Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Research conducted by: RAND Project AIR FORCE

All Items (40)

Commentary

Drones Are Useful, but Not the Solution or the Problem — May 14, 2013

An MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft

The effectiveness of our attacks, particularly by drones, has already decimated the al Qaeda hierarchy, writes Harold Brown. That achievement, together with the negative effect on Muslim publics of drone attacks, suggests that the rate of their usage could be moderated.

Commentary

The Benefits of U.S. Drones in West Africa — Apr 5, 2013

Nigerian troops march toward an Air Force C-130 Hercules

The establishment of a U.S. base in Niger is intended to facilitate intelligence collection and will provide a more complete picture of militant movements in Niger, Mali, and other countries in the Sahel, writes Seth Jones. The United States will share this intelligence with Malian and French forces.

Report

Expanding the Use of Time/Frequency Difference of Arrival Geolocation in the Department of Defense — Nov 12, 2012

Explores an area in which the Department of Defense can operate smarter with its proliferating unmanned aircraft systems fleet.

Commentary

Expect More Drone Use Like Recent Israeli Episode — Oct 11, 2012

Practically any country that aspires to an indigenous aviation industry (as most countries do, even if only for national pride) has a reasonably capable, medium-altitude unmanned drone system in development or flying already, writes Ted Harshberger.

Commentary

Drone Strikes Keep Pressure on al-Qaida — Aug 18, 2012

Recently declassified correspondence seized in the bin Laden raid shows that the relentless pressure from the drone campaign on al-Qaida in Pakistan led bin Laden to advise al-Qaida operatives to leave Pakistan's Tribal Areas as no longer safe, writes Patrick B. Johnston.

Report

Methodologies for Analyzing Remotely Piloted Aircraft in Future Roles and Missions — May 30, 2012

This briefing describes a suite of tools to help the Air Force think through future roles for remotely piloted aircraft.

Report

Incentive Pay for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Career Fields — Mar 6, 2012

An econometric assessment of the effectiveness of incentive pays for retaining remotely piloted aircraft pilots and sensor operators.

Report

The Future of Air Force Motion Imagery Exploitation: Lessons from the Commercial World — Mar 6, 2012

Commercial television production practices inspire an approach to managing exploitation of the Air Force's rapidly growing motion imagery collections.

Report

Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Logistics Applications — Feb 7, 2012

An evaluation of potential logistics applications for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) determines whether they are technically feasible, operationally feasible, and more cost-effective than other options. Six factors are identified that can be used to compare UAS and non-UAS based solutions to logistics tasks.

Journal Article

Searching for the Strategy — Dec 1, 2011

Unmanned aerial systems have enormous potential, but the MoD lacks an overarching UAS vision.

Report

Feasibility of Laser Power Transmission to a High-Altitude Unmanned Aerial Vehicle — Jun 9, 2011

Is powering an ultra-high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle with a laser beam a practical possibility?

News Release

Flawed Strategy, Not a 'Failure of Air Power,' Led to Israel's Disappointing Performance in 2006 Lebanon War — May 23, 2011

Israel's disappointing performance in its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006 did not reflect a "failure of air power," but rather a failure of Israel's political and military leaders to properly assess the enemy, set achievable goals, apply an effective strategy and adequately manage public expectations.

Report

Flawed Strategy, Not a 'Failure of Air Power,' Led to Israel's Disappointing Performance in 2006 Lebanon War — May 23, 2011

Israel's disappointing performance in its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006 did not reflect a "failure of air power," but rather a failure of Israel's political and military leaders to properly assess the enemy, set achievable goals, apply an effective strategy and adequately manage public expectations.

News Release

Failed Strategy to Halt Pakistan-Based Militant Groups Has Helped Lead to Rising Number of U.S. Terror Plots — Jun 21, 2010

The rising number of terrorist plots in the United States with links to Pakistan – most recently the failed car-bombing in New York City – is partly a result of an unsuccessful strategy by Pakistan and the U.S. to weaken the range of militant groups operating in Pakistan.

Report

Applications for Navy Unmanned Aircraft Systems — Jun 8, 2010

Evaluates the U.S. Navy's ongoing and proposed unmanned aircraft system (UAS) programs and describes the most promising applications of those UASs to the Navy's operational tasks.

Research Brief

Balancing Rapid Acquisition of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles with Support Considerations — Dec 19, 2005

This research brief describes work documented in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle End-to-End Support Considerations (MG-350-AF).

Research Brief

Operation Enduring Freedom: An Assessment — Dec 12, 2005

This research brief describes work documented in Air Power Against Terror: America’s Conduct of Operation Enduring Freedom (MG-166-CENTAF).

Report

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle End-to-End Support Considerations — Oct 5, 2005

Evaluating current end-to-end support postures for certain UAV systems revealed that fielding a new capability quickly can have consequences for its long-term support and for testing and evaluation, training, and plans for future enhancements.

Report

Innovative Development: Global Hawk and DarkStar - Transitions Within and Out of the HAE UAV ACTD Program — Jan 1, 2002

Assesses two transitions of the HAE UAV ACTD program toward the goal of determining which elements of the program's novel acquisition strategy facilitated these transitions and which engendered problems.

Report

Innovative Development: Global Hawk and DarkStar - HAE UAV ACTD Program Description and Comparative Analysis — Jan 1, 2002

This report addresses the effect of that acquisition strategy on the flight test program of the two air vehicles: the conventional Global Hawk and the low-observable DarkStar.

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