Network-Centric Systems for Military Operations in Urban Terrain: The Role of UAVs

Military systems are the motivational driver for much of the technology development conducted at applied research laboratories around the world. As the needs of the world's militaries change, so does the focus of this research and development. In this paper, we discuss how the fundamental characteristics of military operations in urban terrain (MOUT) impose requirements and constraints on sensing and reconnaissance. We highlight the importance of a new class of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for network-centric military urban operations. We review some of the UAVs that have been developed in recent years, and that are under development, with particular attention to their endurance, portability, performance, payload, and communication capabilities. Selected university testbeds are also briefly noted. Over the last few years there has been considerable research focused on how these small UAVs, both individually and collectively, can operate autonomously in urban environments and help capture and communicate needed information. We discuss some of this research; specific topics covered include guidance and control for autonomous operation, multi-UAV coordination and route optimization, and ad-hoc networking with UAV nodes. A new concept of operations is described that relies on coordination and control of a heterogeneous suite of small UAVs for surveillance and reconnaissance operations in urban terrain