Safety and Security in Unmanned Aerial System: Challenges and Innovations

Dear Colleagues,

With the widespread application of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) in smart cities, public safety, and disaster relief, their safety and security have become core issues of concern to both academia and engineering. The distributed and collaborative nature of UAS in complex environments and their high dependence on communication, navigation, and control systems make them more susceptible to environmental disturbances, hardware failures, and cyberattacks, thus posing potential safety risks.

In recent years, theories and technologies related to UAS flight safety have continuously advanced, including disturbance rejection control, fault diagnosis, and fault tolerance mechanisms. Future studies on UAS will rapidly develop the technology towards achieving autonomous disturbance rejection, intelligence, and safe controllability, driven by the dual demands of safety and security. The question of how to improve the autonomy and intelligence of systems while ensuring safety and security under resource-constrained conditions has become a core scientific problem that urgently needs to be solved across multiple fields such as control, communication, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity.

This Special Issue aims to provide researchers with a high-level platform to showcase cutting-edge achievements in the field of UAS safety and protection. We welcome original research papers and high-quality review articles on theoretical methods, innovative design, and engineering applications. We particularly encourage submissions of research findings involving interdisciplinary fields (such as control, communication, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and human–machine systems).

Welcome research directions including, but not limited to, the following:

1. UAS Safety Control Theory;
2. Critical Mission Planning;
3. Fault Monitoring and Diagnosis;
4. Airspace Management and Traffic Control;
5. Navigation and Communication Security Assurance;
6. Human–Machine Safety Interaction;
7. Innovative Structural Material Design;
8. Network and Data Security;
9. Energy Security Management.

Prof. Dr. Yi Zeng
Prof. Dr. Yabin Gao
Dr. Xiaolei Li
Dr. Xiangyu Shao
Dr. Zhennan Wei
Guest Editors

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