Micromachines: The rise of the miniature loitering munition.
AeroVironment Switchblade 300 being used by Ukranian operator, 2022.
The topic of drone warfare has been a buzz of late, and for good reason. From the short-lived and highly destructive war between Armenia and Azerbaijan to the ongoing battles in Eastern Ukraine - the nature of warfare in the 2020s is increasingly being defined by the use of unmanned and autonomous weapons.
While autonomous drones and unmanned aerial vehicles have been a feature of the modern battlefield for many years, the new decade has seen a particular type of drone weapon deployed at scale for the first time: the MLM, or Miniature Loitering Munition.
In this article, we explore how the Miniature Loitering Munition is changing how battles are fought and the implications of a human-free kill chain on the ethics of warfare.
All watched over by machines of loving grace.
Video feed still from Azerbijanian UAV, Azerbijan Defence Ministry, October 2020.
MLMs are an aerial weapon system category in which the munition loiters (waits passively) around the target area for some time and attacks only once a target is located. They are a tactical battlefield weapon, i.e. they can be carried and deployed quickly by an individual soldier, offering the boots on the ground the kind of accurate indirect fire support that twenty years ago was the preserve of a company commander in a large well funded combined arms force.
Some MLMs are fully autonomous and have the capability to detect, surveil and attack targets autonomously, removing the human element from the kill chain i.e. it can decide what to target and then destroy without any human input. These systems have been in active use for less than a decade, and are at least two or three more iterations away from technological maturity. It’s logical to imagine a near future scenario in which autonomous loitering munitions are used at a much larger scale, with entire battles being won by swarms of these weapons.
The poor man’s airstrike.
Close up of AeroVironment Switchblade 300 set up for deployment, Ukraine 2022.
MLMs have a wide range of tactical uses that present a novel set of capabilities to the individual soldier which previously could only be provided by close air support. They can be used to deny an enemy access to an area, launching a number of them into the air, and acting like an airborne minefield. They can be used to covertly seek and destroy enemy positions from a bunker or well-defended and concealed location - the operator doesn’t need to expose himself to attack the enemy. They can also be used defensively in a pinch, after an ambush or contact in which the operator needs a fast precision strike to break contact.
One of the most prominent examples of such a system is AeroVironment's Switchblade, a lightweight (~0.5kg) drone that can be carried in a backpack and launched by hand. Some 700 of the Switchblade 300 variant have been supplied to Ukrainian forces by the US as part of their ongoing military aid packages. With a range of approximately six miles and a top speed of 60 mph, the Switchblade can be remotely detonated or impact a target and detonate upon impact.
AeroVironment Switchblade 300, pictured during the 2022 AUSA conference, credit DefenceNews.com
The employment of miniature loitering munitions offers a range of benefits to any combat force. Notably, they offer a cost-effective alternative to traditional airstrikes. MLMs can be produced and deployed in large quantities at a fraction of the expense of manned aircraft or precision missile systems. The covert nature of their employment makes them a desirable option for targeted strikes, as they can be launched from a variety of locations and are difficult to detect until it is too late to counter.
The precision of these systems is another advantage, as they are equipped with sensors and cameras to guide them directly to their target. The ISR (Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance) data generated by MLMs while loitering above an AO (area of operations) provides additional situational information to the drone operator, an eye, and a guided bomb in the sky. Two birds with one, very advanced, stone…
Russian ZALA Aero Group ‘Lancet-1’ Loitering Muntion
Legislating SKYNET.
IAI Harop drone, Azerbijan, October 2020.
Silly Terminator reference aside, valid concerns surrounding the use of fully autonomous variants of loitering munitions have arisen in recent years. The lack of clear international regulations governing their employment is in part contributing to their proliferation and use, which is accelerating faster than international law.
A report published by the United Nations in 2021 described an incident during the Libyan civil war, in which a Turkish-made STM Kargu-2 loitering munition was used during an offensive near Tripoli in March 2020. Forces supporting the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) routed troops loyal to the Libyan National Army of Khalifa Haftar (referred to in the report as the Haftar Affiliated Forces or HAF). Here’s the relevant passage in full:
“Logistics convoys and retreating HAF 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 (see annex 30) and other loitering munitions. 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.” (p.17)
The report is careful not to state definitively if casualties were caused by the autonomous weapons mentioned, but we can infer that it’s likely that they were used in anger. While the loitering munition being described in the UN report are larger and less advanced than MLMs, the same ethical considerations are at stake.
The Turkish STM Kargu-2 Loitering Muntion named by the UN report.
How, when, and most importantly should an autonomous weapon be capable of identifying, targeting, and attacking a human being without the input of its operator?
As Minature Loitering Munitions proliferate the ethical considerations concerning their use may outpace any legal controls the international community can muster. That’s without considering their use by non-state actors, rogue states, or even nations that find themselves on the back foot in a full-scale conventional war.
Miniature Loitering Munitions are changing the landscape of modern warfare by offering a cost-effective, covert, and precise means of conducting targeted strikes. These systems are poised to play a significant role in military operations going forward. It’s hard to see how policymakers will address the potential risks associated with such an effective category or weapon, the tactical benefits may prove too tempting.
