Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-04-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether there has been any testing (a) in Southern Australia and (b) elsewhere of the ability of the Taranis system to identify or strike targets autonomously.

Mr Philip Dunne

I am withholding details of the locations at which Taranis flight trials have taken place for the purpose of safeguarding national security. The Ministry of Defence has no plans to create weapons that operate without human control. Trained members of the Armed Forces will always be involved in the command and control of unmanned air systems.