Australia to buy armed Reaper drones in shift towards pilotless future

“Remotely piloted aircraft allow military commanders to make more informed decisions faster whilst providing the option to conduct strike and reconnaissance operations without risking the safety of aircrew,” he said.

The latest Reaper – which is larger than its predecessor the Predator – can fly for about 27 hours, according to General Atomics’ website.

While the use of armed drones – mainly by the US in the Middle East, Pakistan and Afghanistan – has been controversial because they have at time killed civilians, their defenders say they are safer than manned aircraft because they can observe a pattern of life on the ground for longer.

Mr Pyne said Australia’s Reapers would be “operated under the same laws of armed conflict, international human rights law and rules of engagement as manned aircraft”.

Reapers are piloted remotely from the ground. Most experts predict drones will become increasingly autonomous as advances in artificial intelligence and robotics are made, though Australian military officers have said humans will always be involved in approving deadly strikes.

Malcolm Davis, a military expert at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the Reapers would be a first step towards an increasing use of armed drones – also known as unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs.

He said “everything is headed” towards unmanned combat aircraft that would fight other drones in the skies like current piloted planes.

“Things will move on from Reaper,” he said. “This allows us to keep our eye on that future and be ready to exploit it. Reaper opens the door to a more expanded armed UAV force.”

In time, Australia’s new Joint Strike Fighters would probably have an “unmanned wingman”, he said.

For now, Australia should make sure the new Reapers could work with the army’s helicopters, so that helicopter pilots could share information with the drones or even control them, he said.

Dr Davis said the Reapers could be “on call” for the army by flying overhead, giving it constant surveillance and protection, including if soldiers needed to deploy in Australia’s immediate region.

“Reaper is going to be most likely used for supporting activities in the South Pacific,'' he said. ''If you have the army going in from LHDs [the navy’s maritime landing ships] the Reaper can be forward deployed into air bases for ground operations ashore.”