DRONE SWARMING TACTICS IN A CONTESTED ENVIRONMENT

Drone swarms have emerged as a defining feature of modern warfare. This thesis uses agent-based simulation to examine how force composition, weapon technology, and decoy tactics shape the outcomes of swarm attacks. The model pits a layered defender equipped with a mix of weapon and sensor systems to protect an asset against an attacker who employs suppression drones to degrade defenses, lethal drones to strike the target, and decoy drones to overwhelm defensive firepower. We study 23 factors--such as the number of anti-aircraft guns, the ability of sensors to distinguish lethal drones from decoy drones, and drone speed--using a nearly orthogonal and balanced design of experiments to identify which factors most influence mission success. Our analysis shows that the defender's success depends less on the number of systems and more on their placement, rate of fire, and classification accuracy, while the attacker's success depends on concentrated, lethal-heavy drone compositions supported by decoys rather than sheer swarm size.

Department dc:contributor.department

Operations Research (OR)

Grantor dc:publisher

Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Soon, Wei Kang

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Lin, Kyle Y.

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright is reserved by the copyright owner.

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10945/74729

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:calhoun.nps.edu:10945/74729