraft: Leveraging Interoperability and Networked Operations

Abstract

VISION: Collaboratively develop and coordinate strategic S&T visions and plans to support the future Air Force ISR Enterprise and its integration with partners and customers. Key ISR Platform Challenges: Growing demand for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) information and for a diverse portfolio of fielded platforms; Increasing complexity in sensors, communications, and processing; New phenomenologies, analysis methods, and visualization; Development of open standards and distributed processing capabilities; Fiscal constraints will drive an increased emphasis on improving/recapitalizing legacy systems vs. developing new capabilities; Highly contested environments like the Asia-Pacific region are a shift in focus from permissive counterinsurgency environments; and Rapidly fielded advances have not yet been normalized. Keys to Achieving this VISION: Integrated manned and unmanned systems -- Future threats will necessitate an integrated force structure of manned and unmanned systems to mitigate risk; Flexible Autonomy -- Research in autonomous behaviors and human supervisory control promise enormous efficiencies as well capability increases through teaming and multi-vehicle operations; Open Architecture and Standards -- Enables modularity and interoperability, resulting in increased operational effect, adaptability, sustainability, extensibility, and potential cost reductions; and Secure, robust, agile, redundant C2 and information distribution will be essential for mission success in all environments and domains.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 21, 2013
Accession Number
ADA591937

Entities

People

  • Jeffrey W. Eggers

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Autonomy
  • C4I
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Aircrafts
  • Command And Control
  • Control Systems
  • Human Supervisory Control
  • Interoperability
  • Military Operations
  • Remotely Piloted Vehicles
  • Standards
  • Unmanned Aerial Systems
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
  • Unmanned Surface Vehicles
  • Unmanned Systems
  • Unmanned Underwater Vehicles
  • Unmanned Vehicles
  • Vehicles

Readers

  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
  • Software Engineering.
  • Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Autonomous Capabilities and Mission Reconnaissance.

Technology Areas

  • Autonomy
  • Autonomy - UAVs