Collaborative Autonomy for Manned/Unmanned Teams

UAVs offer tantalizing capabilities to the warfighter, such as tireless observation, quick recognition, and rapid reaction to today’s changing battlespace. These trends are important because they aid Warfighter in their duties. Today, unmanned systems exist that extend the vision and the reach of the Warfighter. However, they spend so much time managing these assets that they lose effectiveness as a Warfighter. This is a particular problem if the warfighter’s role is one demanding continuous sensory and mental workload, such as the Co-Pilot/Gunner (CPG) of an Apache Longbow attack helicopter. Autonomy, the ability of vehicles to conduct most of their operation without human supervision, can help relieve the burden of providing continuous oversight of the UAV’s operation. This moves the Warfighter’s role from control to command, enabling them to perform their duties more effectively and successfully. Collaboration, the ability of teams of vehicles to coordinate their activities without human oversight, moves unmanned systems to the level of a true force multiplier, giving a single human warfighter the power of multiple coordinated, intelligent platforms.