Forward Operating Base (FOB) defense is a manpower-intensive mission that takes valuable resources away from the operational mission. While increasingly capable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) might perform many of the mission tasks, current doctrine does not adequately address their inclusion. In particular, the assumed one-to-one ratio of operators to vehicles does not account for increasing UAV autonomy. This thesis describes the development and testing of an autonomous FOB defense capability using the Advanced Robotic Systems Engineering Laboratory (ARSENL) swarm system. Development leveraged the Mission-based Architecture for Swarm Composability (MASC) for development of complex swarm behaviors in a mission-focused, top-down manner. This approach enabled the development of a doctrinally grounded base-defense tactic in which arbitrary mixes of fixed-wing and quadrotor UAVs autonomously assigned and performed all required FOB defense roles: perimeter surveillance, key area search, contact investigation, and threat response. The tactic was extensively tested in a software-in-the-loop simulation environment and demonstrated during live flight field exercises. Experimental results are discussed using measures of effectiveness and measures of performance that were developed over the course of this research.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Mission planning for UAV swarms

    Vervoorst, J.W. / Kopfstedt, T. | Tema Archive | 2007


    A Low Cost Apophis Precursor Mission Using CubeSat Swarms

    Vernekar, Harish / Vance, Leonard / Thangavelautham, Jekan | AIAA | 2025


    Collaborative Mission Planning for UAV Swarms Launched from Aerial Carriers

    Yuan, Mingzhou / Dong, Bo / Yao, Weiran | Springer Verlag | 2025


    The Adaptability of Countermeasures Against UAV Swarms in Typical Mission Scenarios

    Yan, Jia’ding / Xie, Hai’bin / Zhuang, Dong’ye | Springer Verlag | 2022


    The Adaptability of Countermeasures Against UAV Swarms in Typical Mission Scenarios

    Yan, Jia’ding / Xie, Hai’bin / Zhuang, Dong’ye | TIBKAT | 2022