A Dual-Game-Based Physical Layer Security Framework for UAV Cooperative Communication

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communication networks are highly vulnerable to eavesdropping due to their open and dynamic air–ground channels, making physical layer security (PLS) a critical design requirement. Existing security mechanisms often struggle to adapt to large-scale UAV swarms operating under power and coordination constraints. To address this challenge, this work presents a dual-game framework that enables a group of legitimate UAVs to form optimal coalition structures through an internal coalition game, while countering coordinated eavesdropping attacks from adversarial UAVs. The framework is specifically designed for demanding real-world conditions, considering maximum power restrictions of individual UAVs and the need for secure and efficient communication with ground nodes. By jointly minimizing communication cost and maximizing swarm utility, the proposed approach enhances both security and resource efficiency. Extensive simulation results demonstrate that the proposed approach achieves up to 10% improvement in secrecy rate compared with conventional frameworks, validating its effectiveness for securing large-scale UAV networks.