1、HS ACS A AAn FFRDC operated by the RAND Corporation under contract with DHSHOMELAND SECURITYOPERATIONAL ANALYSIS CENTERRESEARCH REPORTDANIEL M.GERSTEIN,ERIN N.LEIDY Emerging Technology and Risk AnalysisUnmanned Aerial Systems Intelligent Swarm TechnologyUnmanned aerial systems(UASs)or drone technolo

2、gies,both individual systems and swarms of UASs,have proliferated over the past 25 years for a wide variety of applications.As a result,this technol-ogy and the ability to employ these UAS capabilities represent both a current and a growing threat as the technology con-tinues to mature.For this asse

3、ssment,we delineate drone swarm technology into three cat-egories:(1)multioperator-coordinated groups of individual drones;(2)drones that have been programmed in a coor-dinated manner to fly individually,in a leader-follower configuration,or in multidrone formations with a human operator controlling

4、 multiple drones;and(3)intelligent drone swarms that can communicate among individual drones and respond to external stimuli.The first two categories represent what we call in this assessment surrogate swarm tech-nology,while the third category has been designated intelligent swarm technology.1KEY F

5、INDINGS Unmanned aerial systems(UASs),or drone technologies,for both individual systems and for surrogate swarms represent a current threat and,in the case of intelligent swarms,a growing threat given continued advances in range,payload,and power as UAS technology continues to mature.The maturing of

6、 intelligent swarms will come at the convergence of multiple technologies,including artificial intelligence,big data,Internet of Things,and fifth-generation cellular(5G),which will combine to support the development and employment of these capabilities.The risks of the illicit use of intelligent swa