Mission-Oriented Super-Network Modeling and Reliability Evaluation Method for UAV Swarm*

With the advancement of artificial intelligence and UAV technologies, UAV swarms have been increasingly applied in a wide range of diversified missions. However, existing studies remain limited in their characterization of UAV swarm under dynamic mission demands and multi-layer complex interactions, as well as in the quantitative evaluation of their reliability. To address these gaps, this study proposes a mission-oriented multi-layer super-network modeling and reliability evaluation framework. First, four heterogeneous sub-networks are constructed from the dimensions of operation, mission, communication, and resource, capturing the swarm's multi-layer interaction relationships. Then, considering inter-layer dependencies and cascading failures, a random failure and network reconfiguration strategy is introduced to quantitatively analyze the impact of key node failures on topological metrics and network vulnerability. Finally, a fire rescue case study is conducted to verify the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed method.