The results of a counter drone study conducted by Finland’s Ministry of Defence has been published. The research project called: CounterSwarm – Turning Collective Intelligence against Hostile Drone Swarms, funded by Scientific Advisory Board for Defence, tested (via simulations) the hypothesis that the best way to defend efficiently and affordably against an attacking drone swarm is to play “tit for tat” and use another drone swarm (i.e., counter-swarm). The end goal of the project was to identify methods for adapting the collective intelligence paradigm to swarm tactics, and to develop conceptual, analytical, and numerical tools to evaluate performance in defence applications.
Among high-level, general results, the study shows “that autonomous robotic swarms can be seen as a potential game changer in how modern warfare is conducted. For example, the boundaries between different military branches may become blurry if all types of robotic swarms can be used in all branches. Robotic swarms can be used on land, at sea and in the air, and swarming can also be applied in cyberspace. A war between drone swarms is technically possible in the near future (circa 5–10 years), but poor weather and environmental conditions may compromise their effective use.”
Authors of the study include Fabrice Saffre, Hannu Karvonen, Jari Laarni, Toni Lastusilta, Antti Väätänen from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.
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