The EDF proposal AIRAS aims to develop innovative ways for unmanned vehicles—whether on land, in the air, or at sea—to work together in intelligent, cooperative teams. By combining vehicles from different domains into a unified, self-organising system, AIRAS seeks to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of future military operations. The goal is to develop tools to seamlessly integrate heterogeneous autonomous vehicles into European armed forces, offering new capabilities and operational advantages.
As unmanned systems become increasingly essential in both civilian and military operations, AIRAS addresses the challenge of deploying them as coordinated teams, rather than standalone units. This includes integrating unmanned vehicles with manned platforms, such as traditional aircraft, ground vehicles, or naval vessels, as well as with soldiers on the ground. By enabling these autonomous systems to work together, AIRAS is transforming modern warfare, offering new strategies and tactics that respond more flexibly to rapidly changing situations.
Rather than developing new types of unmanned vehicles, AIRAS focuses on bridging the knowledge and technology gaps that currently prevent different types of autonomous platforms from working effectively as a team. The project will create methods and procedures to form intelligent, cross-domain teams of vehicles that can quickly adapt to changing conditions and work together seamlessly.
A key innovation of AIRAS is its focus on interoperability, ensuring that these unmanned systems can be easily integrated into existing military operations, regardless of their domain (land, air, or sea). The project also seeks to enhance flexibility by allowing operators to select and deploy the most appropriate combination of vehicles for each mission. This will lead to more agile and effective operations, while reducing the need for large numbers of personnel.