Defence Force not ruling out using targeting tech used in Iran war in future

The Defence Force (NZDF) says it is not assessing any Maven targeting technology at present but is not ruling it out in future.

AI-driven Maven Smart Systems has been developed by the Pentagon and tech firm Palantir, and used in the Iran war to speed up targeting hugely.

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) says it is testing Maven in a quarantined zone to see how it could plug such a system into its own targeting enterprise.

The NZDF has a top priority to advance interoperability with the Australians.

It says it is continuously assessing different products.

"The NZDF acknowledges our ally and partner military capability and technology roadmaps will prompt us to continuously review which systems we may wish to, or need to align with to ensure continued interoperability, including those using or planning to use Palantir and Maven."

It made use of Palantir products and "it would be incorrect to say there are no plans to engage with Palantir or Maven in the future".

Earlier this month a Green Party member of the Australian Senate, David Shoebridge, asked the ADF what it was doing under $17 million of contracts with Palantir.

"To be clear, that's the same software, or a variant of the same software, that Israel has been using to identify targets in Gaza and Lebanon and that the US used to identify targets in Iran, including the bombing of the school that killed hundreds of Iranian schoolchildren. It's the same suite of products, isn't it, from the same company?" Shoebridge asked two senior officers.

"Yes, it is the same suite of products, but it is a different system," said one at a senate hearing.

"Those systems that you referred to have the AI function initiated in them. We don't. We're using it to understand how you would collate all the data to give commanders the right situational awareness and ability to select targets on the battlefield."

Shoebridge asked if anyone did an ethics check, and also referred to Palantir staff being "embedded" in defence.

The officers rejected they were embedded, saing they used the company's field service reps to help set up systems. They said Palantir was on a list that was authorised for the ADF to use.

The NZDF said that if it adopted some firm's tech "it would be normal practice - as it would be for any industry - for company representatives to be involved if required".