On Coordination in Multiple Aerial Engagement

A potential approach for engaging an adversarial force of fixed-wing UAVs is to counter it with a similar force. There are open questions, however, regarding the numbers and characteristics necessary for the defending UAV team in such a scenario. In this paper, we consider the importance of coordination in such a mutli-UAV aerial engagement. We introduce a legacy-tactic-inspired autonomous UAV behavior that uses simple coordination between team members for targeting opponents, and test it in simulated engagements against a team of non-coordinating UAVs that use simple nearest-enemy guidance logic. Extensive simulations were performed, varying tactical behavior, team size, and weapon effectiveness. Results show that both relative team size and autonomous behavior are significant factors in engagement outcome.