---
title: "Autonomous Killer Robot Accused of Attacking Soldiers"
description: "A UN report reveals that an autonomous kamikaze drone attacked and seemingly killed human soldiers without any human oversight pulling the trigger."
date: "2021-06-01"
modified: "2021-06-01"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski.md"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/killer-robot-attacking-soldiers"
categories:
  - "Robotics"
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "drone"
  - "killer robot"
  - "military technology"
  - "the digest"
---

# Autonomous Killer Robot Accused of Attacking Soldiers

![A UN report reveals that an autonomous kamikaze drone attacked and seemingly killed human soldiers without any human oversight pulling the trigger.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/dangerdrone.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: \<a href="https://unsplash.com/@jakobowens1" target="\_blank"\>Jacob Owens via Unsplash  \</a\>\</em\>*

## Closed Loop

The era of fully autonomous killer robots, capable of identifying and engaging targets without human oversight, seems to have begun.

A small Turkish-made kamikaze drone called the STM Kargu-2 attacked retreating soldiers during a civil conflict in Libya, [according to a recent United Nations Security Council report](<https://undocs.org/S/2021/229>) by the Panel of Experts on Libya. The report implies, but doesn't explicitly say, that the robot killed human soldiers. [As *Axios* notes](<https://www.axios.com/age-killer-robots-begun-8e8813d9-0fa1-4529-baf9-3358c1703bee.html>), the development brings us into a troubling new era in which human oversight is no longer technically necessary to wage war and end lives.

## 3D Minefield

The UN report refers to the Kargu-2 drone as a "loitering munition," which means it was hovering in place until it happened to detect a possible target. In that sense, the autonomous drone was deployed almost like an aerial landmine in that it could attack a target that comes within a certain proximity without human oversight.

"Logistics convoys and retreating \[Haftar Affiliated Forces\] 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… and other loitering munitions," reads the UN 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 rise of fully-autonomous killer drones is alarming but not surprising, as several powerful militaries including that of the US, [Russia](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/russia-semi-autonomous-robot-tanks-useless-syria.md>), [China](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-selling-autonomous-killer-drones.md>), and [the UK](<https://futurism.com/uk-autonomous-killer-robots.md>) have all been working towards killer robots for years — despite outcry from experts and ethicists [around the world](<https://futurism.com/germany-pledges-not-killer-robots.md>).

**READ MORE:** [The age of killer robots may have already begun](<https://www.axios.com/age-killer-robots-begun-8e8813d9-0fa1-4529-baf9-3358c1703bee.html>) \[*Axios*\]

**More on killer robots:** *[Experts: It'd Be "Relatively Easy" To Deploy Killer Robots by 2021](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/relatively-easy-killer-robots-2021.md>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)

## More

- [Academics: Ban the Killer “Slaughterbots” Before We All Die](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/academics-ban-slaughterbots.md>)
- [China Secretly Developed Autonomous Killer Robot Submarines](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-developed-autonomous-killer-robot-submarines.md>)
- [China Is Selling Autonomous Killer Drones to the Middle East](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-selling-autonomous-killer-drones.md>)
- [Today, World Leaders Will Meet to Decide the Future of “Killer Robots”](<https://futurism.com/leaders-decide-future-killer-robots.md>)
- [Israel Sends Robots Armed with Machine Guns to Palestinian Border](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/israel-robots-machine-guns-palestinian-border.md>)
- [Experts: It’d Be “Relatively Easy” to Deploy Killer Robots by 2021](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/relatively-easy-killer-robots-2021.md>)
- [Russia: Our Killer Robots Don’t Need Any Pesky International Laws](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/russia-killer-robots-international-laws.md>)
- [Autonomous Robots Confirmed to Have Killed Human Soldiers](<https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/autonomous-robot-killed-human-soldiers-ukraine.md>)