The value of autonomous ISR

For any nation that needs to maintain continuous observation of frontline activities in a conflict scenario, or indeed for Governments requiring capability for border patrol outside the realm of traditional defence (e.g. small boats in Europe or land crossings in the US), the prevailing challenges centre on cost and effort.

Such Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) activities have traditionally relied on considerable manual effort. This is particularly true in the military context, with personnel engaging in ‘drone work’ with Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to provide 24/7 over-watch of significant stretches of land for long periods of time. This typically requires companies of personnel moving to and from specific points and carrying out their work at relatively short range on rotation.

On the civil border protection side, law enforcement personnel (such as Border Force agents in the UK, or US Border Patrol agents in America) are faced with a similar challenge of monitoring large swathes of land with limited resources.

Not only can this essential work be dangerous, it’s also expensive and time-consuming. However, some existing autonomy technologies could be employed to realise significant reductions in cost and effort as part of a cohered solution.

Transforming operations

Much of the equipment currently in use for frontline and border ISR activity, particularly within a military conflict scenario, is not automated. This means it is often open to electromagnetic detection and interdiction, as well as having a short range requiring release relatively close to the line of contact. 
This is where new and novel systems can provide an advantage. At a basic level, next-generation UAS platforms can unlock superior performance, such as through increased range. But taking things a step further, autonomous technologies can be incorporated to lift the burden on personnel and free them up for other duties, while at the same time minimising signals use to reduce the chance of detection. Not to mention, moving personnel away from situations of adversary contact.

From a military perspective, such as system would be incredibly valuable for frontline nations with long stretches of border – providing flexibly deployable surveillance for both active and frozen conflict. But there are also several civilian uses of this technology, such as for infrastructure monitoring, border monitoring outside of conflict scenarios and coastguard operations.

Autonomy in practice

So, what could a more autonomous approach to ISR look like in practice? Here’s an example of how a system could work:

• The system consists of multiple autonomous ISR UAS platforms (which have a long range to allow for transit, loiter and return and are capable of use in rough terrains), a base/refuelling vehicle, and a control station with separate transmitter.
• The UAS are given patrol instructions prior to take off, operating on-board image recognition software to detect movement of men, vehicles and/or materials.
• The UAS broadcast only to confirm survival (on a schedule) in the event of a detection, or if instructed to do so from a control station. The control station is usually on listen mode, waiting for an alert, so does not need to emit any signals until a user chooses to assume direct control of one of the UAS. 
• The mode of instruction is the definition of a geographic area/points of interest to patrol. The routes for the aircraft will be optimised to allow refuelling/recharging at the point of origin, while maintaining maximal coverage of the zone/points of interest. 
• By default, new instructions are issued and any data retrieved when each UAS returns for refuelling. This means that outside of the alert/direct control state, the whole system is partially immune to EW countermeasures.

At the heart of such a system would be an optimised planning capability that manages how the autonomous vehicles cover a certain area while taking into consideration time for refuelling and scheduled and unscheduled maintenance – e.g. replacing aircraft components – to maintain 24/7 coverage with a small team of operators. What’s more, this capability must be able to adjust in response to attrition, i.e. when assets are lost in a contested environment.

It’s certainly not simple, but the potential is there to leverage autonomy as a transformative lever for ISR operations.