The Development of the Lithuanian Armed Forces and Its Response to the Russian Conventional Threats in 2015‒2020

In a period of 2015-2020, Lithuanian Armed Forces (LAF) military spending increased twice, thus it enabled to initiate and to arrange significant critical projects that eventually allowed armed forces to upgrade military equipment and tactics. New artillery units, armoured personnel vehicles, air defence systems, anti-tank weapons, radars, anti-drone systems boosted military power of LAF. Tactics switched from anti green men to conventional tactics, where fire and manoeuvre dominates again. Meanwhile, in the same period of time in Kaliningrad the Russian armed forces boosted the number of military personnel, upgraded equipment (most of it to offensive one) and increased military exercises. In order to be prepared, LAF must look for the most efficient ways of defence towards a potential foe. In a near future LAF must decentralize a central military storage thus critical assets could be secured and used by battalions at any time. Moreover, LAF capabilities could be improved by cyber conscripts and non-conventional tactics which could bring extra dividends when a small state fights against technologically advanced adversary. Eventually, with an additional military spending LAF could obtain MLRS artillery, the coastal defence systems and unmanned combat aerial vehicles that could deal with enemy from a safer distance.

“An Eye Turned into a Weapon”: a Philosophical Investigation of Remote Controlled, Automated, and Autonomous Drone Warfare

Military drones (unmanned combat aerial vehicles) combine surveillance technology with missile equipment in a far-reaching way. In this article, I argue that military drones could and should be object for a philosophical investigation, referring in particular on Chamayou’s theory of the drone, who also coined the term “an eye turned into a weapon.” Focusing on issues of human self-understanding, agency, and alterity, I examine the intricate human-technology relations in the context of designing and deploying military drones. For that purpose, I am drawing on the postphenomenological approach developed by Don Ihde in order to systematize the manifold aspects of human-technology relations in a four-level model (embodiment relations, hermeneutic relations, alterity relations, and background relations). This inquiry also includes a critical reflection on the (often hidden) normative implications of this technology. In doing so, I do not intent to offer an exhaustive relational ontology of military drones. I rather aim at providing a framework that is able to capture the core dimensions of this technology and their complex interrelations in a systematic way that has been missing in the philosophical debate so far.

Dynamic Coalition Task Allocation of Heterogeneous Multiple Agents

The dynamic coalition task allocation of heterogeneous multiple UAV agents is researched, which is divided into two parts. Firstly, the consensus based coalition algorithm(CBCA) is presented via consensus based bundle algorithm(CBBA), considering complex constraints of specific equipment requirements and coupling the relationships between the subtasks and the time windows. Secondly, three dynamic planning strategies are proposed in cope with appearance of new tasks during the allocation process. Finally, the feasibility and applicability of the present algorithm and dynamic planning strategies are validated in the scenario of a search and attack mission executed by multiple unmanned search aerial vehicles(USAVs) and unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs).

Drones, Warfare and the Deconstruction of the Enemy

Based on the theoretical frameworks of Carl Schmitt (hostis and inimicus), Giorgio Agamben (field and homo sacer), and Grégoire Chamayou (hunter-states and kill boxes), and being seen through the theoretical lens of post-structuralism in International Relations, this article aims to analyse the use of drones, especially Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs), in the ‘War on Terror’ led by the USA. In this context, we seek to demonstrate how the use of drones has affected the logic of current warfare scenarios in three different, but related aspects. First of all (Act One), the use of drones makes the construction of political otherness of the enemy impossible, and thus identity construction by counterpoint impracticable. Then (Act Two), this paper demonstrates how there is an attempt to move the enemy to the externality of the International Community, relegating their status to banishment and marginalisation. Finally (Act Three), the authors analyse the role of kill boxes and how the solution given by this phenomenon subverts the traditional notions of sovereignty, challenging the very raison d’être of politics.

A Case based Online Trajectory Planning Method of Autonomous Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles with Weapon Release Constraints

As a challenging and highly complex problem, the trajectory planning for unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) focuses on optimising flight trajectory under such constraints as kinematics and complicated battlefield environment. An online case-based trajectory planning strategy is proposed in this study to achieve rapid control variables solution of UCAV flight trajectory for the of delivery airborne guided bombs. Firstly, with an analysis of the ballistic model of airborne guided bombs, the trajectory planning model of UCAVs is established with launch acceptable region (LAR) as a terminal constraint. Secondly, a case-based planning strategy is presented, which involves four cases depending on the situation of UCAVs at the current moment. Finally, the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed planning strategy is validated by numerical simulations, and the results show that the presented strategy is suitable for UCAV performing airborne guided delivery missions in dynamic environments.