Drones could soon hunt in PACKS

Drones could soon hunt in PACKS: Darpa plans reveal aircraft would collaborate to find targets with 'minimal supervision'

• Darpa will host a number of meetings in March to discuss how drones could work together to find, identify and engage targets
• Aims to enable one human operator to control a pack of drones
• Software could ‘extend the mission capabilities of existing unmanned aircraft,’ and make them more autonomous
• Idea for drones that hunt in packs was floated in the US Department of Defence's Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap for the next 25 years

By Sarah Griffiths for MailOnline

Flying a military drone in a warzone or other dangerous locations currently requires a team of human operators.

But this could be about to change, as the US military looks to enable drones to hunt in ‘coordinated packs’ with minimal human supervision.

The Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) will host a number of meetings in March to discuss how aircraft could work together to find, identify and engage targets with fewer humans controlling them.

Darpa is hosting meetings to discuss how aircraft could work together to find, identify and engage targets with fewer humans controlling them (illustrated). Its 'Code' programme is also designed to cut the number of operators needed to control a single unmanned vehicle, allowing one person to operate six simultaneously

The meeting is being called under the programme name ‘Collaborative Operations in Denied Environment’ (Code).

Darpa has invited ‘participants with capabilities, methodologies, and approaches that are related to Code research and focused on revolutionary approaches to unmanned aircraft systems, autonomy and collaborative operations,’ to attend the discussion in Arlington, Virginia. 

It said that the programme offers experts the opportunity to ‘help develop groundbreaking software enabling unmanned aircraft to work together with minimal supervision’. 

Darpa said that the programme offers experts the opportunity to ‘help develop groundbreaking software enabling unmanned aircraft to work together with minimal supervision’. A current MQ-9 Reaper drone used in Afghanistan is pictured

DRONES COULD MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS DURING MISSIONS, ROADMAP REVEALS 

Last January, the US Department of Defence (DoD) revealed in its Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap for the next 25 years.

It said that drones may be able to deviate from set missions, carry stronger chemical weapons and hunt in swarms in the years to come.

At the moment, drones follow precise commands to complete a predetermined step-by-step mission, but the unmanned aircraft of the future could deviate from tasks, informed by ‘laws’ that govern their behaviour, laid out in algorithms and machine learning, as well as advanced sensors.

They currently use GPS to navigate war zones and remote areas, but the satellite signals used by the systems can be jammed easily, so Darpa is working on jam-proof ‘inertial guidance systems’.

The DoD's roadmap also features plans for deadly ‘swarms’ of drone-bombs that are launched from an unmanned ‘mothership’ to circle the skies while a human operator searches for targets for the drones to crash into, guided by the bots’ on-bard cameras.

Thanks to the unmanned mothership, the kamikaze drones could have a range of over 250 nautical miles (463km) the roadmap said.

The weapons dropped by more traditional drones are also set to get more deadly under the plans, as researchers are working on ‘energetic nanoparticles’ with a larger surface areas so that the chemicals within the ammunition reach faster and create a more powerful explosion.

The technologies combined are intended to help the US military be ‘more effective through greater automation and greater performance,’ the report says.

It seems to envision a time when groups of drones can work intelligently together under one human operator, who still makes big decisions, such as whether to attack a target, based on information gathered by the group.

Jean-Charles Ledé, the program’s manager, said: ‘Just as wolves hunt in coordinated packs with minimal communication, multiple Code-enabled unmanned aircraft would collaborate to find, track, identify and engage targets, all under the command of a single human mission supervisor.’

Noting that while current drones have proved ‘invaluable’ for gathering intelligence and tactical strikes, Darpa said that most of them require constant control by a dedicated pilot who steers the craft and a sensor operator, as well as a large number of analysts.

It takes a lot of manpower to control each craft and sift through information, which is expensive and can pose challenges in remote war zones with highly mobile targets.

The experts think this problem can be overcome by using algorithms and software to ‘extend the mission capabilities of existing unmanned aircraft well beyond the current state-of-the-art,’ and make them more autonomous.

It’s hoped that experts can create software that can survive communications disruptions, and electronic warfare, while working with current drone designs. 

Last January, the US Department of Defence (DoD) revealed in its Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap for the next 25 years, including plans for more automous drones that could work in packs.

It said that while drones currently use GPS to navigate war zones and remote areas, the satellite signals used by the systems can be jammed easily, so Darpa is working on jam-proof ‘inertial guidance systems’.

It also featured plans for deadly ‘swarms’ of drone-bombs that are launched from an unmanned ‘mothership’ to circle the skies while a human operator searches for targets for the drones to crash into, guided by the bots’ on-bard cameras.

Thanks to the unmanned mothership, the kamikaze drones could have a range of over 250 nautical miles (463km) the roadmap said.

Jean-Charles Ledé said: ‘Just as wolves hunt in coordinated packs with minimal communication, multiple Code-enabled unmanned aircraft would collaborate to find, track, identify and engage targets, all under the command of a single human mission supervisor.’ A demonstrator model of  the Neuron drone is shown

 

BIRD SPOTTING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY: THE DRONE GUIDE THAT LETS SKY GAZERS SPOT FLYING ROBOTS BY THEIR SILHOUETTES

designer Ruben Pater's Drone Survival guide has been 

likened to 21st century bird watching

Last year, a Dutch designer penned the Drone Survival Guide, which like bird watching charts, shows the various shapes and sizes of flying objects by their silhouettes.

Ruben Pater’s guide, however, details the differing kinds of flying robots used at war, as well as survival tips of how to hide from them.

The majority of the drones selected for the chart are from Nato member countries, including the UK, France, Germany, US and Canada.

This is because these countries have used drones in wars such as Afghanistan and are also more transparent than some other countries in disclosing information about the robots, such as their wingspan.

It uses a skull icon to show that a drone is used for attack and a little eye to denote a surveillance vehicle.

The chart, which Mr Pater describes as ‘21st century bird watching’ shows the vast array of flying war machines used today from the giant 130ft (37 metre) wingspan of the Global Hawk drone to the petite Parrot AC quadcopter, which measures just 23 inches (58cm).

He said: ‘Most drones are used today by military powers for remote-controlled surveillance and attack and their numbers are growing.

'The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) predicted in 2012 that within 20 years there could be as many as 30,000 drones flying over US soil alone.

‘As robotic birds will become commonplace in the near future, we should be prepared to identify them. This survival guide is an attempt to familiarise ourselves and future generations, with a changing technological environment.’

Read more:

• 2015/01/21 Establishing the CODE for Unmanned Aircraft to Fly as Collaborative Teams

The NASA Super Guppy • Inflight Cockpit Video 
The Super Guppy is a cargo plane used to transport oversized components for NASA. Scenes include the Super Guppy landing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, and cockpit footage while in flight. This flight took place on August 22, 2012 between Ellington Field, Texas and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio - a four hour flight at 250 mph and an altitude of 12,000 feet. The Super Guppy was transporting a Crew Compartment Trainer for the Space Shuttle to the National Museum of the United States Air Force.




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