loitering munition

plural loitering munitions · alternative loiter munition

1. engineeringA munition, often a UAV, that waits passively around the target area and attacks only once a target is located.

   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

   1 more example

   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

   Synonyms: kamikaze drone, suicide drone