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ABSTRACT: The increasing levels of advanced autonomous technologies (i.e., autonomous weapon systems (AWS)) incorporated into military operations are expected to significantly contribute to achieving strategic political goals. These AWS induced dynamics in the political and military affairs, however, have not been universally accepted. Consequently, serious legal debates with views ranging from a complete ban to complete support for the development, production, and employment of fully autonomous weapon systems have accompanied this issue. This article explores pro and con arguments for the use of AWS in an attempt to aid in the development of an international legal platform for regulating the use of these technologies in a military conflict. The main arguments pivot around the point that a new treaty, protocol, or annex to an existing treaty may be needed to proceed with development of fully AWS, while avoiding hazardous scenarios that defy existing principles of the international law of armed conflict. This article provides a roadmap with the steps that need to be considered to accomplish the development of this international legal platform.
CITATION: Metodi Hadji-Janev and Kiril Hristovski, Beyond the Fog: Autonomous Weapon Systems in the Context of the International Law of Armed Conflicts, 57 Jurimetrics J. 325-340 (2017).
The development and employment of fully autonomous weapons systems (AWS) will significantly influence operational military objectives. Today, there is no evidence of the use of a completely autonomous weapon system. However, weapon systems with significant autonomy in the critical function of targeting are already in use. Although militaries that use these weapons tend to limit their employment in the context of types of targets (military facilities and infrastructures versus personnel) and the operational environment (simple and predictable versus complex and unpredictable), the pursuit to modernize them has raised serious legal concerns. Precisely what is the appropriate level of autonomy and human control in the employment of AWS has been strongly disputed.
Several organizations, experts, and scholars have called for a complete ban on the development and production of AWS, or as they have called them, "the killer machines." They see fully AWS as a dangerous trend that is in conflict with the existing standards of the International Law of Armed Conflict (ILOAC). On the other hand, experts and legal scholars with operational experience support...