The 'explosion' in the use of unmanned weapons and surveillance systems : their increasing utility, effectiveness and legality, and their implications for future military pilots

Gary Martinic

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

Abstract

For more than a decade now, a new era of robotic warfare has established itself, that of unmanned weapons systems (UWS) of the air, ground and sea. These revolutionary new weapons have essentially reshaped modern warfare and have forever changed the way that war is waged. While both air and ground UWS have become increasingly important to the efficient conduct of combat operations1, it has been the unmanned aerial systems (UAS), which comprise the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) which have provided critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities, as well precision strike efficacy, respectively. This has resulted in UAS becoming a crucial element within the capability-spectrum of most military forces. With the increasing variety and utility of these systems, and increasing evidence from variety of sources, this article questions whether there will be any role for manned military aircraft, or for the military pilot of the future? Aviation scientists have long ago successfully demonstrated that UAVs can fly autonomously to pre-programmed routes and altitudes, using collision avoidance mechanisms. From such earlier work, larger, sophisticated and more lethal UAVs (Figure 1) have been developed, as have unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), maritime unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). UAVs and UGVs have been deployed into conflict zones for some time. Compared to manned military aircraft, UAVs can carry out a larger range of ISR and surgical strike missions, they are smaller and more economical, and can fly for longer without need of refueling or risk of pilot fatigue. Being discreet and needing little flying experience of their operators, they are also significantly less expensive than training new pilots. Their military application continues to grow as many countries invest in advanced R&D, with future models proposed that will likely achieve ‘hypermanoeuvrability, have ‘stealthy’ airframes, and be more rugged giving better battle damage survivability.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages10
JournalAustralian Naval Institute
VolumeMarch 6\, 2016
Publication statusPublished - 2016

Keywords

  • uninhabited combat aerial vehicles
  • surveillance detection
  • air pilots, military

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