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We see a new threat vector on the horizon...and it's scary.
The Problem
Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are rapidly evolving beyond surveillance and strike roles into platforms for psychological and information operations, creating new vulnerabilities in both military and civilian domains. The rise of drone swarms and AI-enabled autonomy increases the scale, adaptability, and persistence of influence operations, amplifying their psychological impact while complicating defense and counter-PSYOP efforts.
Despite this growing threat, there is limited research or doctrine addressing how UAS can be employed or countered as tools of psychological influence, leaving security organizations unprepared to anticipate, mitigate, or ethically leverage these emerging capabilities.
Deep Fire Technologies LLC is a mission-driven research team formed to confront the evolving challenge of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) as tools within psychological operations and cognitive warfare. Our team includes numerous military veterans with operational experience across UxS employment, psychological operations (PSYOP), electronic warfare (EW), and signals intelligence (SIGINT), bringing firsthand expertise in how these technologies are applied and countered in complex environments.
Our private sector specialists in enterprise systems engineering, technology integration, organizational change management (OCM), and data science provide experience in planning and implementation, ensuring our concepts are feasible, practical, and scalable. By uniting operational knowledge with proven expertise in integrating new technologies, Deep Fire Technologies (DFT) is uniquely positioned to investigate the intersection of risks posed by drone swarms, AI-enabled influence campaigns, and emerging non-kinetic UAS applications.
The Mission
How We Work
DFT’s research approach integrates operational expertise, subject matter insights, and flexible analytics to generate actionable outcomes for agencies, universities, and organizations. Beginning with research questions and desired outputs, we purposedly bifurcate our approach to allow for multiple avenues of inputs (reducing echo chamber and biases), all subject to the approval of the requesting organization.
Our process leverages a network of external subject matter experts through interviews and surveys to draw in expertise outside of our team for comparison to internal analyses The core of our methodology is internal concept red teaming across three domains: UxS, PSYOP/EW, and Enterprise/OCM. Outputs from these red teams are subjected to structured data analysis, producing a holistic , integrated picture of potential risks, opportunities, and operational implications. As deemed appropriate by the client, we also recommend AI-supported red teaming for comparative and gap analysis for alternative concepts not discovered or considered by internal red teaming.
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This information is funneled into interactive dashboards and visualizations, enabling stakeholders to interact with our data more dynamically. Findings culminate in deliverables such as white papers and executive briefings that not only map risks and opportunities but also provide policy and doctrinal recommendations. Our team has also developed tools and gaming mechanisms to advance concepts and frameworks into practical concept development.
