| Summary/Abstract |
The widespread proliferation of the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) in the combat domain has brought in a paradigm change in the way the warfare is perceived and conducted on the battlefield. Starting from their humble beginnings of providing a “look see on the other side of the hill”, today the UAS have revamped many a battlefield functions, be it intelligence gathering, surveillance, target acquisition, reconnaissance, battle damage assessment, contaminated area survey…. the list can go on.
Apart from all this, the most exciting dimension of the UAS has been their use in carrying out strike missions, either on their own or in concert with the manned platforms. The latter role is referred to as Manned and Unmanned Teaming or MUM-T for short. It is in this dimension where disproportionate gains are being achieved by the skillful amalgamation of the intelligence, grit, determination, tolerance for ambiguity, instant decision making capability and more of the combat pilot with the tremendous range, reach, endurance and the weapon carrying capability of the so called “dull, dirty and the dangerous” UAS.
The article examines various dimensions of MUM-T. In that it briefly visits the MUM-T timeline, presents an overview of the MUM-T scene the world over and how the enabling wings of technology are taking MUM-T to newer heights. In the end, a viewpoint is presented on how the MUM-T is likely to unfold in India and what needs to be done.
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