The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies is proud to present The Aerospace Advantage, with former Air Force weapons school instructor and Thunderbird Lt Col (ret) John “Slick” Baum as the host. Every week, Slick will take listeners into the world of aerospace power and help the audience understand what it takes to fly and fight in the sky, while also protecting America’s interests in space. Whether talking to top generals, standing on a flight line full of combat aircraft, looking at a rocket being prepared for launch, or hearing from those who have laid it all on the line in defense of the nation—this podcast will afford unprecedented access and insight into where the combat aerospace community is going and why.
Episodes
Saturday Jan 21, 2023
Saturday Jan 21, 2023
Episode Summary:
In episode 112 of the Aerospace Advantage, Deploying the Swarm: Autonomous Drone Operations in Denied Environments, John Baum chats about the challenges of operating drone swarms during a great power conflict with Dr. Doug Meador, the Autonomous Collaborative Vehicles Portfolio manager within AFRL's Aerospace Systems Directorate; Lt Colonel Ryan “SCUDS” Slaughter, the lead for Autonomous Collaborative Platforms in the Headquarters AF Strategy, Integration and Requirements directorate; plus Caitlin Lee and Mark Gunzinger from the Mitchell Institute team. In popular depictions, drones swarms always seem to show up at exactly the right moment, in seemingly infinite numbers, to attack their targets. But in real life combat, deploying drone swarms will require new, thoughtful and creative approaches to operations, logistics, and maintenance. As the Air Force gets ready to field a new generation of autonomous drones – known as collaborative combat aircraft–CCAs–it will have to address these very practical considerations. On today’s podcast, we bring together operators, scientists and policy experts to identify the challenges of deploying a drone swarm in a combat environment and their implications for CCA design.
Credits:
Host: Lt Col (Ret.) John “Slick” Baum, Senior Fellow, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies
Producer: Shane Thin
Executive Producer: Douglas Birkey
Guest: Dr. Doug Meador, Autonomous Collaborative Vehicles Portfolio manager, AFRL Aerospace Systems Directorate
Guest: Lt Colonel Ryan “SCUDS” Slaughter, Autonomous Collaborative Platforms Lead, Headquarters AF Strategy, Integration and Requirements Directorate
Guest: Dr. Caitlin Lee, Senior Fellow for UAV and Autonomy Studies, The Mitchell Institute
Guest: Mark Gunzinger, Director, Future Concepts and Capability Assessments, The Mitchell Institute
Links:
Subscribe to our Youtube Channel: https://bit.ly/3GbA5Of
Website: https://mitchellaerospacepower.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MitchellStudies
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mitchell.Institute.Aerospace
LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3nzBisb
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mitchellstudies/
#MitchellStudies #AerospaceAdvantage #uav #cca #drone
Thank you for your continued support!