STM Kargu

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STM Kargu is a small portable rotary wing loitering munition produced in Turkey by STM
(Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik ve Ticaret A.Ş.) that has been designed for asymmetric warfare or counter-insurgency. It can be carried by a single personnel in both autonomous and manual modes. KARGU can be effectively used against static or moving targets through its real-time image processing capabilities and machine learning algorithms embedded on the platform. The system consists of the rotary wing attack drone and ground control unit.
In 2020 a STM Kargu loaded with explosives detected and attacked Haftar’s forces in Libya with its artificial intelligence without command, according to a report from the United Nations Security Council’s Panel of Experts on Libya, published in March 2021. It was considered the first drone attack in history carried out by the UAVs on their own initiative.
In Turkish, Kargu means “mountain observation tower” because these drones were initially designed as an airborne sentry or surveillance tool.

Capabilities #

According to STM CEO Murat Ikinci, Kargu has a facial recognition system, suggesting it can seek out specific individuals. Its swarms are too numerous to be tackled by advanced air defense systems and can destroy a large number of targets very rapidly. The company’s YouTube channel features a video of several Kargu 2 drones operating in formation, demonstrating the ability of Kargu 2 to operate in a drone swarm. The capability of this swarm to autonomously identify, select and coordinate attacks on a target has, however, never been demonstrated by STM in reality.
Other capabilities includes:

Day and night operations
Autonomous and precise hit
Different ammunition options
Tracking moving targets
Navigation and control algorithms
Deployable and operable by single person
In-flight mission abort and emergency self-destruction

Operational history #

Kargu was used in Syria and Libya by the Turkish Armed Forces. It was also reportedly used by Azerbaijan during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, though it hasn’t been verified by the Azerbaijani authorities yet.
In 2020 a Kargu 2 Drone hunted down and attacked a human target in Libya, according to a report from the UN Security Council’s Panel of Experts on Libya, published in March 2021. This may have been the first time an autonomous killer robot armed with lethal weaponry attacked human beings. The capability of Kargu 2 to attack targets autonomously has however never been demonstrated by the company. Commercials demonstrating Kargu 2’s capabilities have shown a human operator selecting the targets and engaging the attack mode, while the drone is only responsible to perform the attack dive on the pre-selected target.

Operators #

Azerbaijan: minimum 27
Turkey: 500 operational
Peru: Unknown quantity. Anti-personnel and anti-armour systems. Introduced with Diseños Casanave International company.

Possible buyers #

STM told that they were in discussion with three unnamed foreign countries about export sales of Kargu. STM mentioned “desert, tundra and tropical conditions” suggesting the buyers may be some distance from Turkey.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu spoke at the Japan National Press Club in September 2022 and mentioned that there is willingness to sell Turkish drones, including the Kargu-2, to Japan.
A UN panel says that Government of National Accord affiliated forces have likely received STM Kargu drones, specifically the Kargu-2 model.