CHINA is selling deadly ‘Blowfish’ drones which can decide who lives and who dies to armies in the war-torn Middle East, say reports. The unmanned war machines are capable of launching autonomous strikes with their arsenal of mortar shells, grenade launchers and machine guns. They are said to be “impossible to defend” against and the […]
CHINA is selling deadly ‘Blowfish’ drones which can decide who lives and who dies to armies in the war-torn Middle East, say reports.
The unmanned war machines are capable of launching autonomous strikes with their arsenal of mortar shells, grenade launchers and machine guns.
They are said to be “impossible to defend” against and the Pentagon has already made it clear it fears they will end up in the wrong hands.
Some military experts fear the proposed sale of the AI mini-choppers will spark even more bloodshed in the troubled region, reports news.com.
“They would be impossible to defend yourself against,” warns University of New South Wales Professor of Artificial Intelligence Toby Walsh.
“Once the shooting starts, every human on the battlefield will be dead.”
US Defence Secretary Mark Esper revealed recently China’s drones are programmed to decide for themselves who lives and who dies.
“The Chinese government is already exporting some of its most advanced military aerial drones to the Middle East,” he told the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence conference.
“In addition, Chinese weapons manufacturers are selling drones advertised as capable of full autonomy, including the ability to conduct lethal, targeted strikes.”
A state-controlled Chinese defence company called Ziyan is reportedly negotiating the sale of its ‘Blowfish A3’ armed helicopter drones to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
“This isn’t a surprise,” said Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Dr Malcolm Davis.
“Authoritarian adversaries do not need to conduct the same domestic debate on lethal autonomous weapons as western liberal democracies, because they are not answerable to their people.
“There is no ‘ban killer robots’ movement in China or Russia. The regimes are simply developing and deploying the weapons – and in this case – exporting them to similar regimes in the Middle East.”
The software packager which is sold alongside the drones allows them to fly in swarms of 10.
With a single push of a button, the drones can autonomously take off, avoiding colliding in the air and finding their way to their designated target.
Once they receive an order to attack, they will engage the target autonomously in a coordinated manner.
Upon finishing a mission, the system will lead the drones back to base and land automatically.
The worrying news comes just a week after we revealed how experts revealed Russia is also planning to launch its own squadron of swarming drones.
Proposed by the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy, the concept involves simultaneously launching more than 100 UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) each armed with a 5.5lb load.
Experts believe the best defence against the swarms might simply be jamming them, preventing them from receiving commands from human controllers.
