BCUA: A UAV Group Authentication Protocol Based on the CVMerkle Tree Structure

Abstract

With the rapid development of 5 G communication technology, small military UAV swarms are increasingly used in reconnaissance, surveillance, and remote sensing fields. Authentication has become a critical factor in ensuring the safe and efficient operation of UAV swarms. Due to their complexity and limitations, traditional methods cannot meet the dynamic deployment and command authority switching requirements of UAV swarms in special wartime environments. Therefore, this study proposes a secure and efficient authentication scheme for UAV swarms based on the CVMerkle tree structure. The scheme integrates distributed digital ledger technology to optimize the authentication process between UAVs and the Airborne Command Center(ACC). This significantly reduces the communication and computational load while improving the security and reliability of authentication. Additionally, the scheme introduces the innovative concept of dynamic authorization in the ACC, which effectively eliminates security threats arising from internal corruption within the core organization. The results of the simulation experiment demonstrate that the scheme offers significant advantages in terms of security, efficiency, and storage requirements. Future research will focus on developing more efficient key management mechanisms and swarm-switching strategies to adapt to the complex and dynamic combat environment, further enhancing the combat effectiveness of UAV swarms.