Shepherd Grid Strategy: Towards Reliable SWARM Interception

TL;DR

The paper presents the Shepherd Grid Strategy, a multi-phase coordination framework for UAV swarm interception that improves success rates and efficiency through adaptive roles and formation control.

Contribution

It introduces a novel multi-phase, pack-based coordination approach with adaptive mechanisms for reliable UAV swarm interception in contested environments.

Findings

Achieves over 95% interception success rate in simulations.

Reduces median time-to-intercept compared to traditional methods.

Demonstrates robustness against evasive maneuvers.

Abstract

Modern unmanned aerial vehicle threats require sophisticated interception strategies that can overcome advanced evasion capabilities and operate effectively in contested environments. Traditional single-interceptor and uncoordinated multi-interceptor approaches suffer from fundamental limitations including inadequate coverage, predictable pursuit patterns, and vulnerability to intelligent evasion maneuvers. This paper introduces the Shepherd Grid Strategy, a new multi-phase coordination framework that employs pack-based behavioral coordination to achieve deterministic target interception through systematic containment and coordinated strike execution. The strategy implements a four-phase operational model consisting of chase, follow, formation, and engagement phases, with dynamic role assignment and adaptive formation geometry that maintains persistent target pressure while preparing optimal strike opportunities. Our approach incorporates three key innovations: adaptive phase transition mechanisms that optimize pursuit behavior based on proximity and mission objectives, dynamic role assignment systems that designate specialized interceptor functions including formation maintenance and strike execution, and predictive formation geometry algorithms that create mobile containment grids adapting to target movement patterns. The simulation experiments demonstrate significant performance improvements over traditional methods, achieving near-perfect interception success rates (over 95%) compared to traditional approaches (65%) and reducing median time-to-intercept.