Unmanned Vehicles and Swarms
A variety of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) and unmanned undersea vehicles (UUV), some capable of observation only and others (UCAV and UCGV) of using combat weapons on the enemy, will have a major effect on swarming. Previously, when one swarming unit pulled away to rearm and regroup, as another unit "pulsed" another attack, there could be a loss of situational awareness to the group that withdrew. It is now quite possible for that unit to leave a low-visibility drone aircraft or vehicle giving them continuing visual or other sensor data on the enemy they attacked, and to network these data to other units in the swarm. Combat vehicles can keep up pressure where no actual troops are in contact.
One area in which a hierarchy of swarming agents show promise is demining. Lambert describes a system where the swarming begins by sending a large UUV to a mined area of water, where it approximates the positions of suspected mines. The large UUV then dispatches pairs of bistatic micro-UUVs to the positions in question. Pairing the UUVs (i.e., using them bistatically) helps in positioning and three-dimensional characterization. Once there, the micro-UUVs can identify the object, send information back on it, and neutralize it. Sufficiently small and simple UUVs need not be recoverable if an inexpensive UUV saves a manned ship. With different economics for land mines, a similar method could use UGVs.
Surveillance by UAVs, UGVs, UUVs, reconnaissance troops, and combat troops keeping a distance from the unit being attacked, also can guide indirect (i.e., non-line-of-site) weapons onto the target, from artillery, missiles, and aircraft.
In 2012, a US warfighter successfully controlled a swarm of UAVs with only a laptop and a military radio.
Read more about this topic: Swarming (military), Modern Military Swarming, Contemporary and Near-future Military Applications
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
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—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)