Taking Flight: Advances in Airborne Autonomy

摘要

UAVs may require autonomy for a number of reasons. In a recent paper for SIPRI, Justin Bronk, research fellow for airpower and technology at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), noted that if such systems are to make sense as an investment for state-on-state conflicts, they must be able to detect, classify, prioritise and engage targets according to pre-set mission tasks and rules of engagement, without real-time human control. The reason is clear: in a highly contested area, amid a high-intensity scenario, the data or satcom link could be jammed or disrupted. The technological requirements of such capabilities have already been demonstrated at a range of levels. Indeed, it is unlikely that they would demand any level of advanced automation beyond those seen in other areas of aviation or other sectors, Bronk wrote. For example, the detection and subsequent destruction of enemy combat aircraft in a war 'is not something that requires subtle judgements in terms of international humanitarian law and estimates of proportionality or collateral damage', according to the paper.