Project Maven (since 2018)
After employee protests in June 2018, Google chose not to renew its contract with the US Department of Defense to work on Project Maven, a program to develop artificial intelligence that can analyze video feeds from aerial drones; Palantir took over the project in December 2019.
Google employees were concerned that the technology could lead to lethal autonomous weapons that choose targets without human input.
Project Maven Scarlet Dragon exercises
The 18th Airborne Corps is the main tester of Project Maven. With collaborating arms organization in US and UK, it has used Maven and weapons systems connected to it to strike targets from bombers, fighter jets and drones.
Beginning in 2020, Maven was used for live-fire exercises (”Scarlet Dragon exercises”). The first took place at Fort Bragg. An AI system identified a tank in satellite images, the human approved, and the AI system signaled an M142 HIMARS to strike the target (in this case, a decommissioned tank). It was the first AI-enabled artillery strike in the US army.
There are 6 steps in the kill chain: identify, locate, filter down to the lawful valid targets, prioritize, assign them to firing units, and fire. Of these 6 steps, Maven can perform 4. A senior targeting officer estimates that with Maven, he could decide on 80 targets per hour, vs 30 targets per hour without Maven. The efficiency was comparable with the targeting cell used during Operation Iraqi Freedom, but whereas the OIF used a targeting cell with roughly 2000 staff, the 18th Airborne used a targeting cell with 20 people.
Use in actual conflicts
In the 2021 Kabul airlift, Maven was used to display the situation on the ground. It could simultaneously display data feeds, such as aircraft movements, logistics, threats and locations of key personnel such as Chris Donahue.
In the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US has used satellite intelligence and Maven Smart System to supply the locations of Russian equipment to Ukrainian forces.
In February 2024, Maven was used for narrowing targets for airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. It was also used for locating rocket launchers in Yemen and surface vessels in the Red Sea, some of which were destroyed in February 2024 according to CENTCOM.
AI targeting is the future. Yes, AI has identified and killed humans. There is a “man in the loop”, but his job isn’t necessarily to designate or approve targets, but to “wave off” attacks he or his chain of command deem inappropriate, such as non-combatants or friendlies. AI will be playing a much larger role in future conflicts.