This is pretty interesting here….please read below extract from research study
“In September 2019, Iran attacked the Saudi Abqaiq petroleum processing facilities and Khurais oil field with a mix of UAS and cruise missiles. The Houthi group in Yemen claimed responsibility; however, open-source reporting and western governments have refuted that claim. The use of large numbers of UAS to overwhelm air defenses and conduct a precision strike validates the utility of attacking in mass and represents the first documented proto-swarm UAS attack. The precision strike destroyed numerous oil processing units, caused a spike in global oil prices, and shut down 5% of the global oil supply.20 Yemen’s Houthi group claimed responsibility for the attack; however, a UN investigation determined that the Houthis did not possess the manufacturing capability to develop the weapon systems used and that the attack did not originate from the direction of Yemen. The U.S. has identified Iran as the culprit.21 An Israeli missile defense expert has claimed that UAS attacked the Abquiq petroleum processing facility, and cruise missiles attacked the Khurais oil field.22 Eighteen UAS struck processing equipment at the facility, demonstrating the potential precision and damage UAS operating in mass can deliver. Before the attack, open-source satellite imagery shows the American-made Patriot missile defense system, German-made Skyguard air defense cannons, and France’s Shahine mobile anti-aircraft system all deployed around the Abqaiq facility.23 The UAS and cruise missiles flew below the systems’ engagement zone. None of the three systems were designed to deal with UAS in the group one to three. Raytheon designed the Patriot to engage medium to high-altitude air targets such as fixed-wing aircraft and ballistic missiles. Rheinmetall designed the Skyguard system to defeat low to medium altitude fixed-wing and rotary aircraft, and the Shahine has a similar role. Rheinmetall has developed a new version of the Skyguard system that will engage UAS.24 The Saudi military deployed systems best suited to ballistic and medium to high altitude fixed and rotary wing threats, not UAS and cruise missiles. Jack Watling, a land warfare expert at the Royal United Services Institute, questioned the Saudi soldiers’ readiness and training. He stated, “The Saudis have a lot of sophisticated air defense equipment. Given their general conduct of operations in Yemen, it is highly unlikely that their soldiers know how to use it,” adding that the kingdom’s forces have “low readiness, low competence, and are largely inattentive.”25 This attack demonstrates the necessity for air defense systems designed explicitly for the UAS threat. The attack also calls into question the Saudi forces’ training, doctrine, and readiness for that threat. The attack on Saudi oil facilities illustrated the capability of UAS used in a manner analogous to cruise missiles where the operator selects a target before the launch of the UAS. The 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War between Armenia and Azerbaijan illustrates the capabilities of nation-state-developed loitering munitions. This type of UAS, often referred to as suicide or kamikaze drones, combines a UAS from group two or three with an explosive charge. These UASs can loiter over the battlefield for hours until the operator identifies a target and physically strikes the target setting off the explosive charge.
The attack on the Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure, employing numerous drones in a coordinated attack, could be considered the first documented UAS swarm attack. The attacking UAS did not have autonomy, but demonstrated the effect of UAS attacking in mass. Swarms of inexpensive UASs, due to a coordinated effort, could do the work of one expensive multi-purpose aircraft platform. They could expand the observation area using the ability to communicate and combine data. Swarms of autonomous UAS could bring together mass, coordination, intelligence, speed, resilience, and responsiveness on the battlefield, improving belligerents’ ability to gain a decisive advantage over opponents.1 By massing UAS and maneuvering UAS in coordination, the swarm can overwhelm air defense systems by their sheer numbers and act as precision weapons.2 To create large swarms of UAS acting in concert, the UAS systems require a level of autonomy. Artificial intelligence (AI) will allow the individual UASs to communicate with each other, observe the environment, and adapt to changes within the environment. AI will increase resiliency, allowing adaptation to the destruction or incapacitation of components without affecting the overall swarm. In effect, the swarm will be selfhealing. Without AI, large preprogrammed swarms would have difficulty responding to changes in the environment or navigating as a group. Remotely piloting individual UAS would result in difficulty coordinating the swarm and responding to changes in the environment as a group, let alone the manpower requirements to pilot numerous UASs.
The Navy Post Graduate School conducted a UAS swarm test, controlling 50 UASs with a single human operator in 2015.6 The school’s Advanced Robotic Systems Engineering Laboratory (ARSENL) created a basic follow the leader programming that allowed the UAS to communicate with each other and maintain spacing during the flight. A human operator controlled the overall navigation of the swarm. While this test lacked full autonomy, it demonstrated the progress academic institutions can make in the field. “
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