Date of Graduation
5-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Industrial Engineering (MSIE)
Degree Level
Graduate
Department
Industrial Engineering
Advisor/Mentor
Sullivan, Kelly
Committee Member
Nachtmann, Heather
Second Committee Member
Ham, Richard
Keywords
Operations Research; Infrastructure; Unmanned Aerial System Threats; Passive Defense
Abstract
The proliferation of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) poses asymmetric risks to soft targets where active countermeasures are constrained by law, cost, and operability. With this motivation, we consider the problem of allocating limited resources to protect critical infrastructure threatened by UAS through passive defense measures such as target hardening and defensive obstacles. We present a mixed-integer optimization model that minimizes the sum of entry-wise worst-case expected damage in a defender-attacker setting, where the defender allocates target hardening among site assets and places defensive obstacles while the attacker selects a path and target to maximize potential damage. The model’s parameters capture UAS navigational accuracy, target consequence weights, and passive defense cost-effectiveness, enabling system-level analysis of how budget constraints influence protection outcomes. The model supports risk-informed decision-making for counter-UAS resource allocation, providing a foundation for planning and prioritizing passive defense strategies to enhance the resilience of critical infrastructure.
Citation
Maxwell, J. A. (2026). Optimizing Passive Defense within an Infrastructure Site Against Unmanned Aerial System Threats. Graduate Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/6252
