The role of unmanned aerial vehicles in the formation of a secure military supply chain

The research problem described in the paper originates from the lack of adequate force protection of tactical level logistic units supporting forces in battle. The author tries to prove the necessity of the application of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in order to ensure security of tactical level supply chains. The new technologies may be an innovative and perspective solution for the problem of the absence of force protection structures in logistic units. The author considers the use of UAVs for observation, reconnaissance and active force protection of logistic points and logistic units supporting tactical level forces. The problem is to choose the correct UAV type and to organise the unmanned autonomous systems (UAS) defined as electromechanical systems with no human operator on board, capable of performing operations in airspace.