AI-Enabled and Secure Space–Air–Ground Systems: Integrated Sensing, Communication, and Autonomous Intelligence for UAV Networks
A special issue of Machines (ISSN 2075-1702). This special issue belongs to the section "Automation and Control Systems".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 292
Special Issue Editor
Interests: AI-driven autonomous UAV swarms; intelligent wireless communication systems; integrating active inference; reinforcement learning; multi-agent coordination for decision-making under uncertainty; space–air–ground integrated networks; secure cognitive radio systems; resilient AI-enabled sensing and communication architectures
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The rapid evolution of non-terrestrial networks, artificial intelligence, and autonomous aerial platforms is accelerating the transition toward fully integrated space–air–ground systems (SAGIN). In these emerging architectures, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) act as agile sensing, communication, and computing nodes bridging satellites and terrestrial infrastructures. The convergence of integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), edge intelligence, and secure cross-domain networking is reshaping how future 6G-enabled ecosystems will operate; however, significant challenges remain in ensuring resilient multi-domain coordination, AI-driven autonomous decision-making, and robust security against cyber–physical threats. Addressing these challenges is essential for enabling scalable, trustworthy, and intelligent next-generation networked systems.
This Special Issue aims to explore recent advances in AI-enabled and secure space–air–ground systems, with particular emphasis on integrated sensing, communication, and autonomous intelligence for UAV networks. This topic aligns with the journal’s scope of covering advanced communication systems, intelligent networking, signal processing, and secure cyber–physical infrastructures. The objective is to assemble a focused yet comprehensive collection of high-quality contributions (minimum 10 articles), potentially forming a coherent reference volume for researchers and practitioners in this rapidly growing field.
In this Special Issue, original research articles and review papers are welcome.
Research areas include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Space–air–ground integrated architectures and 6G non-terrestrial networks;
- Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) for UAV systems;
- AI-driven autonomous networking and edge intelligence;
- Secure and resilient aerial communications;
- Cross-domain resource orchestration and digital twins.
Dr. Kaleem Arshid
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Machines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- space–air–ground integrated networks (SAGIN)
- AI-enabled UAV systems
- integrated sensing and communication (ISAC)
- secure and resilient aerial communications
- autonomous multi-domain intelligence
- UAV sawrm
- trajectory design
- path optimization
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