Concerns raised over Shahed kamikaze drone listings on Alibaba. They featured AI guidance to lock onto people, buildings

[highplainsdem]

From tech site Tom's Hardware this morning:

Concerns raised over Shahed kamikaze drone listings on Alibaba — they featured AI guidance to lock onto ‘people, building, vehicles, ships, etc’
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/concerns-raised-over-shahed-kamikaze-drone-listings-on-alibaba-they-featured-ai-guidance-to-lock-onto-people-building-vehicles-ships-etc

Chinese eTail giant Alibaba has removed listings and suspended the accounts of sellers that were found to be advertising “cruise missiles” and “suicide attack drones.” Australia’s ABC News uncovered the concerning sales of several one-way attack drone models, some of which looked strikingly similar to the Iranian Shahed design, others with a cruise missile profile.

The Alibaba “commercial” listings touted the drones as “pesticide sprayers,” or for “aerial mapping”. However, ABC dug into the product catalogs to confirm the Shahed-a-likes were “suicide attack drones” capable of carrying 2kg (4.41 pound) warheads for distances up to 100km. Moreover, with their thermal imaging and AI guidance, these devices could "achieve autonomous locking of targets (people, building, vehicles, ships, etc.)”

These kamikaze drones would not be casual impulse buys. ABC reports that the listing prices of the cruise missile style drones were approaching $50,000. If that sum was reported in Australian dollars, it equates to approximately USD $35,000.

ABC continued to look closely through the various supplier catalogs it found from the Alibaba suppliers. One of the China-based suppliers offered five kinds of "suicide attack drones" with two having near identical dimensions and specs to the Iranian-made Shahed 136, says the news report.

-snip-

Here's that ABC Australia (no connection to ABC here) report:

'Cruise missile' drones and low-cost Shahed knockoffs listed on Alibaba
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2026-03-19/low-cost-autonomous-cruise-missile-drones-listed-on-alibaba/106448410

-snip-

One China-based supplier's catalogue listed two kinds of autonomous "cruise missile", equipped with thermal imaging "AI guidance".

The supplier had listed the same drones on Alibaba as "commercial".

According to the supplier's catalogue, the drones were able to "achieve autonomous locking of targets (people, building, vehicles, ships, etc.) and autonomous impact on [sic]".

A small drone described in the catalogue as able to carry a 2-kilogram bomb 100 kilometres was listed by the seller on Alibaba as suitable for "pesticide spraying".

-snip-

[Norrrm]

1. Drone technology and strategy are advancing rapidly.

Drones, airborne and seaborne, are shaking it all up.

Ukraine has used them very effectively to clobber the Russian Navy, Army, and Air Force.

Their intel ain't bad either.

It's either a new sixth generation of warfare or a significant advancement of the third generation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generations_of_warfare

Many countries' War Colleges are going to have new courses of study.