An Autonomous Weaponized Drone "Hunted Down" Humans Without Command For First Time

An autonomous drone may have hunted out and attacked humans without input from human commanders, a recent UN report has revealed. Image credit: WindVector/shutterstock.com

An autonomous drone may have hunted down and attacked humans without input from human commanders, a recent UN report has revealed. As well as being the first time such an attack by artificial intelligence (AI) has taken place on humans, it's unclear whether the drone may have killed people during the attack which took place in Libya in March 2020.

The report to the UN Security Council states that on March 27, 2020, Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj ordered "Operation PEACE STORM", which saw unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) used against Haftar Affiliated Forces. Drones have been used in combat for years, but what made this attack different is that they operated without human input, after the initial attack with other support had taken place.

"Logistics convoys and retreating HAF were subsequently hunted down and remotely engaged by the unmanned combat aerial vehicles or the lethal autonomous weapons systems such as the STM Kargu-2 (see annex 30) and other loitering munitions," according to the report. 

"The lethal autonomous weapons systems were programmed to attack targets without requiring data connectivity between the operator and the munition: in effect, a true 'fire, forget and find' capability."

The KARGU is a rotary-wing attack drone designed for asymmetric warfare or anti-terrorist operations, which according to the manufacturers "can be effectively used against static or moving targets through its indigenous and real-time image processing capabilities and machine learning algorithms embedded on the platform." A video showcasing the drone shows it targeting mannequins in a field, before diving at them and detonating an explosive charge. 

Against human targets, the drones proved effective.

"Units were neither trained nor motivated to defend against the effective use of this new technology and usually retreated in disarray," the report reads. "Once in retreat, they were subject to continual harassment from the unmanned combat aerial vehicles and lethal autonomous weapons systems, which were proving to be a highly effective combination."

The report did not go into specifics about whether there were casualties or deaths connected with the attack, although they note that the drones were "highly effective" in helping to inflict "significant casualties" on enemy Pantsir S-1 surface-to-air missile systems. It's perfectly possible that the first human has been attacked or killed by a drone operated by a machine learning algorithm.

The attack, whether it produced casualties or not, will not be welcomed by campaigners against the use of "killer robots". 

"There are serious doubts that fully autonomous weapons would be capable of meeting international humanitarian law standards, including the rules of distinction, proportionality, and military necessity, while they would threaten the fundamental right to life and principle of human dignity," says the Human Rights Watch. "Human Rights Watch calls for a preemptive ban on the development, production, and use of fully autonomous weapons."

Among other concerns is that AI algorithms used by the robots may not be robust enough, or else trained on datasets with flaws within them. As well as being open to errors (such as a Tesla tricked into swerving off the road) there are countless examples of biases within machine-learning tech, from facial recognition that doesn't recognize non-white skin tones, to cameras that tell Asian people to stop blinking, to racist soap dispensers that won't give you soap if you're black and self-driving cars that are more likely to run you over if you are not white.

Drone-killer fires microwave beams to disable UAVS

Directed energy weapons are designed for the battlefield, but could they also be coming to an airport or stadium near you?

The growing use of drones in combat has been described as “the most concerning tactical development” since IEDs became prevalent in Iraq. Small, inexpensive UAVs are already used for surveillance, disruption of airspace and dropping small explosives, but in the near future swarms of robot vehicles could become even more dangerous – both on the battlefield and around civilian spaces like airports or sports grounds.

To address the issue, military researchers and arms manufacturers are developing directed energy weapons with the power to disable drones using lasers, particle beams, radio frequency waves and more. One of the latest is called Leonidas, created by US start-up Epirus. It uses high-powered microwaves (HPM) to overwhelm drones’ onboard electronics.

The system (a prototype of which is reflected above) uses Gallium Nitride semiconductors to produce extreme levels of power density while firing the HPM. Operators can narrow the beam to target individual drones or take down multiple threats across a wider field. Epirus staged a demonstration event for government officials earlier this year and the device disabled all 66 drones sent to swarm around it.

“Our state-of-the-art digital beamforming capabilities allows operators to safely direct the HPM beam on target to disable enemy threats and nothing else,” says Leigh Madden, Epirus CEO. “These capabilities were on full display at a recent customer event where Leonidas executed multiple precision strikes, disabling an enemy target and leaving a blue force drone untouched.” 

Unlike some directed energy weapons, Leonidas is small enough to mount on a truck or boat, and its rapid-fire capabilities make it practical on kinetic battlefields. Epirus is also in the late stages of development for even more compact and portable systems, and the technology could eventually lead to some kind of microwave gun.

“Leonidas has revolutionised what’s known as the Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) factor and is dramatically smaller in size than competitive systems,” says Madden. “As we continue to drive innovation, our systems will decrease in size and increase in power density.”

Anti-drone weapons may also be required beyond the battlefield. As UAVs become cheaper and more prevalent, so too does their potential for harm in civilian spaces. In December 2018, London’s Gatwick Airport closed for two days after mysterious (and never-found) drones were reported in the skies around the runways. Fearing a collision could take down a passenger aircraft, the military was deployed and more than 1,000 flights were cancelled.

Other identified threats include recreational drones flying too close to rescue helicopters, attacks in civilian spaces, reconnaissance of nuclear sites, invasion of privacy and even as a distraction to aid criminals.

Madden says that while Epirus is currently focused on work with the US Department of Defense, it is also in discussions to “bring new products to market and support additional use cases across industries.” 

In recent years, directed energy weapons have also been reportedly used against human targets. In 2017, personnel at the US embassy in Cuba complained of suddenly hearing noises and pressure in their ears, followed by symptoms such as headaches, vertigo, dizziness and loss of cognitive functions. Since labelled Havana Syndrome, it has been attributed to some kind of directed energy weapon.

Similar reports have suggested the Chinese military used a microwave weapon against Indian troops in 2020 and that a similar device may have targeted US civilians in Washington DC the same year. While none of these reports have been definitively confirmed, a working hypothesis is that beams of high-frequency electromagnetic radiation are used to heat the water in a human target’s skin, causing pain and discomfort. The results are not thought to be long-lasting, but it’s potentially an effective way to incapacitate a target without the use of lethal force.

“These reports are certainly concerning for everyone here at Epirus, but it’s important to make clear that what we are doing with directed energy is entirely different from the alleged microwave attacks on humans,” says Madden. “Epirus is harnessing the power of directed energy to bolster national security, not create new threats.  

“We have developed modes of operation and waveforms that operate differently from other directed energy systems to ensure that Epirus’ products do not cause unintended harm to operators and are, indeed, human safe.

“Our products do not contain nuclear components, nor do they produce harmful radiation. The radiation produced is similar to that of cellular phone waves or your countertop microwave unit.” 

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Weapons of the future: Trends in drone proliferation

(vadimmmus/Getty Images)

In January 2001, a Predator launched an inert Hellfire missile at a dummy tank, marking the first successful missile test from a drone. Twenty years on, drones have become a feature of warfare to an extent that few at the time likely could have imagined. Over 100 militaries have some level of armed or unarmed drone capability, and a growing number have experience using these systems in combat. The notion of what an armed drone looks like and how it should perform has also shifted as the families of drones and drone munitions have become lighter and more diverse. This is fueling a wider adoption of these systems, potentially complicating the United States’ ability to develop effective countermeasures.

The emergence of new drone manufacturers is driving a competitive and dynamic global market for military drones, particularly for medium and large uncrewed aircraft. In addition to those from China, Israel, Turkey and the U.S., new offerings of large drones from companies in Russia, Italy and South Africa as well as many other local research and development projects could offer customers a growing number of options.

Where some countries may have once gone with a single supplier, military drone inventories are increasingly diverse. Morocco, having recently introduced the Israeli Heron 1, is now interested in the U.S. MQ-9 Reaper, according to a report in Reuters. Efforts to loosen U.S. export policy as it relates to large drones could grow the number of countries operating American-made systems, though they are unlikely to substantially alter these trends.

Both the declining cost of components for drones and state policies aimed at boosting domestic manufacturers have created opportunities for some countries to acquire drones independently of foreign suppliers. Spain’s RAPAZ program, for example, seeks to encourage local industry by acquiring small drones for evaluation by the Spanish military exclusively from domestic producers. Likewise, most of Ukraine’s fleet of small drones is provided by domestic manufacturers like Athlon Avia that responded to a need — sometimes in creative ways — for drones following Russia’s invasion of Crimea and the Donbas region. Partnerships between countries like Ukraine and Turkey, Spain and Colombia, and South Africa and the United Arab Emirates have led to joint projects to develop uncrewed aircraft as well as subsystems and munitions for drones. These collaborations offer manufacturers ways to build local capacity, gain access to new markets and technology, and overcome export restrictions.

Drones are increasingly equipped with an array of bombs, missiles and other munitions. While air-to-ground anti-tank missiles like the U.S. Hellfire or the Chinese Blue Arrow-7 remain common, they have been joined by guided bombs of various sizes, air-to-air missiles and rockets. As a result, some drones could assume responsibility for missions such as defensive counterair or suppression of enemy air defenses that have typically been carried out by crewed combat aircraft.

An emerging class of lightweight, reusable armed drones like China’s Blowfish A3 and Turkey’s Songar can be equipped with swappable payloads of mortars, grenades and light machine guns. The proliferation of strike-capable drones is driving the development and sale of drone-specific guided munitions. Turkey’s Roketsan has said that interest from international customers in its MAM (smart micro-munition) series of lightweight munitions for drones has grown in parallel with the interest in Turkish UAVs.

Drones have featured prominently in recent armed conflicts in North Africa, the Sahel, the Arabian Peninsula and the Caucuses. In Libya, Turkey and the UAE have supplied armed drones to proxies on opposing sides, while the Iranian-backed Houthi group in Yemen has used drones to attack Saudi energy and transportation infrastructure.

Speaking in a magazine interview in late April of the role that drones and loitering munitions played in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer remarked that drones are likely to remain a feature of armed conflict, given that they are comparatively cheap and easy to obtain, calling drones one of the “weapon systems of the future.”

In addition to deliveries of the systems themselves, many of these deployments have been facilitated by the provision of nonmaterial support in the form of training, maintenance and tactical leadership.

The U.S. Defense Department’s new counter-drone strategy rightly focuses on the threats posed by low-cost small- and mid-sized drones, given the growing popularity of these systems among state and nonstate actors, and the difficulty of detecting and mitigating them with the existing suite of air defense solutions.

In a virtual event in late April, U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Kenneth McKenzie called the proliferation of low-cost drones one of the foremost security issues in the Middle East. Future iterations of the counter-UAS strategy should encompass the full spectrum of drone threats, particularly as the Department of Defense moves to address the challenges posed by peer and near-peer competitors. Rapid technological changes in the form of new, long-range munitions and air-launched loitering munitions, as well as evolutions in adversarial concepts of operations such as manned-unmanned teaming, are poised to offer a new front in the struggle to defend against drones, one for which the U.S. and its allies and partners will need to prepare.

Dan Gettinger is a researcher and consultant. He is a founder and former co-director of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College. He is the author of “The Drone Databook” and of the forthcoming book “Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles: Current Types, Ordnance and Operations.”