Dictionary

loitering munition en · NOUN

Meanings

1. A munition, often a UAV, that waits passively around the target area and attacks only once a target is located.
   • She noted that the report stated the Kargu-2 and “other loitering munitions” attacked convoys and retreating fighters. Loitering munitions, which are simpler autonomous weapons that are designed to hover on their own in an area before crashing into a target, have been used in several other conflicts, Ms. Franke said. 2021 June 3, Maria Cramer, quoting Ulrike Franke, “A.I. Drone May Have Acted on Its Own in Attacking Fighters, U.N. Says”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
   • Loitering munitions can circle overhead for extended periods of time, searching for potential targets over a wide area and, once they find one, destroy it. Unlike homing munitions, loitering munitions do not require precise intelligence on enemy targets before launch. 2018, Paul Scharre, chapter 3, in Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War, W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN:

Forms

Coordinates

homing munition

Synonyms

kamikaze drone · suicide drone

Translations (13)

uk баражу́ючий боєприпа́с (munition that waits passively) · fr munition rôdeuse (munition that waits passively) · fr munition maraudeuse (munition that waits passively) · fi vaaniva ase (munition that waits passively) · sv kamikazedrönare (munition that waits passively) · sv självmordsdrönare (munition that waits passively) · ru БПБ (munition that waits passively) · cmn 巡飛彈 /巡飞弹 (munition that waits passively) · uk БПБ (munition that waits passively) · fi vaaniva ammus (munition that waits passively) · sv patrullrobot (munition that waits passively) · pl amunicja krążąca (munition that waits passively) · ru барражи́рующий боеприпа́с (munition that waits passively)