A drone, capable of engaging and selecting targets, on its own has been noticed attacking soldiers, during the Libyan civil conflict, in 2020. According to U.N. reports, a lethal weaponized drone drove out and engaged human targets, remotely, without its handlers.
If this incident is confirmed to be true, then this would mark the 1st case to happen in which a machine-learning-based automatic weapon has been used to win a war and kill people. And it will also demonstrate a new dangerous era in warfare and the arrival of the age of killer autonomous robots.
About the News
According to the new reports on Libya, made by the Experts of the UN Panel, a Kargu-2 drone( Made in Turkey) was hunted down and engaged, withdrawing those soldiers, who were fighting with Libyan General Khalifa Haftar.
They also said that these kinds of lethal autonomous weapon systems don’t need any data connectivity between the munition and operator, to attack their targets. They are already programmed to do so. They have in effect, the true capability of “fire, forget, and find”.
However, there is no confirmation about whether any death happened in the attack or not. UN experts who described drones as a lethal automatic weapon system consider that they are highly effective to cause killing. A research affiliate, Zachary Kallenborn said that this incident could be the most horrifying and terror-stricken decisive moment for warfare, globally.
Libyan Civil War(2014-2020)
This was the 2nd civil war in the North African country, Libya that lasted for 6 years. The main armed groups of this war were the Government of the National Accord and the House of Representatives.
In March 2020, an autonomous drone that was made in turkey and named Kargu-2 appeared during the conflicts in the war field. That was identified as the lethal autonomous weapon system.
Workings of Kargu-2
The kargu-2 was categorized as a loitering drone that works on the computer vision system and machine learning algorithm for real-time image processing to automatically track and engage the target without the need for any connection between the drone and its driver.
This system has 2 operating modes and that is autonomous and manual. It is specially designed for asymmetric warfare and operations of anti-terrors.
A swarm of kamikaze drones can be made by linking several of these drones. Many AI experts and Humanitarian organizations along with governmental ones have petitioned to ban these lethal autonomous weapon systems, globally. But, on the other side, a number of so-called modernized countries including the US fiercely argued against the ban and stood in the way.
This could be the rise of the ending of the world as these lethal weapons have the tendency to terminate humankind from the earth.
Conclusion
The participation of lethal autonomous weapon systems in the Libyan civil war conflicts has raised the concern of the world towards the arrival of killer autonomous robots era. The U.N. reports that a lethal weaponized drone drove out and engaged human targets, remotely, without its handlers and that drone was discovered as the Turkish-made Kargu-2, a loitering drone that works on the computer vision system and machine learning algorithm for real-time image processing to automatically track and engage the target. There is no confirmation about whether any death happened in the attack or not by that drone but according to the UN panel, it must have done some of the killings.
FAQs
Ans. It is a type of drone, capable of engaging and selecting targets, on its own and has been noticed attacking soldiers, during the Libyan civil conflict, in 2020.
Ans. According to the UN panel, these types of drones are highly lethal and effective in killing.
Ans. They work on the machine learning algorithm for real-time image processing to automatically track and engage the target without the need for any connection between the drone and its driver.
Ans. Kargu-2
Ans. In March 2020, during the Libyan civil war conflicts, Kargu-2 was seen.
