Unmanned

Drones have become the controversial new weapon of choice for the US military abroad. Unmanned details the causes and deadly consequences of this terrifying new development in warfare, and explores the implications for international law and global peace. Ann Rogers and John Hill argue that drones represent the first truly globalized technology of war. The book shows how unmanned systems are changing not simply how wars are fought, but the meaning of conflict itself. Providing an unparalleled account of new forms of twenty-first century imperial warfare, Unmanned shows how drone systems dissolve the conventional obstacles of time and space that have traditionally shaped conflict in the international system. It considers the possibility that these weapons will become normalized in global conflict, raising the spectre of new, unpredictable, and unaccountable forms of warfare.

Newcome traces the family tree of unmanned aircraft all the way back to their roots as aerial torpedoes, which were the equivalent of todays cruise missiles. He discusses the work of leading aerospace pioneers whose efforts in the area of unmanned aviation have largely been ignored by history.

It is widely anticipated that autonomous vehicles will have a transformational impact on military forces and will play a key role in many future force structures. As a result, many tasks have already been identified that unmanned systems could undertake more readily than humans. However, for this to occur, such systems will need to be agile, versatile, persistent, reliable, survivable and lethal. This will require many of the vehicles ‘cognitive’ or higher order functions to be more fully developed, whereas to date only the ‘component’ or physical functions have been successfully automated and deployed. The book draws upon a broad range of others’ work with a view to providing a product that is greater than the sum of its parts. The discussion is intentionally approached from the perspective of improving understanding rather than providing solutions or drawing firm conclusions. Consequently, researchers reading this book with the hope of uncovering some novel theory or approach to automating an unmanned vehicle will be as disappointed as the capability planner who anticipates a catalogue of technical risks and feasibility options against his favoured list of component technologies and potential applications. Nevertheless, it is hoped that both will at least learn something of the other’s world and that progress will ensue as a result. For the defence policy and decision maker, this is a "must-read" book which brings together an important technology summary with a considered analysis of future doctrinal, legal and ethical issues in unmanned and autonomous systems. For research engineers and developers of robotics, this book provides a unique perspective on the implications and consequences of our craft; connecting what we do to the deployment and use of the technology in current and future defence systems. Professor Hugh Durrant-Whyte

This book introduces unmanned aircraft systems traffic management (UTM) and how this new paradigm in traffic management integrates unmanned aircraft operations into national airspace systems. Exploring how UTM is expected to operate, including possible architectures for UTM implementations, and UTM services, including flight planning, strategic coordination, and conformance monitoring, Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management: UTM considers the boundaries of UTM and how it is expected to interlace with tactical coordination systems to maintain airspace safety. The book also presents the work of the global ecosystem of players advancing UTM, including relevant standards development organizations (SDOs), and considers UTM governance paradigms and challenges. FEATURES Describes UTM concept of operations (ConOps) and global variations in architectures Explores envisioned UTM services, including flight planning, strategic coordination, conformance monitoring, contingency management, constraints and geo-awareness, and remote identification Highlights cybersecurity standards development and awareness Covers approaches to the approval, management, and oversight of UTM components and ecosystem Considers the future of UTM and potential barriers to its success, international coordination, and regulatory reform This book is an essential, in-depth, annotated resource for developers, unmanned aircraft system operators, pilots, policy makers, researchers, and academics engaged in unmanned systems, transportation management, and the future of aviation.

The threat of an attack involving an unmanned system armed with a weapon of mass destruction is a present one. With two million drones projected to be flying US skies in 2020, unmanned aircraft systems in the air domain pose a significant challenge to the nation’s security. Other technological advancements, such as artificial intelligence, combined with unmanned systems, have transformed the threat’s very nature, yet the skies are not the only domain of concern. The technology is also developing rapidly in unmanned undersea and surface systems, expanding potential weapons of mass destruction delivery options. This publication is an examination of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), unmanned surface systems (USS), and unmanned undersea systems (UUS). The technological innovation that led to the global commercialization of UAS is underway with USS and UUS. Until recently, no known scholarly studies existed that examined the vulnerabilities of one sector of US critical infrastructure to attack by UAS until A Phenomenological Examination of US Nuclear Power Plants to Attack by Unmanned Aerial Systems was published late in 2020. According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), there had been fifty-seven UAS incursions over twenty-four US nuclear power plants in the past five years, representing one of sixteen sectors of US critical infrastructure (Gardiner 2016; Rogoway and Trevithick 2020; Hambling 2020). Federal departments and organizations have largely ignored the threat potential that UAS pose despite the strategic guidance laid out in the 2017 National Security Strategy of the US. The nation’s national security demands a close examination of the vulnerabilities and is immediately working to close those security gaps. This publication will focus on the emergency of new UAS capabilities and highlight the latest technologies, capabilities, and the significant national security threat implications that UAS, USS, and UUS platforms represent to US critical infrastructure.

The book discusses how Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can leverage the sub-6 GHz massive MIMO to address cell selection and interference issues in future wireless networks. The book takes a close look at utilizing UAVs to achieving direct and efficient device-to device (D2D) communications in the sky. Also, the key 6G enablers (cell-free architectures, artificial intelligence, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, THz communications, and non-terrestrial networks) for UAV communication are broached, and the primary technological challenges of each enabler are discussed extensively. Furthermore, the book covers the design of adaptable UAVs to operate in diverse and harsh environmental conditions. Additionally, the existing UAVs’ networking protocols and how these can be greatly enhanced to address the issue of intermittent network changes and channel impairments are discussed. The prospects and societal benefits envisioned in future UAVs are also presented.