Weapons systems, which can target perceived threats automatically through artificial intelligence (AI), could be part of the Defence Forces’ armoured fleet, under an agreement with France.It comes as the Defence Forces, which is increasingly turning to AI to carry out missions, is examining the purchase of semi-autonomous weapons systems. The Government has entered into an arrangement with France to purchase hundreds of modern combat vehicles that are capable of using AI to automatically identify targets and aim at perceived threats.According to experts, these systems can also be configured to fire automatically on a target without human input, but to date, no military has used it in this way.The proposed acquisition of AI systems by the Defence Forces in combat scenarios is likely to attract significant controversy. On the international stage, Ireland is a vocal opponent of lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) and has been pushing for a UN treaty banning their use to be signed by the end of 2026.The automated systems are part of France’s Scorpion programme, a sweeping initiative to modernise the French Army’s armoured fleet and integrate advanced sensors and communication systems.In February, Minister for Defence Helen McEntee announced Ireland would enter into a government-to-government deal with Paris to acquire Scorpion vehicles. The deal will be worth up to €600 million, sources said.[ Ireland signs agreement with France for joint military training and intel sharingOpens in new window ]Central to the Scorpion programme is a “slew-to-cue” system. Using AI, the system identifies objects it judges to be a threat. It then alerts the vehicle’s operators and automatically aims the weapon at the perceived enemy. “It moves the turret so that it basically aims precisely at the threat. No humans will have to be involved in any of this,” defence analyst Michael Shurkin told The Irish Times.Minister for Defence Helen McEntee announced a new deal with France in which Ireland would buy hundreds of new armoured vehicles and artillery pieces. Photograph: Sam Boal/Collins Photos Shurkin, who previously served as a political analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), carried out a study on the Scorpion programme for the Rand Corporation, a think-tank established by the US military to study future weapon systems.The Scorpion system could, in theory, open fire on perceived threats without any human input, he said.“Nobody does that. They can, but they don’t,” he said. “All militaries that I know believe in having a man in the loop; there needs to be some human looking at the information and deciding ‘yes or no’ on pulling the trigger.”Sinn Féin defence spokesman Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire described the prospect of AI-led weaponry as “frightening”. “We all recognise the need to acquire additional armoured capability and to modernise our capacity but that does not mean that we need to adopt these technologies that have such profound implications and which the Irish Government is looking to ban,” he said.Labour defence spokesman Duncan Smith called for “cast-iron guarantees” that the Scorpion systems would remain “under human control”.A Department of Defence spokesman said it would be inappropriate to discuss the specifics of the Scorpion deal while negotiations are ongoing. He said Ireland remained committed to pursuing international regulation of autonomous lethal weapons.