U.N.’s Report : A.I. Drone May Have Acted On Its Own in Attacking Fighters

Islam News – A military drone that attacked soldiers during a battle in Libya’s civil war last year may have done so without human control, according to a recent report commissioned by the United Nations.

The fighters “were hunted down and remotely engaged by the unmanned combat aerial vehicles or the lethal autonomous weapons systems,” according to the report, which did not say whether there were any casualties or injuries.

The weapons systems, it said, “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 United Nations declined to comment on the report, which was written by a panel of independent experts. The report has been sent to a U.N. sanctions committee for review, according to the organization.

The drone, a Kargu-2, was used as soldiers tried to flee, the report said.

“Once in retreat, they were subject to continual harassment from the unmanned combat aerial vehicles and lethal autonomous weapons systems,” according to the report, which was written by the U.N. Panel of Experts on Libya and released in March.

Human-operated drones have been used in military strikes for over a decade. President Barack Obama for years embraced drone strikes as a counter terrorism strategy, and President Donald J. Trump expanded the use of drones in Africa.

Nations like China, Russia and Israel also operate drone fleets, and drones were used in the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia last year.

Experts were divided about the importance of the findings in the U.N. report on Libya, with some saying it underscored how murky “autonomy” can be.

Source : The New York Times