JUNE 2016

Defense Science Board Summer Study on Autonomy
Autonomy can improve the speed and accuracy, and by extension, the effectiveness of all
aspects of force application. Anti-access and area denial (A2/AD) is a primary example of a mission
that could be enhanced by autonomous systems. Autonomously operating UA could assume several
functions now performed by manned aircraft in areas that are difficult to access (e.g., aerial refueling,
airborne early warning, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, anti-ship warfare, and command).
Additionally, large UA could be designed to dispense small UA that could operate autonomously to
facilitate both offensive strike (via electronic warfare, communications jamming, or decoys), as well
as defensive measures as decoys, sensors and emitters, target emulators, and so on—to confuse,
deceive, and attrite adversary attacks.
These small swarms could be deployed as
perimeter and close-in defensive actions
with payloads tailored to the situation.
These concepts could be readily
applied to other missions. For undersea
missions, acoustic and RF decoy payloads
would likely be much smaller than sea
mines, and thus could be more easily
deployed in quantity from existing
commercial UUVs. While today’s
electromagnetic maneuver warfare
In this study, an unmanned aircraft (UA) refers to a
single asset. An unmanned aircraft system (UAS),
however, refers to a system or systems of aircraft
and payloads, command and control systems,
communications architecture, ground stations, and
CONOPs, which together comprise an entire
capability that is greater than the sum of the
individual parts. Because the individual UA are
heterogeneous, the UAS provides an integrated
capability far beyond that offered by a single UA.
capabilities are limited, UUVs could provide a means to significantly extend capabilities and enable a
covert option with a small observable footprint until electronic warfare (EW) operations are
initiated. Typical communications systems could be emulated in the size, weight, and power available
onboard 12-inch commercial vehicles.
Potential adversaries to the U.S. are creating systems (e.g., very quiet submarines) and
capabilities (e.g., sophisticated sensors) that threaten U.S. forces as well as the undersea
infrastructure. Moreover, with the current reliance on exquisite platforms, such as nuclear
submarines, the U.S. runs the risk of being asymmetrically disrupted. To mitigate the risks, the U.S.
must be more proactive and complement their submarine force with other capabilities, such as
powerful new autonomous UUVs and sensor networks.
The Navy and DARPA have performed foundational work in many undersea areas, but there
is no lack of additional possibilities to explore. Autonomous UUVs, in particular, hold great
promise. Having been used by both DoD and the commercial sector (e.g., in the oil industry), there
are several UUV platforms that can provide a basis for rapid prototyping and experimentation.
Project #7: Cascaded UUVs for offensive maritime mining
One area, in particular, that could be leveraged more effectively is cascaded use of
autonomous UUVs. With cascaded operations, extra-large autonomous UUVs (that may be close to
100 feet in length with large carrying capacities) would deploy smaller UUVs with targeted payloads,
as illustrated in Figure 15. The extra-large UUV, acting as a submerged delivery vehicle, could be
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