UVA Hypersonic Low-Altitude Research Projectile (Hyper-LARP); Attacker Target Relationship of Autonomous Weapons 14 views

The future of warfare is being shaped not just by faster machines, but by the gradual removal of human hands from the battlefield. For my senior design capstone project, we entered the UCAH hypersonic design competition, where we were tasked to design an unpowered hypersonic flight vehicle that maximized range and simplicity of manufacturing. The rationale behind this project is to expand knowledge of hypersonics and integrate CFD into the design process. My STS research paper investigates emotional attachment and warfare dynamics in the context of the introduction of autonomous weapons. I was drawn to this topic because of its similarity to my capstone project. Additionally, autonomous weapons are relatively new and increasingly numerous, and it is important to analyze their social effects. These two projects are intertwined in the technical and social aspects of autonomous weapons. The hypersonic vehicle we designed is uncrewed and can be classified as an autonomous vehicle, which my STS paper investigates. Designing a stable and maneuverable vehicle at hypersonic speeds can be quite challenging. The extreme environments surrounding hypersonic vehicles can lead to difficulties in temperature con- trol and complicated aerodynamics. To assist in our design, we used CFD to iterate and ultimately optimize our shape. This approach allowed us to leverage computational power while bypassing complex analytical solutions. Through our project, we were able to effectively optimize our design and were awarded with testing at the CUBRIC wind tunnel in Buffalo, NY. Using a 15-degree parametric CAD design with a discrete design matrix, we created an interpolated mapping of parameters to performance values. Using this mapping function, we optimized for the highest lift-to-drag ratio. Additionally, we chose appropriate materials to take the thermal and mechanical stresses and designed the vehicle to be easy to assemble. For my STS investigation, I researched the topic of autonomous weapons and target dehumaniza- tion because I want to find out how autonomous weapons systems affect the emotional attachment between the attacker and the target. This is significant because dissociation from destruction can lead to unethical violence towards targets. I split the analysis into two groups: remotely controlled and fully autonomous weapons were researched and analyzed within the frameworks of Actor- Network Theory (ANT) and Virtue Ethics. For analysis, a literature review was conducted by summarizing the texts, followed by an in-depth analysis of the authors’ biases and results. In my research, I found that distance, physical and emotional, plays a large role in the attacker- target attachment and relationship. In the case of remotely controlled weapons, pilots of such vehicles felt a stronger emotional connection to their actions than conventional aircraft pilots did. Despite being physically farther from the target, drones’ close proximity and high-resolution cam- eras create a closer connection. Fully autonomous weapons raise serious ethical concerns by creat- ing an unfair advantage to the drone users who are not in danger. Additionally, faulty programming can lead to targeting errors and loss of life. These mistakes are difficult to justify because of their immense impact on human lives.

BS (Bachelor of Science)

Hypersonics; Autonomous Weapons; Ethics; Computational

School of Engineering and Applied Science Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering Technical Advisor: Chris Goyne; Xinfeng Gao STS Advisor: Pedro Augusto Francisco Technical Team Members: Victoria Sun, Michael Della Santina, Michael Novak, Eric Voigt, Channing Reynolds, Genevieve Forrer, Owen McGilberry, Joe McPhail, Joshua Stoner, Lukas Hange, Kayla Kadlubek, Ava Frodsham, Arwen Nicolau

English

2026-04-28