Journal of Defense Management
Open Access

Abstract

Fuzzy Logic Based Intelligent Agents for Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle Control

Nick Ernest and Kelly Cohen

Great strides have been made in remote-operated Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVS), mostly in terms of ground strike capabilities. However when only millisecond timeframes are allowed for critical decisions to be made, any delay in communications and control severely weakens the combat capability of the system. While some proponents of autonomy focus on the ability to design aircraft that can perform maneuvers no human pilot would maintain consciousness through, or the simple fact those pilots? lives would no longer be at risk, these are not the only benefits these systems can provide. With an average human visual reaction time of 0.15 to 0.30 seconds, and an even longer time to compute optimal plans and coordinate them with squad mates; this offers a huge window of improvement that an Intelligent Agent (IA) can capitalize upon.