AURORA: A Distributed Passive Cognitive Architecture for Airspace Awareness in Contested Environments

Mohammad Hassan Sangtarash

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Abstract

This paper introduces AURORA, a distributed passive cognitive architecture designed to enhance airspace awareness in contested electromagnetic environments. Traditional active radar systems, while effective in long-range detection, inherently expose themselves through electromagnetic emissions, rendering them vulnerable to electronic intelligence (ELINT) exploitation and anti-radiation threats. In contrast, purely passive sensing approaches, despite their low observability, often suffer from high uncertainty and limited target confirmation capability.

AURORA addresses this fundamental trade-off by proposing a hybrid, network-centric paradigm that integrates passive multi-domain sensing, cognitive processing, and airborne provocation mechanisms within a unified architectural framework. At its core, the system relies on a distributed network of ground-based passive nodes—conceptualized in this study as a “Defensive Farm” architecture—which operate as spatially dispersed sensing units capable of continuously monitoring the environment without emitting detectable signals. These nodes are complemented by lightweight airborne platforms, termed Micro-AWACS (Micro Airborne Warning and Control Systems), which function not only as controlled active sensors but also as cognitive agents capable of inducing adversarial reactions to reveal otherwise concealed information.

The proposed architecture is structured into four interdependent layers: distributed sensing, resilient communication, cognitive processing, and command-and-control (C2). Through multi-sensor data fusion and probabilistic inference, AURORA transforms fragmented and uncertain observations into coherent situational awareness. A key innovation lies in the introduction of cognitive provocation, wherein detection is no longer limited to passive observation but is actively enhanced by shaping the adversary’s behavior.

Furthermore, the paper presents an integrated conceptual model in which situational awareness emerges as a dynamic function of sensing, provocation, networking, and survivability. The system operates as an adaptive feedback loop, continuously refining its internal state based on environmental interaction. This approach effectively shifts the paradigm from platform-centric sensing to network-centric cognition, and from static observation to interactive perception.

The findings suggest that AURORA provides a robust and scalable framework for next-generation air defense and surveillance systems, particularly in environments characterized by electronic warfare, signal denial, and high operational uncertainty. By leveraging the synergy between passive sensing and controlled active intervention, the architecture significantly enhances both survivability and detection reliability, offering a viable pathway toward resilient and intelligent situational awareness systems.

Keywords: Defensive Farm, Cognitive Provocation, Passive Sensing, Micro-AWACS, Distributed sensor networks, Electronic warfare, Cognitive architecture, Airspace awareness, Situational awareness, AURORA, sangtarash

Declaration of Interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Funder Statement

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article

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Suggested Citation:

Sangtarash, Mohammad Hassan, AURORA: A Distributed Passive Cognitive Architecture for Airspace Awareness in Contested Environments (May 03, 2026). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=6703618 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6703618 

پینوشت:

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