Human Factors Concerning Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Future Operations

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) play increasingly important roles in many modern militaries. The proven success of UAS during operations in Afghanistan and Iraq has created a demand for UAS with varying functionalities and capabilities. UAS are currently performing tasks and playing roles of manned systems in many mission areas. Although UAS are limited in meeting all the required parameters when compared to the manned systems, their low risk, low cost attributes and critical mission capabilities often make them preferable. However, the extent to which UAS can continue defining tomorrow’s military missions is not predictable. There is some skepticism and hesitation about operating UAS with minimal human oversight and how it influences the operational effectiveness when the limitations of autonomy or constant control needs are accounted for. Therefore, it becomes crucially important to find out and apply the best match between systems and missions considering the type of the mission and the capabilities of UAS. The emerging challenge is to identify the place of UAS in operational structures and versatile missions, and possibly provide an integrative solution where both manned and unmanned systems collaborate in meeting given requirements in the future of warfare. The aim of this paper is to compare cognitive capabilities of manned systems and UAS, and evaluate them in the context of anticipated future operating environments. The evaluation will focus on the efficiency of systems on the cognitive domain of information environments and their impact on specific missions. The research is expected to contribute to a more informed structural transformation of modern militaries.