Anduril, the military technology company founded by Oculus creator Palmer Luckey, has announced its first weapon system: an adaptation of its Altius drones that turn the aircraft into a “loitering munition” — a type of weapon designed to hover in a designated area before striking a target in the air or on the ground.

The news is notable for two reasons. First, because Anduril has previously focused on surveillance and reconnaissance tech, developing systems of interconnected drones and sentry towers for the US border. And second, because developments in machine learning have enhanced the capabilities of loitering munitions in potentially troubling ways.

Loitering munitions have been in development since the 1980s, initially to strike...

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