DronesLegal framework needed to govern soon-to-arrive autonomous killer drones: Experts
With about 8,000 unmanned aircrafts and roughly 12,000 unmanned ground vehicles, the U.S. military boasts the world’s largest drone arsenal, followed by Israel, with China, Europe, India, and Russia in the second tier. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) will pose a challenge to current international laws of warfare since someday, and sooner rather than later, they will be able to act autonomously – and kill autonomously. The international community has yet to adopt special laws to govern the use of drones in combat.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) will pose a challenge to current international laws of warfare since someday, and sooner rather than later, they will be able to act autonomously.
With about 8,000 unmanned aircrafts and roughly 12,000 unmanned ground vehicles, the U.S. military boasts the world’s largest drone arsenal, followed by Israel, with China, Europe, India, and Russia in the second tier.
Government Technology reports that while the United States, Britain, and Israel are the only countries known to have used armed drones to kill opponents in an operational environment, more military units will soon rely on drones for combat operations. The first generation of drones was similar to piloted aircrafts in design, but advanced drones in the future will take many shapes and operate autonomously. RT notes that by 2040, combat drones will be able to heal themselves in flight, and could include 3D printers that could produce mini-drones during a mission.
The international community has yet to adopt special laws to govern the use of drones in combat. The University of Birmingham’s Institute for Conflict, Cooperation and Security policy commission, headed by Sir David Omand, former director of Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), is proposing an international ban on development of autonomous “killer robots,” while noting that existing armed drone technology poses no “convincing ethical” problems.
According to a report written by the commission, The Security Impact of Drones: Challenges and Opportunities for the U.K., “(The) challenge is to deal with the fears of some that the inevitable development of more advanced RPA (remotely piloted aircraft) will eventually lead to ‘killer robots’, fielding Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) that make their own targeting and weapon release decisions and thus do away with the need for a pilot on the ground.”
The commission supports automation of some drone sub-systems such as navigation, but it doubts “it will ever be possible to program autonomous air systems to be able to exercise distinction between legitimate and illegitimate targets.” Adding that “for a weapon system to be developed and used legally in armed conflict, it has to be acceptable under international humanitarian law.”
Commenting, Jennifer Gibson, a staff attorney at the legal charity Reprieve, who also sat on the Birmingham commission, said that “when figures such as the former head of GCHQ are suggesting Britain needs to distance itself from the U.S. drone program, the U.K. government needs to listen. There can no longer be any doubt that covert U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen contravene international law.”
TheGuardian reports that the commission recommends that governments, specifically British and American, must improve public understanding and acceptance of the legal and ethical use of drones while allaying concerns over the potential development of autonomous drones. BAE Systems recently sponsored a two-day symposium on autonomous drones in London. “I think they realize that if they don’t show interest and at least agree to a be a bit more transparent about the systems that are being developed, then that will increase suspicion, so it’s in their interest to be transparent,” said Mary Wareham, a Washington, D.C. based arms expert with Human Rights Watch.
