Swarm Drones: Features, Advantages, and Technological Framework

Context

Recently the Shahed-model drone killed three U.S. service members at in Jordan is built by Shahed Aviation Industries Research Center, an Iranian company 

About Swarm Drones

• Abbreviation: SWARM stands for “Smart War-Fighting Array of Reconfigured Modules.
• Working of Multiple Drones: These systems consist of multiple drones working together in a coordinated manner to achieve various objectives.
• Self Organizing Behaviour: These exhibit collective self organizing (SO) behavior through interaction and cohesion between robots, as well as interaction of robots with the environment.
• Capabilities: There is no true leader and follower, with all agents in a swarm having their own ‘mind’ able to undertake collective decision-making, adaptive formation flying, and self-healing.
• No Human Intervention: An armed, fully autonomous drone swarms (AFADS) with distributed AI will locate, identify, and attack targets without human intervention.

Technology Behind Swarm Drones

• Swarm Control and Communication:

  • Swarm Algorithms: These are required to govern the behaviour of individual drones inside a swarm and ensure coordination.
  • Protocols of Communication: Effective communication is critical. Drones can communicate either directly or via a central system, such as a ground station or a leader drone.
  • Decentralized Control: Swarm drones frequently employ decentralised decision-making methods to improve adaptability and robustness.

• Sensing and perception:

  • Sensors: Drones are outfitted with a variety of sensors (such as cameras, LiDAR, and GPS) for navigation, obstacle recognition, and situation awareness.
  • Computer Vision: It  Allows drones to recognise and track objects, people, and terrain features, which helps in navigation and mission execution.
  • Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence: Algorithms allow drones to learn, adapt, and make autonomous decisions based on input data.

Swarm Formation and Coordination:

• Formation Flying: Algorithms allow drones to maintain precise formations for a variety of goals, such as increasing coverage or reducing susceptibility.
• Collaborative Tasks: Drones can work together to complete tasks like mapping an area, delivering payloads, and performing surveillance.

Advantages of Swarm Drones

• All Weather Operations: The Swarm Drones System is able to be used in inclement weather and at high altitudes.
• Robot Soldiers: The drone swarm technology concept could also be used on land to create a force of robot-soldiers for land warfare, or mini-submarine swarms to tackle sea-surface or submarine threats
• Speed and Agility: Drones possess tremendous speed and agility for military operations, as they can reach speeds of up to 100 km/h thanks to their sophisticated motors.
• Used in Different Missions: Drones can be used for a variety of offensive and defensive missions by the armed services. They can be used to launch attacks against terror launch sites, ammunition storage facilities, tanks, and infantry combat vehicles.
• ATR capability: Artificial intelligence powers swarm drones, which can detect targets automatically due  to their Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) capability. Tanks, weapons, cars, and people can all be recognised by ATR 

Swarm Drones Systems in Indian Military

• Swarm Drones: The Indian Army inducted swarm drones, which refer to several UAVs operating in coordination. These are useful in combat operations for surveillance inputs and undertaking reconnaissance.
  • Indian Air Force has been pioneering swarm drone research and development with its Meher Baba initiative since 2019. This is geared towards in depth humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations.
• Switch VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) UAVs: VTOL capabilities makes these useful in remote and difficult terrains. 
  • In 2021, Army signed a contract with Mumbai based ideaForge for these drones
• Few examples of Indigenous Drones: Lakshya, Nishant, TAPAS UAV (Rustom), etc. 
• Acquisition of foreign drones: India has imported drone technology from various countries like the US and Israel.
  • Heron Mark-ll drones: A Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UV, inducted by Indian Air Force to carry  out surveillance along Northern borders with Pakistan and China.
  • Searcher Mk Il drones: Developed by Israel Aerospace Industries, it is a reconnaissance drone used by army and navy.

Also Read: NAMO Drone Didi Scheme

News Source: Livemint

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