International Conference KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATION Vol. XXVI No 1 2020 ANALYSIS OF THE CAPABILITIES OF UAV’S AND THE LEADING TRENDS IN THEIR APPLICATION IN THE EUROPEAN COOPERATION PROJECTS Teodora PETROVA, Zhivo PETROV “Georgi Benkovski“ Air Force Academy, Dolna Mitropoliya, Bulgaria [email protected], [email protected] Abstract: The European defense agency (EDA) is the key institution in the European Union in implementing resource security measures for the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP). The Agency has set objectives in the field of military resource development, defense research and development, pan-European armaments cooperation projects, strengthening the industrial and technological resources and as a key focus the creation of a common competitive market for military and dual-use products. Significant progress has also been made in the area of unmanned aerial vehicles (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, RPAS). The goal of the project is to introduce unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into the internal airspace. The Agency coordinates the interaction between UAV national operators the European Commission, represented by the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport and the European UAV Group. Keywords: European defense agency, military integration, unmanned aerial vehicles, pan-European cooperation projects 1. Introduction 2. Analysis of UAV capabilities and The EDA is the key institution of the leading trends in their application European Union in the implementation of One of the current and promising ways to CSDP resource provision measures. The improve the combat potential of the Armed Agency has set objectives in the field of Forces is to create and deploy a new type of military resource development, defense equipment (UAVs) in the processes of research and development, pan-European military training and military operations. armaments cooperation projects, UAVs have been developed and are being strengthening the industrial and developed particularly for intelligence technological base, and as a key focus, the purposes (including surveillance and target creation of a common competitive market identification). Furthermore increasing for military and dual-use products. In order efforts are made for UAVs to accomplish a to achieve the goals set by the EDA, number of other tasks such as gathering strategic initiatives have been approved, information that guarantees political which have become the conceptual basis for decision-making in crisis situations; radio this body's activities. However, over the last and radio-technical intelligence; radiation, ten years, the Agency has failed to achieve chemical and biological intelligence. In serious results and it is only making a addition, detection of mine and mine fields; partial progress in this direction. creating interference in the enemy's radio and radio equipment fire control and targeting of ground and naval artillery DOI: 10.2478/kbo-2020-0016 © 2015. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License. 106 ground strikes (in the future and in the fight However, Israel, using UAVs, was able to against air targets); jamming of enemy air find out the location of the Syrian air defense; evaluation of the results of the defense systems. Using the data obtained enemy's blows; missile defense. Including from the UAV, Israeli aircraft struck a the detection and destruction of targets; powerful blow to the Syrian air defense in messages and data transmission; collecting the Beck Valley. As a result, 18 Syrian meteorological information, etc. rocket batteries were destroyed [2]. Unmanned aerial vehicles made in the US Since then, interest in UAVs in the world and Western Europe have been used in has been growing. This is manifested combat operations in the Persian Gulf, the particularly in the increasing number of Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, and the military publications on the creation and use of conflict with Georgia in South Ossetia. To UAV complexes, the involvement of more coordinate the conducted in various NATO and more countries in their development, member states operations, the development the continuous growth of the tactical and of a number of documents is planned, technical characteristics of the developed which include the standards for a ground complexes, and the finding of new and station, used for flight control of UAVs and different applications. the required tactical and technical Since the mid-1990s in the United States characteristics of UAVs. To develop a and Western Europe, significant role has tactical unmanned Navy intelligence been given to UAV research as one of the system, NATO plans envisage the use of priority directions for the development of several countries. According to one of the aviation technology. As a result of US possibilities for such use, Germany will military operations in Kosovo in 1999, provide intelligence UAVs for this system, there was a growing awareness of the the United States - a tactical control system objective inevitability of creating UAVs for and the United Kingdom - data both the US and leading European transmission equipment. Since the mid- countries, including US allies in NATO. 1990s, there has been a growing interest in The analysis of the military operation in the creation of unmanned aerial vehicles. Yugoslavia has made it clear that the The analysis of local conflicts from the further increase of efforts within the current second half of the XX and the beginning of understanding of the military might of the the XXI century set new requirements for United States is no longer achieving the military operations in which high-tech desired results. There is a need to replace weapons and military equipment are manned combat aircraft with reusable drone increasingly involved. The increasing systems to deliver ammunition to the target. implementation and development of UAVs, However, according to foreign experts, which, at some stage of development of there are at least three reasons for the less science and technology evolves high-tech clear and insufficiently prioritized approach radio-controlled equipment. Unmanned of Western European countries to the issue aerial vehicles, as the means of modern of creating a UAV with a military payload: warfare, "made their debut" in 1982 over - the overall lag of European the Beck Valley during the war between countries compared to the United States in Syria and Israel. Syria had a strong air the development of UAV technology; defense system (EIA) built by Soviet - the difficulty of ensuring the safe military experts. Even for the Israeli use of UAVs on the European continent in Aviation, which at that time was equipped an air traffic management system loaded to with modern American equipment and had the limit with civilian aircraft; a solid combat experience in previous wars - the lack of sufficient desert or vast thus, proving to be a serious challenge. spaces suitable for use as testing grounds 107 for established UAVs. capabilities of manned aircraft and reduce The creation of a UAV characterizes as an the cost of maintaining the fleet. organized process of research and design The correctness of the theoretical concepts work funded by the military departments of a developed is evidenced by the pattern of number of Western countries, including work hostilities in the Middle East, where despite on the creation of UAVs with high-precision some technical delay in the development of weapons [3,5]. At present, an army that does UAVs by the leading armies of the world, not have a sufficient number of drones and the armed forces of Russia and Syria have cannot use them effectively is not considered brilliantly applied the theory in practice, modern. These factors determine the ability to using predominantly intelligence UAVs. clarify views on the role and place of UAVs The Russian group in Syria includes about in each country's armed forces system in 80 UAVs, from the lightest to the worst. order to assess the prospects for the Their number exceeds the total number of development of these weapons and military manned aircraft and helicopters. Such an equipment. The effectiveness of combat amount of UAVs radically increases the methods is determined by the quality of intelligence capabilities of Russian troops. destruction, intelligence, communications and The successful use of the UAV is in its automated control systems. The use of deployment in all types of troops. In the navy, unmanned aerial vehicles for military UAVs are used for fleet fire control but also purposes has become one of the important in the interest of the СВ [4]. Unmanned aerial directions for the development of modern vehicles assist in aircraft strikes with aircraft aviation, which allows for the automation of destroyers, target control and reconnaissance. troop control, to reduce the loss of personnel UAV video footage gives an opportunity to in battle due to the received intelligence on evaluate the actions of crews, the position of the current situation. government forces, the position of the enemy, Depending on the level of tasks they have and coordinate strikes in response to the to solve, they are designed to supplement changing situation. All this contributes manned aircraft insofar as increasing their greatly to the interaction between the units capacity is impossible or irrational. The and the troops. This makes it possible to task of creating and expanding a fleet of monitor the situation of hostilities. unmanned aerial vehicles