--- title: "UK Military Develops Drone With a Double Barreled Shotgun" description: "The UK military has created a drone that’s equipped with two shotgun barrels, Popular Mechanics reports. The drone called i9 is capable of flying indoors and identifying targets using artificial intelligence, according to The Times defense editor Lucy Fisher. The aircraft could even get a rocket or chain gun upgrade. Excl: A shotgun-armed […]" date: "2020-10-02" modified: "2020-10-02" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/uk-military-drone-double-barreled-shotgun" categories: - "Drones" - "Military" - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "drone" - "Military drones" - "the digest" --- # UK Military Develops Drone With a Double Barreled Shotgun ![The UK military has created a drone that's equipped with two shotgun barrels and a "machine vision" system to identify targets indoors.]() *\Image: Image via Pixabay\* ## Shotgun Drone The UK military has designed a hexacopter drone that's equipped with two shotgun barrels. The drone, called i9, is capable of flying indoors and identifying targets using artificial intelligence, [according to *The Times*](). While the current design is outfitted with a "twin barrel stabilized shotgun," the aircraft could get a rocket or chain gun upgrade in the future. https://twitter.com/LOS\_Fisher/status/1310844183440240645 ## The Breach The drone is equipped with six rotating blades and is meant to provide breaching commandos in urban settings with an initial view into interior spaces, identifying targets in the process. Troops in Afghanistan have suffered significant causalities during this "breaching" phase, *The Times* reports. Once the drone is inside, troops on the ground can then authorize it to open fire from a live feed on a screen nearby. ## Battering Ram Apart from identifying targets indoors, the i9 is also designed to act as a "battering ram," knocking target drones out of the sky, according to *Popular Mechanics*. The news comes after Anduril, a military tech startup founded by Oculus Rift creator Palmer Luckey, [unveiled a new AI-powered drone]() called the Ghost 4 earlier this month. The Ghost 4 was also built for reconnaissance, using lasers to identify targets. Mounting weapons on it "would be possible," as Luckey [told *Wired*](). **READ MORE:** [New Urban Combat Drone Is a Shotgun Toting Hexacopter]() \[*Popular Mechanics*\] **More on military drones:** *[New Military Drone Fits in Backpack, Can Carry Lasers, Radio Jammers, Weapons]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()