Uav is a kind of unmanned aerial vehicle which uses radio remote control device or autonomous control device to control the flight state.
Compared with human machine, uav has the advantages of strong flexibility and high efficiency and cost ratio in combat.
However, in systematic combat, due to the complex battlefield environment, scattered element configuration and multi-dimensional combat style, a single UAV is difficult to be competent for diversified combat tasks.
Relying on swarm intelligence to carry out intelligent uav cluster warfare can transform the number advantage of UAVs into asymmetric warfare advantage.
Uav cluster intelligent combat style
In recent years,UAV cluster has gradually played an increasingly important role in cooperative detection, full-range strike, tactical deception and other operational tasks, and has become one of the key development directions in the military field.
According to the current group intelligence degree and combat style of UAV cluster, it can be divided into three types:
-- Pseudo cluster. It is a "cluster" of drones operated by people on the ground. Drones appear to be clusters, but are actually independent of each other and do not have information interaction and coordination.
In 2016, the U.S. Navy conducted hundreds of simulated drone "clusters" to attack the Aegis defense system. The results show that it is difficult for the defense system to allocate the firepower properly when the "cluster" of eight UAVs attack, and an average of 2.8 UAVs can avoid the interception system for attack.
In the above cases, UAVs are represented as "clusters" in form, but there is no swarm intelligence, and only the number advantage brought by the agglomeration of multiple UAVs improves the combat capability.
-- Centralized cluster. This is a cluster mode in which the ground command center serves as the cluster brain, and there is no interaction between uAVs and uAVs are unified under the command and dispatch of the cluster brain. In November 2020, the US military used ground-based software to drive the Avenger drones to form a cluster and conduct an autonomous coordinated flight test for about two hours. The program enhances the flexibility and survivability of existing unmanned combat forces by using software to determine optimal operational scenarios.
Centralized cluster has low intelligence degree, and faces potential problems such as single chain failure and poor reliability. If the communication link between the local command center and the cluster is damaged, the whole cluster will lose its combat capability due to the loss of control.
In 2018, the Syrian opposition sent 13 fixed-wing drones to form a concentrated cluster to harass and attack a Russian air base. The Russian side intercepted 6 uAVs and shot down 7 of them by means of electronic warfare and fire killing.
-- Distributed cluster. This is a cluster mode in which UAVs cooperate to perform combat tasks through information sharing without a central controller. This method has the advantages of decentralization, low complexity and self-organization, and greatly improves the ability of carrying out complex tasks.
In 2017, the United States used three F/A-18 fighter jets to release 103 UAVs to form A distributed cluster for flight tests, realizing the functions of launching aircraft and changing formation, and achieving the expected combat results.
Compared with centralized cluster, distributed cluster has distributed architecture, and information interaction between machines provides necessary conditions for the generation of swarm intelligence. UAV cluster with swarm intelligence, high autonomy and good security, is the main development direction of cluster warfare.
Using the characteristics of group behavior to give wisdom to the cluster
In the magnificent nature, there are fish, herds, bees and birds and other biological communities. These creatures themselves are fragile, but groups gathered through interaction and cooperation have stronger foraging, seeking benefits and avoiding harm, migration and other abilities.
Through simple communication, biocenes can achieve efficient coordination and exhibit behaviors such as cooperative aggregation, target attraction and collision avoidance and repulsion, which can achieve win-win clustering effect.
This kind of macroscopical intelligence behavior characteristic that is manifested by the collaboration of social organisms is swarm intelligence. Swarm intelligence is an important research direction of artificial intelligence.
Combined with uav system technology, the theory and method of swarm intelligence are studied, and it is expected to explore uav clusters with more autonomous intelligence characteristics and form advanced swarm intelligence.
According to the characteristics of cooperative aggregation, the distributed operation of UAV cluster is realized. In nature, foraging fish can gather together through local information exchange to improve foraging efficiency. When encountering a predator, it can disperse and escape quickly to distract the attention of the predator and reduce the risk of being preyed on. Similarly, the flight control of UAV cluster, through the information exchange between neighboring UAVs, designs the uav cooperative control protocol, so that each member of the cluster can reach a "consensus" on global consistency, direction convergence and expected formation, so as to truly realize the distributed operation of the cluster. Like wave phenomena, information is transmitted quickly and accurately to each other, resulting in consistency of action.
-- Achieving formation tracking of UAV cluster by using target attraction behavior characteristics. The Wolf pack can be led by the leader Wolf to perform a division of tasks, closely cooperate to round up prey. While the alpha Wolf tracks the target and gives orders, the wolves have different responsibilities and work together to efficiently hunt. The uav cluster can refer to the Wolf model and form the pilot following task mode by utilizing the target attraction behavior characteristics. Pilot machine detection and analysis of processing ability is stronger, is responsible for tracking the target track is generated, giving full play to the advantages of high performance and situational awareness, and realize the real-time tracking of the target, with random can not only track real-time tracking pilot machine, and can form a task required by machine between synergy cluster configuration, increase the efficiency of the load distribution configuration, strengthen the task execution.
-- According to the behavior characteristics of collision avoidance and repulsion, intelligent collision avoidance of UAV cluster can be realized. Intelligent collision avoidance is the basic requirement for uav cluster to ensure its flight safety and successful mission execution. "Cluster intelligent collision avoidance" is to allow each UAV to avoid obstacles in the battlefield environment in real time and avoid collisions between clusters. To achieve this effect, an "intelligent repulsive potential field" between uAVs and between clusters and obstacles can be constructed: when the relative distance is too small
Smart clusters usher in a new style of systematic warfare
In view of the development trend of the world's military powers, with the application of information, unmanned and intelligent technologies in the battlefield, systematic combat capability will become an important factor to determine the success or failure of the war.
The development of swarm intelligence technology will greatly promote the reform of uav cluster combat mode, which is an important means for the army to adapt to complex battlefield environment and improve combat capability in the future. UAV cluster will subvert traditional warfare and become a new combat style to win the future battlefield.
UAVs with certain coordination capability and autonomy can carry different kinds of loads to perform diversified combat tasks. Judging from the experimental results of uav cluster cooperative operation verification projects such as "Elf" and "Partridge" in the United States, small and low-cost UAV clusters are expected to form cooperative capabilities of detection, perception, identification, communication and attack through information sharing between aircraft in the short term.
In view of this, all military powers continue to develop uav cluster combat forces, hoping to use systematic low-cost UAV cluster to harass relatively isolated high-value military targets and give full play to asymmetric combat advantages.
With the continuous upgrade of artificial intelligence technology, swarm intelligence has the uav cluster, can play its environment adaptable, flexible deployment, functional integration, the advantage of small high efficiency, intelligent network, together with the game against, omnidirectional penetration of defense system, and formed "investigation - anti - - a review of the" closed loop, In the future multi - domain multi - dimensional systematic warfare to defeat the enemy.
When Drones Have Swarm Intelligence
2021-09-03
introduce：Uav is a kind of unmanned aerial vehicle which uses radio remote control device or autonomous control device to control the flight state.Compared with human machine, uav has the advantages of strong flexibility and high efficiency and cost ratio in combat
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