Unmanned Aircraft Systems
PDF

Keywords

unmanned aircraft systems, air defense, threats, challenges

How to Cite

CIEŚLAK, E. (2021). Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Safety & Defense, 7(1), 72-82. https://doi.org/10.37105/sd.110

Abstract

The 2019 attacks on the oil processing facilities in Saudi Arabia and the effectiveness of combating Armenian long-range anti-aircraft systems have highlighted the nature and scale of the challenges for air defense posed by unmanned aircraft systems. The aim of this article is to summarize the lessons learned from the use of unmanned systems in recent conflicts, to assess the development of trends in such systems, and to discuss the implications of those developments for air defense. This article discusses the impact of the development of unmanned aircraft systems on air defense concepts, their organization, and the effectiveness of this defense for the defended assets. It also tries to highlight how unmanned aircraft systems may reduce the survivability of air defense systems. This research is based on publicly available documents related to air defense and unmanned aircraft systems as well as selected analytical studies on the implications of the development and use of unmanned aircraft systems for air defense. As such, this research identifies the possible challenges related to ensuring effective air defense against attacks by unmanned aircraft systems, resulting from the costs of defense despite the availability of technological solutions. It also raises the issue of survivability of air defense systems if attacked by unmanned aircraft systems.

https://doi.org/10.37105/sd.110
PDF

References

Cieślak, E. (2018). Operacyjne aspekty rozwoju narodowego system obrony powietrznej. In Dobija, K., Maślanka, S., Żyłka, D. (Eds.), Wyzwania i roz-wój obrony powietrznej Rzeczypospo-litej Polskiej. Obronność RP XXI wie-ku (pp. 38-54). Wydawnictwo Akade-mii Sztuki Wojennej.

Cieślak, E. (2020). The Development of Poland’s Air Defense System: The Operational Context. Safety & Defense, 6(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.37105/sd.44

Clancy, J. P. (2020, November 18). Su-icide drones – the threat from above in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. https://www.esjnews.com/suicide-drones-the-threat-from-above-in-the-nagorno-karabakh-conflict

Cordesman, A. H. (2019, September 2019). The Strategic Implications of the Strikes on Saudi Arabia. https://www.csis.org/analysis/strategic-implications-strikes-saudi-arabia

Defenceworld.net, (2020, July 2). Lib-yan War Claimed 25 Large military Drones in 2020. https://www.defenseworld.net/news/27332/Libyan_War_Claimed_25_Large_military_Drones_in_2020#.YEStJp0zZPY

Flannelly J. (2020, December 7). Drone Effectiveness Against Air De-fenses, Not Tanks, Is the Real Concern. https://www.thedefensepost.com/2020/12/07/drone-effectiveness-air-defense/

Frantzman S. J. (2019, September 26). Are air defense systems ready to con-front drone swarms?. https://www.defensenews.com/global/mideast-africa/2019/09/26/are-air-defense-systems-ready-to-confront-drone-swarms/

Ho, B. (2020, May 14). Air Defence Challenges in the New Decade. Asian Military Review, 2020, Issue 2. https://asianmilitaryreview.com/2020/05/air-defence-challenges-in-the-new-decade/

International Institute for Strategic Studies (2019). The Military Balance 2019, Bonus Military Balance 2019 content. Emerging air-defence chal-lenges. https://www.iiss.org/publications/the-military-balance/the-military-balance-2019/xmb2019-bonus-content

Joint Air Power Competence Centre (2020). A Comprehensive Approach to Countering Unmanned Aircraft Sys-tems. https://www.japcc.org/wp-content/uploads/A-Comprehensive-Approach-to-Countering-Unmanned-Aircraft-Systems.pdf

Larter D.B. (2017, May 16). SOCOM commander: Armed ISIS drones were 2016’s 'most daunting problem'. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/sofic/2017/05/16/socom-commander-armed-isis-drones-were-2016s-most-daunting-problem/

Panel of Experts on Libya established pursuant to resolution 1973 (2019, De-cember 2019). Letter dated 29 Novem-ber 2019 from the Panel of Experts on Libya established pursuant to resolu-tion 1973 (2011) addressed to the Pres-ident of the Security Council. United Nations Security Council S/2019/914. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3838591/files/S_2019_914-EN.pdf

Parachini J. V. (2020, July 2). Drone-Era Warfare Shows the Operational Limits of Air Defense Systems. https://www.rand.org/blog/2020/07/drone-era-warfare-shows-the-operational-limits-of-air.html

Patterson, D. R. (2017). Defeating the Threat of Small Unmanned Aerial Sys-tems. Air & Space Power Journal, Is-sue 2/2017, 15-25. https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/ASPJ_Spanish/Journals/Volume-29_Issue-2/2017_2_03_patterson_s_eng.pdf

Pyrgies, J. (2019). The UAVs threat to airport security: risk analysis and mit-igation. Journal of Airline and Airport Management, 9(2), 63-96. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3926/jairm.12

Shaikh S., Rumbaugh W. (2020, De-cember 8). The Air and Missile War in Nagorno-Karabakh: Lessons for the Future of Strike and Defense. https://www.csis.org/analysis/air-and-missile-war-nagorno-karabakh-lessons-future-strike-and-defense

Solodov, A., Williams, A.; Al Hanaei, S., Goddard, B., Analyz-ing the threat of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to nuclear facili-ties, Security Journal, pp. 305–324 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41284-017-0102-5

Sprenger S. (2019, October 22). Euro-peans propose siccing self-learning drone swarms on air defences. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2019/10/22/europeans-propose-siccing-self-learning-drone-swarms-on-air-defenses/

United Nations Support Mission in Libya (2020, January 15). Report of the Secretary-General. United Nations Security Council S/2020/41. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3847369/files/S_2020_41-EN.pdf

Urcosta R. B. (2020, August 31). The Revolution in Drone Warfare. The Lessons from the Idlib De-Escalation Zone. https://media.defense.gov/2020/Aug/31/2002487583/-1/-1/1/URCOSTA.PDF

Vick A. J., Zeigler S. M., Brackup J., Meyers J.S. (2020). Air Base Defense. Rethinking Army and Air Force Roles and Functions. RAND.

Zieliński T. (2018a). Małe bezzałogowe systemy powietrzne w działaniach bo-jowych: zdolności, zagrożenia, prze-ciwdziałanie. In Dobija K., Maślanka S., Żyłka D. (Eds), Wyzwania i rozwój obrony powietrznej Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej: obronność RP XXI wieku (pp. 55-69). Wydawnictwo Akademii Sztuki Wojennej.

Zieliński, T. (2018b). Discussion about preemptive ban on lethal autonomous weapon systems. Journal of Security and Sustain-ability Issues 7(4): pp. 807-816. https://doi.org/10.9770/jssi.2018.7.4(1)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.