I found an interesting article, Drone dogfights by 2015? U.S. Navy preps for futuristic combat, containing a description of using small unmanned aerial vehicles (SUAV)s, in a swarming mode, to determine effective methods to multiply military advantage through combat interactions. The Naval Postgraduate School - Advanced Robotics Systems Engineering Lab (ARSENL), led by Timothy Chung, will be working to coordinate control and interaction of their Unicorn UAV (Procerus Technologies, 2012). I'm curious to see how a platform like this R/C F-35 Lightening II 360 degree thrust vectoring jet (due out in late August; Hobby-Lobby, 2012b) would stack in aerial dogfighting. I suspect that such a system could provide significant performance gains over the Unicorn aircraft. Take a look at this video featuring the R/C JSF in flight (specifically at the 0:35 and 1:18 marks; Hobby-Lobby, 2012a). Thrust vectoring could provide additional benefits outside of dogfighting including, simplified handling/control, low-speed target tracking/following, and increased environmental reaction capability.
REFERENCES
Hobby-Lobby (Producer). (2012a). F-35 jet with thrust vectoring![Video]. Available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-4ZA5J3ZGs&feature=player_embedded
Hobby-Lobby. (2012b). R/C F-35 Lightening II 360 degree thrust vectoring jet [Product description]. Retrieved from http://www.hobby-lobby.com/f_35_lightning_360_degree_thrust_vectoring_jet.htm
Procerus Technologies. (2012).UAV test platform [Product description]. Retrieved from http://www.procerusuav.com/productsZagiTestAirframe.php
Terdiman, D. (2012, June). Drone dogfights by 2015? U.S. Navy preps for futuristic combat. C/net.com. Retrieved from http://news.cnet.com/8301-13576_3-57457501-315/drone-dogfights-by-2015-u.s-navy-preps-for-futuristic-combat/
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