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Base in Turkey.” According to reports, Turkey sought the Israel's own armed forces use drones, with its primary deployment as a measure to be used against the combat drones being the Hermes, produced by Israeli urdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). company Elbit Systems Ltd, and the Heron, produced by Little information about the US's (or, for that matter, Israeli Aerospace Industries Ltd. In 2011, the Israeli Air he UK's) use of armed drones in Afghanistan is Force marked 40 years of its first drone squadron.'” available. However, two US military investigations into According to Ed Kinane: "As far back as 1982 Israe ragic deaths in Afghanistan give some insight. In April used drones against Syria. In the early nineties Israeli 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported that a US military drones were used in the Kosovo campaign. _ Israeli investigation into the deaths of multiple Afghan civilians | drones invade the skies over Lebanon and patro in a US attack on a convoy of trucks in February 2010 occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza." A 2009 ound that evidence that the convoy was not a hostile | Human Rights Watch report went into great detail abou orce was ‘ignored = or the use of armed drones by Israe' downplayed by the Predator in Gaza.” Throughout 2011, crew".'"° Israel continued to use drones In October 2011, the Los Drones now in development in Gaza, both for surveillance Angeles Times reported on a can take off by themselves, purposes and for armed separate US military strikes. investigation into the deaths of | _ fly their pre-programmed two US. servicemen, Jeremy fool Armed, Self-Aware Drones Smith, 26, and Ben Rast, 23, mission, return and land, While current armed drones mistakenly killed in a US drone all without the intervention are remotely controlled from of a human pilot. strike in April 2011. While the 390-page Pentagon report has yet to be released, the Times Drones now in development can stated: "The report blames poor ake off by themselves, fly their communications, faulty assumptions and ‘a lack of pre-programmed mission, return and land, all without overall common situational awareness’.". The Times _ the intervention of a human pilot. Some argue that this interviewed Jerry Smith, father of one of the victims, after is merely an extension of the "autopilot" currently in use he had been briefed by US military officers and shown — on most aircraft, while others see the growing autonomy video images of the attack taken by the Predator drone: of armed drones as a dangerous step towards "He saw ‘three blobs in really dark shadows'—his son, | autonomous weaponry. Rast and the other Marine mistakenly identified by the The UK MoD has regularly stated that it "currently has Predator crew as Taliban. He said it was impossible to no intention to develop systems that operate without see uniforms or weapons. ‘You couldn't even tell they human intervention in the weapon command and were human beings—just blobs,’ he said."""" This is an control chain", but that it is "looking to increase levels of indication that the high-resolution images that drones automation where this will make systems more are supposed to provide may not be all they are _ effective".'” supposed to be. In the MoD document "The UK Approach to Unmanned In December 2011, Iran put on display a US [Lockheed _ Aircraft Systems", released in March 2011, the MoD takes Martin] RQ-170 Sentinel drone that i claimed it had brought down via electronic hijacking.’ While the US initially denied knowledge of the drone and then claimed that it had been lost over Afghanistan, the CIA eventually admitted, through the usual unnamed sources, that it had been operating over Iran.'” he ground, the next generation will be much more autonomous. Israel and Drones According to Jacques Chemla o Israel Aircraft Industries, Israel is the world's leading exporter of drones, with more than 1,000 sold to numerous countries around the The BAE Systems Mantis, the world’s first unmanned autonomous aircraft, globe and netting Israel around $350 i.e., able to pilot itself and to plot its own course. The prototype first flew million a year,” on 21 October 2009 at Woomera Test Range in South Australia. Drones now in development can take off by themselves, fly their pre-programmed mission, return and land, all without the intervention autonomous weaponry. The UK MoD has regularly stated that it "currently has no intention to develop systems that operate without human intervention in the weapon command and control chain", but that it is "looking to increase levels of automation where this will make systems more effective".'” In the MoD document "The UK Approach to Unmanned Aircraft Systems", released in March 2011, the MoD takes The BAE Systems Mantis, the world’s first unmanned autonomous aircraft, i.e., able to pilot itself and to plot its own course. The prototype first flew on 21 October 2009 at Woomera Test Range in South Australia. APRIL - MAY 2012 NEXUS ¢ I5 of a human pilot. www.nexusmagazine.com