Free Custom «The Use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems» Essay Paper

Analyzing the evolution of the situation in the world, many experts believe that the emergence of new asymmetric threats, in particular such as international terrorism, the fight against drug trafficking, sea piracy, ethnic conflicts, man-made disasters, and elimination of their consequences, put forward new demands for the armed forces of the countries, which should be able to respond to emerging political, military, technological, and natural challenges. The nature of military conflicts and threats has changed. Future scenarios of the use of military force require an adequate reaction and highly mobile armed forces, capable of responding flexibly to rapidly changing military and political situation. They should be ready for the action in different parts of the globe and in all climates. It can be achieved through the examining the issue with the regard to social informatics. One of solutions is the widespread introduction of unmanned aerial systems that can be operated in a proper way without deep knowledge of social informatics.

 

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The beginning of the XXI century is noted with the increased interest in unmanned aerial technology in almost all developed countries. These days, the development of unmanned vehicles occurs extremely rapidly (Pardesi, 2005). “Unmanned aerial vehicles include aircraft system, avionic system, engine system, and data link system” (Zhu, 2011, p. 452). Due to the revolutionary development of a number of technical areas in the last decade, unmanned aircraft systems appear to be effective for a wide range of military tasks. The reduction of load on military personnel and assurance of their safety in combat missions are among the main objectives of unmanned and robotic aircraft systems usage. The most intensive development of unmanned aerial techniques is observed in the United States, where it is spent 73% of the costs for the development and production of drones implemented worldwide (Kempinski & United States, 2011). In the coming years, it is planned to increase the funding of military development programs of unmanned aerial systems in the United States. In US Air Force, the strategic reconnaissance drone Global Hawk bears no aviation means of destruction. To pinpoint strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Americans use the multi-purpose attack remote-controlled aircraft MQ-1B Predator and the MQ-9 Reaper. MQ-1B Predator was created as a vehicle for data collection, surveillance, reconnaissance and setting goals. In 2002, the model RQ-1 was upgraded and equipped with two guided missiles AGM-114A Hellfire-2 class “air – ground” with a range of start-up to 8 km. This machine received the designation MQ-1B Predator (Springer, 2013).

Currently, there is the rapid development of unmanned combat aircraft in many countries. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, it is the high cost of pilot training. Besides, the presence of a person in the aircraft is not necessary. Secondly, in terms of the possibility to reduce losses among pilots, the usage of unmanned aircrafts has a distinct advantage. Considering the fact that modern air defense systems have not only become sophisticated weapons but are extremely widespread in many countries around the world, it becomes even more urgent. In addition, modern air defense systems severely limit the use of tactical aviation and seriously complicate the ability to attack ground targets of the enemy. For these reasons, there is a tendency to the increase of the percentage of unmanned aircraft combat missions.

To a large extent, prospects for the use of unmanned aircraft are also determined by the physiological capabilities of the pilot that almost reached the limit at the present level of the manned aircraft development. Significant amounts of information and the impact of large overloads put the pilot in extreme conditions, under which it is necessary to analyze the situation and make the right decision in the shortest time. According to experts, the main advantage of the drone is the absence of a pilot on board. In such a way, unmanned aircraft can solve extremely complex problems, particularly those associated with risk to the life of the pilot, for example, in case of radiation and chemical contamination. In the book Introduction to Unmanned Aircraft Systems, the authors state that “The obvious benefit of automating operational procedures is to reduce operator workload” (Marshall, Barnhart, Hottman, Shappee & Most, 2011, p. 174).

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Unmanned aircraft systems present great importance to social informatics. According to military experts, unmanned aircraft are now able to perform numerous combat missions. Unmanned aircraft can conduct reconnaissance, surveillance, and reconnoitering of the terrain. They identify individual mines or minefields. They maintain radio reconnaissance and listening to the mobile phones. Unmanned aircraft systems also monitor the population of the occupied territories, support the troops by air strikes, and deal pinpoint strikes on targets. The rational usage of these devices allows making an important conclusion. The application of multilateral capabilities of unmanned systems raises the security of troops in the performance of their tasks. Many military experts consider it an overriding priority of unmanned aircraft systems (Kempinski & United States, 2011). Unmanned aircraft systems can gather information using videos, photos, and other sensors. However, the sensor package is crucial for reconnaissance missions. In such a way, sensor technologies are developing all the time to comply with the perfect platforms for unmanned aircraft systems.

One of the most important elements of the complex UAV is a platform carrier of aggregates of the construction airborne radio electronic equipment. The creating of an effective design and onboard equipment provides a successful solution to problems in general. Mistakes made in the early stages of development of the UAV may cause irreparable damage to the entire project. One of the great disadvantages in the use of unmanned aircraft systems is the risk of the mid-air collision with other aircraft. Flights with the usage of drones may only be performed in a designated airspace where other aircraft cannot fly. This fact drastically reduces the effectiveness and attractiveness of the drone usage. The effectiveness of unmanned aircraft can be increased by equipping it with systems that will be able to see other aircraft determine the possibility of a dangerous approach and take measures to prevent it.