RPAS for territorial surveilance 2030 - Challenges and opportunities

This report summarizes results from a number of activities within the thematic research program Unmanned Vehicles and Cyberthreats. Capabilities and identification of system requirements are investigated in the context of territorial area surveillance 2030 for the Swedish armed forces An overall conclusion is that unmanned system has the potential to provide sustainable surveillance over fairly large areas and contribute to the situational awareness in the air arena and provide detection and early warning for incoming small objects. If the systems are properly equipped they can also contribute to capabilities on the sea arena and signal intelligence . An open issue is how to maintain capabilities in higher conflict situations against an opponent possessing a high technology level. Operations with unmanned aerial systems use computers for control, sensor data gathering, communication and also use of data links and satellite navigation. Despite the last 15 years extensive use of unmanned system in Afghanistan and elsewhere the knowledge on cyberthreats is low, also internationally. Many issues are unanswered and possibly not even formulated yet. A future flexible use of unmanned aerial systems must allow for operations to be conducted in the same fashion as, and together with manned flight. The integration of unmanned aerial system into the civil air navigation system involves many actors but it is important for the Swedish Armed Forces to follow the development and participate in the work. Using unmanned systems for surveillance does not implicate a fundamental difference from a command and control perspective compared with manned systems, one or more flying platforms with sensor load have a mission to survey an area of interest or monitor a specific mission. However, the number of automatic functions assisting pilots and operators in future systems will increase and it is important maintain research in the areas of automation and man-technology-organisation to ensure effective use of the systems. Other differences include larger sensitivity for certain weather phenomena, unmanned system will have slightly lower operational availability compared to manned systems. Also, an intensive use of this type of systems could possibly call for new environmental permits for the bases the Swedish Armed Forces intend to operate from.