SKM 2021 – scientific programme

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AGA: Arbeitsgruppe Physik und Abrüstung

AGA 8: Preventive Arms Control

AGA 8.1: Talk

Friday, October 1, 2021, 12:30–13:00, H8

Small Armed Aircraft and Missiles - Technology Assessment and Preventive Arms Control — •Jürgen Altmann, Mathias Pilch, and Dieter Suter — Exp. Physik III, TU Dortmund University, Dortmund, Germany

Numerous countries are deploying armed uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs), with wingspans of many metres and payloads of hundreds of kg. But work for and deployment of smaller systems have intensified. We have created a database of technical information on small (size <= 2 m) and very small (<= 0.2 m) UAVs (https://url.tu-dortmund.de/pacsam-db). In May 2021 the UAV database contains 152 types from 27 countries, among them 24 armed types from 10 countries. The database of small and very small missiles (diameter <= 70 m and 40 mm, respectively) counts 12 entries in July 2021 (4 of which date back several decades, 4 newer ones are <= 40 mm).

Because of limited payloads, small UAVs and missiles would bring limited weapon effects, but due to low cost they could be produced in high numbers, and attacks against soft spots or in swarms could be militarily relevant. Vertical and horizontal proliferation could endanger military stability and international security; preventive arms control is needed.