ANTALYA – Turkish public defense company STM has said its military drone is unable to launch fully autonomous attacks on targets, thwarting autonomous weapons speculation spurred by a United Nations report.
Ozgur Guleryuz, CEO of STM, told Nikkei Asia that its rotary-wing mini-UAV system, Kargu-2, is not designed to attack targets using artificial intelligence.
“Unless an operator presses the button, it is not possible for the drone to select a target and attack,” Guleryuz said.
The Kargu-2 made international headlines this month after news outlets published an article based on a UN Security Council report. In the report, a panel of independent experts suggested that a military drone used in the civil war in Libya last year could have attacked soldiers without human control, bringing the Kargu-2 and its maker, STM, to a meticulous examination.
Experts wrote in the march report that “the logistics convoys and retreating forces were then tracked down and engaged remotely by unmanned aerial combat vehicles or lethal autonomous weapons systems such as the Kargu-2 STM and other roving munitions.”
“Lethal autonomous weapons systems have been programmed to attack targets without requiring data connectivity between the operator and the ammunition: indeed, a true ‘shoot, forget and find’ capability,” they said in the report. report.
However, Guleryuz took issue with this assessment, saying the autonomous technology focused on navigation and identifying target types.
“Our autonomous AI drone technology developed at home is primarily used for navigation purposes as well as to denote and differentiate between humans, animals, vehicles, etc.,” said Guleryuz.
An operator will need to manually zoom in to check after spotting a potential target and will only be able to launch an attack by pressing the button, with the option to cancel it at any time until the drone hits its target, a- he added.
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“Autonomous technologies are advancing so fast, but we’re not there yet. At the STM, we still believe that ethically, a human should be involved in the loop.
STM is a Turkish military engineering and consulting company specializing in the development of military technologies such as autonomous systems, naval platforms and command and control systems.
According to defense analyst Arda Mevlutoglu, the UN report does not explicitly state what type of autonomous functions were used during the incident in Libya, or whether specified stray munitions injured anyone. But, the report coincided with the ongoing international debate over the limits of AI and autonomous weapon systems that are attracting public attention.
More than 60% of those polled in an international poll said they oppose the use of lethal autonomous weapon systems. The investigation was commissioned by the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, which is led by groups such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the Association of Aid and Relief, Japan.
The UN report included a photo of the drone in Libya and concluded that this “indicates that the Turkish-made STM Kargu-2 rotary-wing munition is now operational in Libya.”
The Royal Marines participate in a drone exercise in Cyprus. (Photo courtesy of the UK Ministry of Defense)
Guleryuz said the Kargu-2 has been with the Turkish military since 2018 and “is proven in combat both nationally and internationally, as far as we know.” He did not cite any conflicts where it was used outside of Turkey.
Ankara fights national separatists and is engaged in military operations in Syria, Iraq and Libya. Turkey also provided significant military support to Azerbaijan in last year’s war against Armenia, which resulted in Azerbaijan’s victory. Such military engagements provide fertile ground for testing and developing weapon systems in real combat zones.
The larger drones developed locally by Turkey, Bayraktar TB2 and ANKA, have been instrumental in such conflict zones and have been sold to countries like Ukraine, Qatar, Azerbaijan, Tunisia and, more recently another NATO member, Poland.
Guleryuz said that there is also great interest in Kargu-2 from abroad, including Asian countries.
He spoke on the sidelines of an international diplomatic forum where senior leaders of the Turkish defense industry, including Guleryuz, briefed foreign delegations from Africa, Central Asia and Europe on the sector of Turkish defense.
Kargu-2 can be carried by a lone soldier and set up in 1 to 2 minutes. The drone works both in manual mode and in autonomous mode. The company is also working on the swarming capability of Kargu drones.
Israel Aerospace Industries has a similar model, according to industry sources.
“Like the nuclear non-proliferation regimes established in the 20th century, I believe we will see strict oversight and oversight of the development and use of autonomous weapons systems in the 21st century by individual states, if not by organizations. international, ”Mevlutoglu said.
