Perception is Everything: Repairing the Image of American Drone Warfare

This thesis will trace the United States’ development of unmanned warfare from its initial use in the World Wars through the Cold War to its final maturation in the War on Terror. The examination will provide a summary of unmanned warfare’s history, its gradual adoption, and concerns regarding the proliferation of drones use to understand the emphasis on unmanned weapons in the American Military. In each phase of development, a single program will be focused on to highlight special areas of interest in the modern day. Finally, the modern era of unmanned systems will focus on the growing integration of new weapon systems which no longer fulfill niche roles in the armory but act as fully vetted frontline combatants. Brought together, this examination will show drones have earned their place as integral tools in the American military inventory as faithful defenders of democracy

Examining Unmanned Aerial System Threats & Defenses: A Conceptual Analysis

The integration of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) into the already complex global aviation system presents new and unique hazards. While many studies have addressed the potential safety concerns of UAS integration, little research has been dedicated to the potential security implications. This study sought to identify potential uses and adaptations of civil UAS systems as weapons of terrorism or crime and potential UAS defenses. Researchers examined 68 academic studies, unclassified government reports, and news articles using Conceptual Analysis to systematically capture and categorize various threats. Using the collected data, researchers developed a UAS threat model for categorically evaluating potential threats. Evaluating UAS defense methodologies, researchers developed a five-layer, defense-in-depth model for protecting assets and individuals from UAS threats

U.S. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVS) and Network Centric Warfare (NCW) impacts on combat aviation tactics from Gulf War I through 2007 Iraq

Unmanned, aerial vehicles (UAVs) are an increasingly important element of many modern militaries. Their success on battlefields in Afghanistan, Iraq, and around the globe has driven demand for a variety of types of unmanned vehicles. Their proven value consists in low risk and low cost, and their capabilities include persistent surveillance, tactical and combat reconnaissance, resilience, and dynamic re-tasking. This research evaluates past, current, and possible future operating environments for several UAV platforms to survey the changing dynamics of combat-aviation tactics and make recommendations regarding UAV employment scenarios to the Turkish military. While UAVs have already established their importance in military operations, ongoing evaluations of UAV operating environments, capabilities, technologies, concepts, and organizational issues inform the development of future systems. To what extent will UAV capabilities increasingly define tomorrow's missions, requirements, and results in surveillance and combat tactics? Integrating UAVs and concepts of operations (CONOPS) on future battlefields is an emergent science. Managing a transition from manned- to unmanned and remotely piloted aviation platforms involves new technological complexity and new aviation personnel roles, especially for combat pilots. Managing a UAV military transformation involves cultural change, which can be measured in decades.http://archive.org/details/usunmannedaerial109454211Turkish Air Force authors.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

The Effectiveness of Armoured Vehicles in Urban Warfare Conditions

Since the Second World War, the major armed conflicts have been occurred in or in the vicinity of the urban areas rather than rural areas, amongst conventional armies and armed groups or terrorists/insurgents. The architectural and construction characteristics of the urban area increase the opportunities for armed groups to ambush, easily escape, conceal, relocate and attack. Additionally, the narrow streets, the blocked roads by the debris of buildings, and IED threats make the urban areas one of the most dangerous conditions for infantries and armoured vehicles. The majority of present armoured combat vehicle types due to the limited visibility, low manoeuvre capability, and limited firing power, they are insufficient for performing the standalone operation without infantry forces and combat engineer support in urban warfare conditions. In this study, 13.400 data belonging to 676 attacks towards armoured vehicles during the counter-terrorism operations against PKK/PYD and ISIS in the urban areas were analysed within the perspective of forensic science techniques such as forensic ballistics and shooting reconstruction. According to the examinations and analyses carried out within the scope of this study; the leading critical features that an armoured combat vehicle that will operate in the urban areas may be listed under five general headings: Structure, Ballistic Protection and Armour, Self Defence and Weapon Systems, Situational/peripheral Awareness and C4I2 Systems and Integrated Warfare Systems

China’s Antiship Ballistic Missile—Developments and Missing Links

That China is interested in an antiship ballistic missile seems a logical and natural outgrowth of its history of robust missile development. At what stage is its development? How near to operational readiness are its key components and technologies? What would be its implications for the U.S. Navy and the naval strategic balance between the United States and China