Exploring Human autonomy teaming methods in challenging environments: the case of uncrewed system (UxS) solutions – challenges and opportunities (with AI)

Abstract

Current uncrewed system (UxS) solutions tend to operate with tightly coupled Command and Control systems, making it difficult to contribute to operating as an integrated force. The case presented in this article is used to reason at the conceptual level about the different requirements and approaches for a future Norwegian UxS Integrated C2 system in order to inform the national development of an UxS Integrated C2 Reference Architecture. This is one in a series of papers that will develop a mission engineering approach and represents functional analysis needed for future acquisition of Norwegian UxS. Based on this work and the development of the situated Cognitive Engineering (sCE)-method eliciting knowledge, and knowledge acquisition information, we make key findings for outlining a strategic guide for an initial Norwegian UxS reference system and set-up (manning, organization and technical know-how).UxS solutions must be available to support ISR services for a variety of tasks and units on all military branches and levels. An UxS reference system must be adapted to the operational area and be available to operate within a harsh environment at the Northern Flank of NATO supporting those who need the information. Modern UxS solutions are based on human control and management, which entails human autonomy teaming which can be labour-intensive, with the potential for cognitive overload as well as bottlenecks in information processing. In the article, we presents a framework that support future acquisition of Norwegian UxS that suggests that autonomy must be distributed to reduce vulnerability and be scalable to handle emergency adapted the Northern Flank of NATO environment e.g. an autonomous system that interacts with its surroundings demonstrating a cooperative design approach with new opportunities (e.g. with and without AI support). We claim that a common future acquisition framework of Norwegian UxS applications (with AI) can reduce the burden on the operator based on results from our Functional Analysis (sCE-method) and empirical studies.