High Value Unit Self-Escort Against Unmanned Aerial and Surface Threats

The Department of the Navy is seeking to improve capabilities for self-escort of high value units (HVU)against unmanned system (UxS) threats. This project applies a systems engineering approach to generate a framework to analyze potential combinations of systems to enable a counter-UxS (C-UxS) capability. First,a systems architecture describes employment and integration of C-UxS capability, particularly the level of integration with the HVU and the distribution of supporting functions. Two hypothetical physical architectures supply alternate conceptual designs. An Echo/Inyx alternative implements electronic warfare capabilities throughout the engagement space, while a Ram Jammer alternative includes a kinetic capability for close-range defense. Second, an adaptation of the government-developed Modeling and Simulation Toolkit (MAST) supplies a state-machine based method for C-UxS simulation. To support capability analyses, the project applies a weighted scoring model to output from the simulation that uses a range-based defense profile to rank alternatives. Finally, a hypothetical case study describes an HVU escort scenario and shows the relative benefit of the C-UxS self-escort capability, using the two conceptual alternatives as exemplars. The correspondence between weighted score and the probability of HVU intercept demonstrates the utility of the score as a single metric for distinguishing operational capability between alternatives.