Israeli defense technology company Elbit Systems has launched a deadly autonomous suicide drone. The Lanius is an agile racing quad bike with an array of AI-based reconnaissance, mapping and target classification capabilities, as well as the ability to explode when needed.

Unmanned quadcopters are becoming the main element of modern warfare, an example of which is the current conflict in Ukraine. It’s easy to see why; They’re inexpensive, easy to operate, and get smarter over time. They let you see and map dangerous areas without putting the pilot at risk, they can often bypass the area unnoticed by enemies, and it’s extremely easy to load and/or release a deadly payload.

lanius It is designed to travel in groups of three sitting atop a larger mothership type drone until deployed. Maximum take-off weight is 1.25 kg (2.76 lb), including lethal or non-lethal payload up to 150 g (5.3 oz). A small, hobby-style lithium battery provides a maximum flight time of approximately seven minutes. Up to three Lanius UAVs can be carried behind the drone mothership or physically carried by operators in the field.

Atop a simple, square-looking carbon fiber racing drone chassis, the Lanius is equipped with a multitude of sensors and cameras, as well as Nvidia’s Jetson artificial intelligence system specifically designed for low-noise fast interpretation of fast-moving data streams. energy consumption. It connects to Elbit’s proprietary Legion-X software to control swarms of fighters for autonomous multi-drone missions.

Lanius is designed to enter an area alone or in a group and start painting autonomously using AI capabilities and collision avoidance systems. It will detect and mark objects of interest and things such as closed or open doors and windows, and will enter and search buildings with or without guidance or the direct control of a human pilot.

It is designed to identify people and try to classify them as friend or foe, warrior or non-combatant, armed or unarmed. When an armed threat is detected, it gives the operator the option to “shoot” the target with any weapon on board. There is always someone who knows; this thing is not trying to kill anyone of its own free will. Nvidia Jetson systems at Lanius try to detect, classify and label people in real time.

Being able to sit in ambush mode and watch a specific area – for example, behind a locked door where there may be an enemy threat on the other side – offers another tactical advantage. In this case, Lanius can land safely and keep an eye on the door. If the door opens and it sees something it believes qualifies as a gun threat, it will alert the remote operator and give him the option to take action again. This can certainly be an effective way to monitor a team’s rear or sides as it moves through the danger zone.

It’s probably relatively slow and useless right now, but given how fast quadcopters and deep learning technologies have advanced over the past decade, you can bet these machines will continue to evolve rapidly in the years to come.