Decentralized Air Launched Effects System (DALES)

Conducting manned aircraft missions in contested environments is risky, and exposes friendly forces to electromagnetic interference and increasingly lethal radar-directed threats. To prepare the battlespace to ensure manned aircraft can safely operate, US forces must first clear or suppress adversary radar and communication assets. Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are becoming an increasingly mission-critical asset in military operations. Using these UAS to deliver electronic warfare (EW) effects will benefit Warfighters, and provides a foundation for the development of Air Launched Effects (ALE). To realize the vision for ALE, several challenges in this type of contested battlespace must be addressed. To address these challenges, and provide the Army with a capability to deliver ALE in a decentralized manner, Charles River Analytics proposes to design and demonstrate the feasibility of a Decentralized Air-Launched Effects System (DALES). We will build on multiple successful efforts in decentralized coordination of heterogeneous autonomous vehicles, which we have demonstrated to multiple customers, including DARPA and the AFRL.