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Set for take-off: Britain's deadly superdrone that picks its own targets but experts warn plane could mark the start of 'robot wars'

• Revolutionary superdrone could spearhead fight against terrorism in Africa
• Experts warned it raised nightmare of out-of-control robots waging war on humans
  

By Robert Verkaik

It is named after the Celtic god of thunder, can fly faster than the speed of sound and evades enemy radar with its single-wing stealth design.

This is Taranis, Britain’s latest pilotless combat aircraft, which is even capable of selecting its own targets.

The revolutionary superdrone is due to make its maiden flight in the next few weeks and could spearhead the fight against  terrorism in Africa.

Revolutionary: Taranis, Britain's latest pilotless combat aircraft, will make is maiden flight in the next few weeks

Military chiefs believe Taranis’s ground-breaking technology will allow a powerful new generation of drones equipped with deadly payloads to fly from British bases to attack targets worldwide.

But the new developments in pilotless aircraft are controversial as they allow the possibility of autonomous computers  targeting and killing enemy combatants outside human  control.

Experts even warned last night that the new technology raised the nightmare spectre of out-of-control robots waging war on humans – and called for a global ban on autonomous technology.

Britain’s armed drones are currently piloted remotely by aircrews on the ground. But Taranis will follow a set flightpath using on-board computers to perform manoeuvres, avoid threats and identify targets. Only when it needs to attack a target will it seek authorisation from a human controller.

Professor Noel Sharkey, a robotics engineer specialising in autonomous military systems at Sheffield University, said last night:  ‘This is a very dangerous move. Once it has been developed, who knows what new governments who inherit the technology will do with it.’

Last week, Prime Minister David Cameron warned that the fight against terrorism in North Africa could last decades, meaning futuristic drones could dominate counter-terrorism strategy in the region.

Military technology: A US Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone takes off from Kandahar Air Base, Afghanistan. A proliferation in mainly US military technology has sparked a drone arms race

The controversy surrounding their use was highlighted last week when the United Nations launched an investigation into the deaths caused by conventional drone attacks.

British Forces currently operate armed drones only in Afghanistan, where they target Taliban insurgents. However, a proliferation in mainly US military technology has sparked a drone arms race. To compete, the UK Government has committed itself to a new generation of pilotless aircraft which can fly distances of more than  2,000 miles.

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 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2268909/Taranis-Britains-deadly-superdrone-picks-targets.html