does unmanned make unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · duties uav types uav...

22
Cor Oudes, Wim Zwijnenburg May 2011 Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? Exploring the Debate on using Drones and Robots in Warfare

Upload: others

Post on 09-Jul-2020

5 views

Category:

Documents


1 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

Cor Oudes, Wim ZwijnenburgMay 2011

Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? Exploring the Debate on using Drones and Robots in Warfare

Page 2: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

1ikv pax christi

Introduction

1 Unmannedsystems:definitionsanddevelopments

1.1 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

1.2 Unmanned Ground Vehicles

1.3 Unmanned Underwater Vehicles and Unmanned Surface Vehicles

1.4 Autonomous versus remote controlled

2 Unmannedsystems:deploymentanduse

2.1 International use of unmanned systems

2.2 Dutch use of unmanned systems at home and abroad

3 Effectsanddangersofunmannedsystemsonabattleground

3.1 Pros and cons of unmanned systems

3.2 Dehumanising warfare

4 Ethicalandlegalissuesandreflections

4.1 Cultural context: risk-free warfare

4.2 Unarmed systems

4.3 Armed systems

4.4 Autonomous systems

4.5 Extrajudicial killings

4.6 Unmanned systems and the strife between public and private

5 Conclusions

Bibliography

ISBN9789070443672

©IKVPaxChristi

March2011

IKVPaxChristiworksforpeace,reconciliationandjusticeintheworld.Wework

togetherwithpeopleinwarzonestobuildapeacefulanddemocraticsociety.We

enlisttheaidofpeopleintheNetherlandswho,likeIKVPaxChristi,wanttowork

forpoliticalsolutionstocrisesandarmedconflicts.IKVPaxChristicombines

knowledge,energyandpeopletoattainonesingleobjective:peacenow!

Ifyouhavequestions,remarksorcommentsonthisreportyoucansendthemto

[email protected]:www.ikvpaxchristi.nl.

WewouldliketothankFrankSlijperforhisvaluablecommentsandexpertise.

Furthermore,wewouldliketothankMerijndeJong,DavidNauta,Lambèr

RoyakkersandMiriamStruyk.

IKVPaxChristihasdoneitsutmosttoretrievethecopyrightholdersoftheimages

usedinthisreport.Ifyouthinkimagesofwhichyouarethecopyrightholderhave

beenusedwronglyinthisreport,[email protected].

WimZwijnenburgandCorOudesareIKVPaxChristipolicyofficersforSecurity

andDisarmament.

Lay-out:HiljeOosterbaanMartinius

Translation:CatherineRomanik

Table of Contents

2

4

4

7

8

10

11

11

15

18

18

21

24

24

25

26

28

31

32

34

36

Page 3: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

2 does unmanned make unacceptable? — exploring the debate on using drones and robots in warfare 3ikv pax christi

Aspeaceorganisation,IKVPaxChristiwantstotakeastandinthediscussionson

technologicaldevelopmentsinthedomainofwarandpeace.Thesedevelopments,

ofwhichtheuseofrobotstowagewarisone,raisenewethical,politicalandlegal

questions.IKVPaxChristiwantstogivethesequestionsaplaceintheirownright

inthisdiscussion.Itgoeswithoutsayingthattheimpactonciviliansplaysalead-

ingroleinourconsiderations.Thisreportfocusesonwhethertheuseofdrones

androbotshelpstoprotectcivilians,orwhetheritputsciviliansinwarzones

ingreaterdanger.Webelievethatpoliticalandpublicdiscussionofthisquestion

isnecessaryforabetterunderstandingofthisissue.Wehopethatthisreportwill

beamodestcontributiontothisobjective.

MiriamStruyk

SecurityandDisarmamentProgrammeTeamLeader

IKVPaxChristi

HumansecurityistheguidingprincipleintheworkandthinkingofIKVPax

Christi.Protectingciviliansisthemainpurposeofourworkinthevarious

areasofconflictinwhichwe–andourpartners–operate.Our’Securityand

Disarmament’teamgivesimpetustothisgoalinareasofconflictviaresearch,

politicalactionandlobbying.ExamplesoftheSecurityandDisarmament

team’sworkincludeexploringthefutureoftheDutcharmedforces,nuclear

disarmament,thecriteriaforexportingarmsandcallingintoquestionthe

useofexplosiveweaponsinpopulousareas.Wealsocampaignforuniversal

implementationoftreatiesprohibitingtheuseofanti-personnelminesand

clustermunitions,aswellasforresearchintotheimpactofweaponswith

depleteduranium.Thisreportfitsinthistradition.

Evermorearmiesaredeployingunmannedsystems–robotsandunmanned

planes–intheiroperations.Insomecases–forexampleusingrobotstosweep

formines–thesesystemscansupporttroops.Inothercases,unmannedsystems

replacemannedsystemsortakecompletechargeofoperationsthattroops

wouldnormallycarryout.Israel,theUS,andrecentlytheUK,haveused

unmannedplanestoattacktargetsinthePalestinianterritories,Afghanistan

andPakistan. Predatorseriesdrones,ontheirown,haverackedupmorethan

amillionflighthours.Operationswithdronesandthecivilianvictimsthat

falltothemhavecalledintoquestionthedeploymentofthistypeofplane

andthelegitimacyofsuchattacks.Thisdiscussionalsohasimplicationsfor

theNetherlands:varioussourceshintthattheDutchMinistryofDefenceis

interestedinacquiringarmeddrones.

Thedeploymentofunmannedsystemsinwarzonesisamatterofhumanlives.

Thatiswhyafirmethicaldiscussionisimportant.Althoughtroopsareunargu-

ablysaferwhenunmannedsystemsdothework,itisnotevidentthatthese

unmannedsystemsarealsosaferforciviliansinwarzones.Sofarrelatively

littlehasbeenpublishedontheimplicationsformilitarystrategy,andthe

political,ethicalandlegaldomainsinusingrobotstowagewar.Thisdiscussion

mustbecarriedoutnow,becauserightnowitisstillpossibletoguideand

focustheinevitabledevelopmentsintheuseofunmannedplanesandrobots.

Thisreportoutlinesthemostrecentdevelopmentsanduseofunmanned

planesandrobots,andthengoesintotheprosandconsformilitarystrategy

andtheethicalandlegalquestionsthattheuseofthistechnologyraises.

TheauthorsofthisreportpublishedanarticleinInternationale Spectatorthat

presentsthesameargumentsincondensedform. 1

1 See:Zwijnenburg,W.andOudes,C.J.(2011)Onbemand maakt onbemind: consequenties van gebruik

van onbemande systemen. In:InternationaleSpectator,Jg.65,no.3,pp.141-145.

Introduction

An American Predator MQ-1 ready for departure. © U.S. Department of Defense

Page 4: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

4 does unmanned make unacceptable? — exploring the debate on using drones and robots in warfare 5ikv pax christi

discussiononthelegitimacyandeffectivenessofdrones.2

Thedronechangedfromanunmannedaerialvehicleinto

anunmannedcombataerialvehicle(UCAV).

SincethentherehasbeenastrongincreaseinthenumberofUAV

attacksontargetsinIraq,AfghanistanandPakistan.Nowadays,

moreUAVpilotsarebeingtrainedthanregularpilots.3MQ-14

dronesontheirownhaveaccumulatedmorethan1millionflight

hoursand80,000missionssince2006.85%ofthesewerecombat

missions.5Inthecomingyearsthesenumberswillriseevenmore

sharply,giventhegreaternumberofdronesonbattlefieldsand

theirpopularitywitharmycommanders.6UAVscanbesubdivided

intoseveralcategories.TherearethelargerUAVsthatarecontrol-

ledfromtheUS.Thesearemainlyusedforintelligencegathering,

reconnaissanceandsurveillance,butalsotogivecloseairsupport

(CAS)forgroundtroopsortoeliminateHVAs.Anewhigh-tech

functionforthesedronesiselectronicwarfare:disruptingradar

signalsandattackingelectronicsystemswithelectromagnetic

beamweapons.Inadditiontothis,groundtroopscantakealong

small,portabledronesthattheycancontrolandusetogetaerial

views,orastheyputit,‘tolookbeyondthenexthill’.

Swarmsoraclusterofdronesprogrammedtoworktogetheris

anotherinterestingdevelopment.Theseswarmsconsistofan

2 BBC(2002)CIA ‘killed Al-Qaeda suspects’ in Yemen.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/2402479.stm(17-03-2011)

3 VandenBrook,T.(2009)More training on UAVs than bombers, fighters.

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/06/gns_airforce_uav_061609w/(04-01-2011)

4 ‘MQ’and‘RQ’aredesignationsfordroneswithintheU.S.armedforces.‘Q’referstoanunmanned

system,‘M’refersto‘multi-role’and‘R’refersto‘reconnaissance’.

5 Jennings,G.(2010)Predator-series UAVs surpass one million flight hours.

http://www.janes.com/news/defence/jdw/jdw100409_1_n.shtml(23-02-2011)

6 Ackerman,S.(2010)Obama: Never Mind Afghanistan, It’s All About The Drones.http://www.wired.com/

dangerroom/2010/12/never-mind-afghanistan-its-all-about-the-drones/(04-01-2011)

Thedifferentnamesusedforavarietyofunmannedsystemscancauseconfu-

sioninthepresentdiscussion.Themostfamiliartermisdrones.Itrefersto

unmannedaerialvehicles(UAVs),whichareunmannedplanes.Theword‘drone’

comesfromthezoomingnoise(droning)thattheplanesmakeduringflight.

BesidesUAVs,therearealsounmannedgroundvehicles(UGVs)usedtoclear

roadsidebombs(alsoknownasIEDsorimprovisedexplosivedevices),forrecon-

naissance,surveillanceorforoffensiveoperations(inthatlattercasetheyare

called‘combatvehicles’,UCAVs,UGCVs,etc.)Thiscategoryissubdividedinto

small,remotecontrolrobotsandentiregroundvehicles.Foroperationsatsea

thereareunmannedunderwater/surfacevehicles(UUVs/USVs)remotecontrol-

ledvesselsforunderwatertasks,likeminesweepingorforreconnaissance.

Earlyexperimentswithunmannedsystems,datingfromWWI,usedradio-

controlledvehicles.Smallrobotswereusedtomovegoodsthroughtrenches.

WWIIsparkedanincreaseinresearchonbothsides.ExamplesareGermany’s

V1andV2,remotecontrolledbombs.AmericaandBritainalsoexperimented

withremotecontrolledsystems.

1.1 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

SmallreconnaissancedroneswereusedduringtheVietnamWar.Droneswere

alsousedforreconnaissance,intelligencegatheringandsightingintheBalkan

wars,butnowonalargerscale.Itappearsthatpriortotheattackson11

September,droneshadobservedOsamaBinLadenseveraltimes,butbecause

theywerenotyetarmed,theycoulddonomorethanobserve.AtthattimeBin

LadenwasalreadywantedforattacksonAmericanembassiesandtheUSSCole.

TheeventsofSeptember11wereonereasonfordecidingtoarmdronessothat

theycouldeliminateimportantpersons,knownashighvalueassets(HVAs),in

enemygroups.Oneofthebestknownfirstattackswastherocketattackin

YemenonacarcontainingAl-Qaedasuspects.Thisattacksparkedanimmediate

1 Unmanned systems: definitions and developments

Duties uav Types uav

Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11

Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer, mq-1 Predator

Reconnaissancemq-1b Predator, rq-4 , rq-170 Sentinel, gnat 750, Sperwer.

Small versions: rq-11 Raven, ScanEagle, wasp ii, emt Aladin

Combat tasks mq-1b Predator, mq-9 Reaper, mq-5 a/b, Hunter, Elbit Hermes 450

Electronic warfare Under development. Probably rq-170 and rq-9 Avenger.

Table 1: uav tasks and types

British BAE Systems Taranis prototype. © BAE Systems

Often used abbreviations for unmanned systems

Air uav

Land ugv

Sea uuv / usv

Page 5: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

6 does unmanned make unacceptable? — exploring the debate on using drones and robots in warfare 7ikv pax christi

forsmallerdronesandareabletostayinfloatforseveralyears.Theextentto

whichtheserevolutionaryideaswillbecomerealityremainstobeseen,given

thescalebywhichdefencecostswillhavetobecutintheWest.

1.2 Unmanned Ground Vehicles

Theimportanceofrobotsforgroundwarfarehasincreasedsharplyinrecent

years.ThisdevelopmentstartedduringWWII,whenGermansandRussians

designedanddeployedremotecontrolledtanks.Later,unmannedsystems

focussedonreconnaissanceanddefusinglandminesandbombs.Thewarsin

IraqandAfghanistanhavespurredinvestmentindetectinganddismantling

IEDs.Manufacturersarenowproducingarmedrobotsthatcanlocalisethe

sourceofenemyfireandreturnit,robotsthatcancombouthousesandrobot

patrolcarstouseinsurveillance.

Robotsarebecomingincreasinglypopularwithgroundtroops.Bywayofillus-

tration:in2004,150robotsweredeployed;in2008thisnumberroseto12,000.

Therearevarioustypesofrobots;morethan24areinusetoday.13Themain

advantageofusinggroundrobotsistheabilitytousethemfortasksconsid-

ereddull,dirtyanddangerous.Locatinganddismantlingbooby-trapsand

IEDscannowbedoneinamannerthatismuchsaferforhumans.Theuse

ofrobotsismoreefficientforreconnaissanceinresidentialareas,houses,

androoms.Becausetheycanbeequippedwithhigh-techvideoandaudio

hardware,robotsareefficientinstrumentsforsurveillanceatborderareas

andmilitarybases.Theyareusedinthefieldtoincreasegroundtroops’situa-

tionalawarenessortoserveasmechanicalmuletocarryammunitionand

supplies.Specialistrobotscanbeequippedwithsensorstodetectbiological

andchemicalweapons;researchersarenowstudyingwhetherrobotscanbe

designedtogivefirstaidtothewounded.

Allthesetypesofrobotsareremotecontrolledmachinesthatcan

beoperatedmanually.Rightnowresearchersarelookingintothe

placeofautonomousrobotswithindependentdecision-making

ability.Wewillreturntothislater.MostNATOmembercountries

haveUGVsfordetectingbombsandclearingmines.Themulti-

functionalityofrobot’shasgreatlyincreasedtheirdeployability.

Thegrowinginvestmentintheserobotssuggeststhatthefuture

hasevenmoreapplicationsandoptionsinstore.Worldwide

investmentsin2010probablyapproachedUSD410million.14

TheUSgovernmentforeseesmanyefficientapplications

forUGVsastroopsupportandenvisagesdeployingarmedver-

sions.15Asomewhatdated(2008)reportfromtheInstitutefor

13 Singer,P.(2009)Robots at War, The New Battlefield.http://www.wilsonquarterly.com/article.

cfm?aid=1313(06-01-2011)

14 CompaniesandMarkets(2010)The Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV) Market 2010-2020: Military

Robots for EOD & Counter-IED. http://www.companiesandmarkets.com/Market-Report/the-

unmanned-ground-vehicles-(ugv)-market-2010-2020-military-robots-for-eod-counter-ied-

329174.asp(04-01-2011)

15 USADepartmentofDefense(2006)Report to Congress: Development and Utilization of Robotics and

Unmanned Ground Vehicles.

assignednumberofdronesthatperformamissioninunisonviacoordi-

natedgroundcontrol.Theideatouseswarmsofdronesandrobotsfor

offensiveoperationsorreconnaissancehasstimulatedresearchintothe

possibilityofautonomouscontrol.7Wewilltreatautonomousrobots

somewhatfurtheron.

UAVandUCAVtechnologyismovingrapidly.Everyyear4.9billiondollars

areinvestedintheuseanddevelopmentofUAVs.Thisseemslikelyto

increaseto11.5billionannuallyin10years’time.8Rightnowseveralmanu-

facturersarerunningtestprojectsthatgiveahintofwhat’sinstorefor

UAVs.Itappearsthatstealth(invisibilitytoradar)andarmingwillbecome

moreimportantfordrones.GeneralAtomics,thedesigneroftheMQ-1

Predator,alreadyhasatestversionoftheMQ-9Reaper’ssuccessor.ThisMQ

XAvengerhasstealthabilities,islarger,cancarryagreaterpayload(weight

insensorsorarms)andcanremainaloftlonger.Britain’sBAESystemshas

ambitiousplanstodevelopitsTaranisUCAV9,whiletheNorthropGrumann

X47BshowsthatfutureUCAVswillverylikelybecomeminiatureF117s

(amannedbomber).10Atpresent,LockheedMartin’sRQ-170Sentinelisthe

firstofthistypebeingtestedinAfghanistan.11Therearealsooptionsfor

buildinganunmannedJointStrikeFighterF-35.Accordingtoexpertsthis

wouldrequirearelativelysimplealteration.Theseplanshavenotyetbeen

putintopractice.12

Furthermore,agooddealofresearchisbeingdoneintobothsmalland

verylargeUAVs.OnepersoncancarryandlaunchaminiatureUAVthat

couldactasgroundtroops’eyesandears.ExamplesaretheRavenand

DesertEagle,whicharecurrentlydeployedinIraqandAfghanistan.

Theirusewillprobablybecomeanindispensableelementinintelligence,

surveillanceandreconnaissance(ISR)tasks.Dronesthesizeofaninsectare

alsounderdevelopment.AnumberofverylargeUAVsthatcanremainaloft

forseveraldaysisnowundergoingtests.Whenequippedwithultra-high-

powercamerasandelectroniceavesdroppingequipment,theycanbeground

troops’strategiceyesandears.Therearealsoplansonthedrawingboardto

placeUAVplatformsinthestratospherethatcanserveaslaunchingpads

7 See:Kumar,V.(2011)Scalable Swarms of Autonomous Robots and Mobile Sensors (SWARMS)

project. www.swarms.org(07-03-2011)&DID(2009)SWARMS Project: Swarming Drones to Sting

the Enemy?http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/Swarming-Drones-Will-Be-Able-to-Sting-

Enemy-05540/(04-01-2011)

8 TealGroup(2010)Teal Group Predicts Worldwide UAV Market Will Total Over $80 Billion In Its Just

Released 2010 UAV Market Profile and Forecasthttp://www.tealgroup.com/index.

php?option=com_content&view=article&id=62:uav-study-release&catid=3&Itemid=16

(04-01-2011)

9 BAE(2010)Taranis. Informing the future force mix. http://www.baesystems.com/Sites/Taranis/

index.htm(04-01-2011)

10 Marks,W.(2010)X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Taking Shape On Board Lincoln

http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=51239(04-01-2011)

11 DefenceAviation(2011)New photos of USAF RQ-170 Sentinel released. http://www.

defenceaviation.com/2011/01/new-photos-of-usaf-rq-170-sentinel-released.html(07-03-2011)

12 Flightglobal(2006)Pilotless F35 breaks cover. http://www.flightglobal.com/

articles/2006/08/22/208525/pilotless-f-35-breaks-cover.html(17-03-2011)

German radio mini-tanks with explosives in World War II.

Page 6: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

8 does unmanned make unacceptable? — exploring the debate on using drones and robots in warfare 9ikv pax christi

becausewaterisnotagoodconductorforradio

orlasersignals.Thatiswhytheideaofautono-

mousUUVsissoattractive.Thesevesselsare

howeveralsolimitedbythecomplexcircum-

stancesinwhichtheymustoperateunder

water.Thinkofwaterpressure,currentand

theneedtoadjusttoheightdifferencesinthe

seabed.Complexsensorsandguidancesystems

areneededtoanticipatethisaccurately.Whatis

more,saltwateraffectsthevessels.Thishas

consequencesforoperationaltimeandmainte-

nancecosts.

FuturedevelopmentsofUUVs/USVsseemtobe

mostlyaimedatISRtasksandlesstowardoffen-

sivetasks,giventheirlimitedstrikingpower.In

December2010,itwasannouncedthattheNetherlandswouldtakepartin

aEuropeanprojectaimedatdevelopinganunmannedmaritimesystem

(UMS). Thetasksofthisplannedsystemwillliemainlyinmineclearance,

butthisisdependentonthecustomer’spreferences.Developmentcould

alsoturntowardothertasks,likeISRoroffensivetasks.18

18 EDA(2010) Factsheet: European Unmanned Maritime Systems (UMS).

http://www.eda.europa.eu/WebUtils/downloadfile.aspx?FileID=1254(04-01-2011)

DefenseAnalysisshowsthatthereisgrowinginterestininvestinginmil-

itaryapplicationsforrobottechnology.Canada,France,Germanyand

Israel,liketheUS,arelargeinvestors;China,too,hasexpandedits

researchbudgetsbymorethan200%.16FutureUGVapplicationsseemto

revolvemainlyarounddisarmingIEDsandlandminesandaroundISR.

Despitethefactthatarmedrobotsalreadyexist,theyhavenotyetbeen

deployed(oratleastthereisnoevidencethattheyhave).However,theUS

DefenseDepartmentwouldliketobeabletodeployarmedrobots.Given

thespeedofcurrentdevelopments,thatwillprobablynottakelong.

1.3 Unmanned Underwater Vehicles and Unmanned Surface Vehicles

Theroleofunmannedvesselsunderandatseaisgrowing.Thefirst

remotecontrolledvesselsweremainlyminesweepers.Theyweresmall

subswithspecialsonardevicestodetectmines;laterversionscoulduse

varioustechniquestodetonatethem.Theseremotelyoperatedvehicles

(ROVs)havebecomeessentialtounderwateroperations.Thegrowing

interestinremotecontrolledtothedevelopmentanddeploymentof

unmannedsurfacevehicles(USVs). Oneexamplewastheuseofthe

SpartanScoutin2003,duringtheIraqwar.ThisUSVhadaloudspeaker;

itcouldstopsuspectbootsand,viaatranslator,couldquestiontheir

crews.17Besidespatrolling,UUVsandUSVswerealsofrequentlyusedto

trackanddestroyorsometimestolaymines,toguardlargershipsand

portsandtocollectintelligencebyinterceptingenemycommunications

fromthecoastoranenemyfleet.Thepotentialforusingthesevesselsfor

offensiveoperationsisalsobeingexplored.Inadditiontothis,theycan

performlogisticfunctionsandcanaidelectronicwarfarebydisrupting

enemyradar.

However,underwateroperationsareconstrainedsimplybecausethey

takeplaceunderwater.MostUUVsarecontrolledviasmallcables

16 IDA(2008)International Assessment of Unmanned Ground Vehicles.http://www.jointrobotics.

com/documents/studies/International%20Assessment%20of%20Unmanned%20

Ground%20Vehicles.pdf(04-01-2011)

17 Singer,P.(2009)Wired for War.NewYork,2005

Duties ugv Types ugv

Surveillance crusher, mdars, guardium

Reconnaissance Talon, viper, PackBot, marcbot, Dragon Runner, AvantGuard

Combat purposes sword, redowl, maars, Gladiator, acer, viper raas

Detecting and clearing bombs Andros, Talon, PackBot, rons

Detecting chemical and biological weapons PackBot, Scorpion, cugr, guardion

Medical assistance Bloodhound, rex-rev

Logistics crusher, mule, Scorpion

Table 2: ugv tasks and types

The armed USV ‘Protector’, in use with the navies of Singapore and Israel. © Rafael Advanced Defense Systems

Tasks uuv en usv Types uuv and usv

Intelligence Seastar, Silver Marlin, Fleet Class

Surveillance Piraya, Piranha, Protector

Reconnaissance Rafael Protector, Spartan Scout

Offence Piranha, Spartan, Fleetclass

Detecting and clearing mines an-sql-48 Mine Neutralisation, reemus 600

Anti-sub operations Piraya, Silver Marlin, Fleet Class

Special forces support Seastar, Sentinel

Electronic warfare Rafael Protector, Seastar, Harbor Class

Table 3: uuv and usv tasks and types

Page 7: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

10 does unmanned make unacceptable? — exploring the debate on using drones and robots in warfare 11ikv pax christi

1.4 Autonomous versus remote controlled

Therapiddevelopmentincomputertechnologyandartificialintelligencehas

createdgreateropportunitiestohavecomputerscontrolsomeoftherobots’

tasks.Thisishappeningonalargescaleandworksliketheautopilotinapas-

sengerplane.Therearevariousreasonsforwantinggreaterautonomyfor

unmannedsystems.Oneismoney.Robotswithincreasedautonomyrequire

fewerpeopletocontrolthem.Operatorsareonlyneededformonitoring.

Technicalreasonsarethatrobotscanrespondmorequicklythanpeoplecan

andcanprocesslargeramountsofdatasimultaneously.Autonomousrobots

alsoreduceoreliminatetheriskofhavingamissionthwartedwhensignals

betweenoperatorandrobotsufferdisruption.Thisisparticularlytrueof

underwaterrobotsthataremoredifficulttocontrolbecauseofthedifficulty

ofunderwatersignalling.Dronesandrobotswillalsohavetorespondtodan-

gerinthefield.Forthetimebeing,unmannedsystemscanuselaserstodesig-

nateatarget,butitisstillahumanbeingthatdecideswhethertofireornot.

Becausearobot’sresponsetimeisfasterthanahuman’s,itseemslogicalto

havetherobotdothis.Therearealreadyrobotsthatcanlocalise,recognise,

followandknockoutthesourceofenemyfireinmilliseconds.19

Greaterautonomydoesnotautomaticallymeanthatrobotswouldbecom-

pletelyautonomous.Fornow,autonomyseemsrestrictedtostandardproce-

dures.Researchonrobotsthatcanchooseandattacktargetsishowever

gainingmomentumasdefenceforcesaremoreinterestedinthisapplication.

TheUSAFassumesthatautonomousarmedplaneswillbeoperationalby

2047.20Someexpertsbelievethatthesewillnotbeself-directedrobotsbut

willentailsomeformofcooperationbetweenrobotsandpeople.21Ahuman

(a‘manintheloop’)willprobablyalwaysbeneededasthelastlinkthatcom-

pletesaprocessandsokeepscontrolovertherobot’sactions,especiallyits

hostileactions.

Althoughcompleteautonomyisstillfaraway,thenumberofautonomous

tasksthatcannowbeperformeddoesraisequestions.Howcananearlycom-

pletelyautomatedsystemdistinguishbetweenfriendandfoe,combatantand

civilian?Peopleseemtobefadingfromsight.Wewilltreatthequestions

aboutthepsychologicalandethicalconsequencesofthisinchapters3and4.

19 Hambling,D.(2009)Army Tests Flying Robo-Sniper.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/04/army-tests-new/(23-02-2011)

20 USAF(2009)Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Plan 2009-2047.Washington.pp.165150-51.Via:

http://www.aviationweek.com/media/pdf/UnmannedHorizons/17312080-United-States-Air-

Force-Unmanned-Aircraft-Systems-Flight-Plan-20092047-Unclassified.pdf(04-01-2011)

21 Singer,P.(2009)Wired for War.NewYork,2005pp.132.

2.1 International use of unmanned systems

Thebest-knownusersofdronesaretheUSandIsraeligovernments.TheUS

CentralIntelligenceAgency(CIA–acivilianservice)andvariousunitsofthe

USandIsraeliarmiesusedrones.Table4summarisestheuseofdronesdur-

ingvariousconflicts.Thefirstexperimentsonequippingdroneswithlaser

designatorstoidentifytargetswereconductedintheKosovowar.In2001,a

dronesuccessfullyfiredaHellfirerocket;thismarkedtheeraofthearmed

drone.22PeterW.Singerexplainshowpoliticalsupportforunmannedsys-

temsledtoastrongincreaseintheirdeployment.23TheUSSenatewascon-

vincedthatthepublicopinionwaslessandlesswillingtoacceptmilitary

casualties.Giventhat,moreunmannedsystemswereneededtoensurea

crediblemilitarycomponenttoforeignpolicy.Inthe2001National Defense

Authorization Act,theSenategavethearmythefollowinggoal:“Itshallbea

goaloftheArmedForcestoachievethefieldingofunmanned,remotelycon-

trolledtechnologysuchthat—(1)by2010,one-thirdoftheaircraftinthe

22 GlobalSecurity(2011)Intelligence. MQ-1B Armed Predator.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/systems/armed-predator.htm(23-02-2011)

23 Singer,P.(2009)Wired for War.NewYork,2005pp.60.

2 Unmanned systems: deployment and use

A British mq-9 Reaper, an armed uav. © uk mod Crown Copyright

Page 8: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

12 does unmanned make unacceptable? — exploring the debate on using drones and robots in warfare 13ikv pax christi

operationaldeepstrikeforceaircraftfleetareunmanned;and(2)by2015,

one-thirdoftheoperationalgroundcombatvehiclesareunmanned.”24

ArmeddroneswereusedforoffensiveoperationsinAfghanistanin2001.

Sincethen,theyhavealsobeenusedinIraq,Yemen,theGazaStripandLibya.

Insofarasweknow,onlytheUS,UKandIsraelusearmedUAVs.25TheUSalso

usesthePredatorforbordercontrol.26TheUNreporterforextrajudicialkill-

ingsnotesthat40countriesnowhavedrones.Russia,Turkey,China,India,

IranandFrancehaveoraredevelopingarmeddrones,butthereareno

reportsonthesecountries’usingthem.TheUnitedArabEmirates(UAE)have

expressedtheirwillingnesstopurchasearmeddronesfromtheUS.27The

tradeindronesfallsundertheMissileTechnologyControlRegime(MTCR)in

whichmemberstateshavepromisedoneanothertobeveryhesitanttodis-

tributetechnologyforunmannedweaponssystems.Itisunclearwhetherthe

MTCRisadequatetoregulatetradeindronesandUAVtechnology.Israelis

notamemberoftheMTCR.28

In2005,non-stateorganisationHezbollahclaimedtohavelaunchedaUAV

fromLebanontoreconnoitreIsraeliterritory.TheIsraelidefenceministry

confirmedthisandclaimedthatitwasanIranianUAV.Thisistheonly

knowncaseofUAVusebyanon-stateorganisation.29

Armeddronesaregenerallyusedforthreetypesoftasks.Firstisforwhatthe

militarycallscloseairsupport.Thisisgivingsupporttotroopsontheground

byfiringfromtheair.Thesecondtaskistoeliminatespecifictargets.30The

thirdtaskiscontinuoussurveillanceofaspecificareatoallowsuspected

objectstobeattackedimmediately.

Robotsareanothercategoryofunmannedsystem.Byrobotsweunderstand

allremotecontrolgroundsystems.AswithUAVs,thiscategorycanbesubdi-

videdintounarmedUGVsandarmedsystems.Unarmedsystemsareused

fordefusingexplosives.TheUScurrentlyhas6000systemsdeployedinIraq.

TheBritisharmyusesTalismanUGVsANDUAVstoeliminateIEDs.31

24 USADoD(2000)National Defense Authorization, Fiscal year 2001.

http://www.dod.gov/dodgc/olc/docs/2001NDAA.pdf,p.38

25 UKMoD(2008)RAF Reaper fires weapons for first time. http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.

uk/+/http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/EquipmentAndLogistics/

RafReaperFiresWeaponsForFirstTime.htm(28-02-2011)

26 Singer,P.(2009)Wired for War.NewYork,2005pp.40.

27 Rawnsley,A.(2010)Wikileaks reveals everybody’s Christmas list: the world wants drones.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/11/wikileaks-reveals-everybodys-christmas-list-the-

world-wants-drones/

28 MTCR(1987)MTCR Guidelines and the Equipment, Software and Technology Annex.

http://www.mtcr.info/english/guidelines.html(07-02-2011)

29 BBC(2004)Hezbollah drone flies over Israel.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3990773.stm(04-01-2011)

30 FOR (2010)ConvenientKilling: Armed Drones and the PlayStation Mentality. pp.6.

31 UKMoD(2010)‘Flying robot’ pilot helps find IEDs in Helmand.

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/EquipmentAndLogistics/

flyingRobotPilotHelpsFindIedsInHelmand.htm(04-01-2011)

Deployment area Deploying country Armed or intelligence?

Lebanon (1982) Israel Both i, ii

Bosnia and Herzegovina,

1993-1996

France (Crecerelle), UN (Fox AT), US (Gnat 750, Pioneer,

Predator)Intelligence

Kosovo (1998-1999)Germany (CL-289), France (CL-289, Hunter), UK (Phoenix),

US (Hunter, Pioneer, Predator)Intelligence

Australia (2001) US (Predator) Probably for testing

Afghanistan/Pakistan

(2001-present)

Australia (ScanEagle), Germany (Aladin, LUNA), France

(SIDM, Skorpio), UK (DesertHawk, Herti, Predator B),

Canada (Sperwer, SkyLark, C 170 Heron), Netherlands

(Sperwer, Aladin), US (Dragon Eye, Global Hawk, Pointer,

Predator, Reaper Shadow 200), UAE (S-100)

Intelligence: Netherlands,

Australia, US, France, Canada,

UAE, Italy

Offensive: US, UK

Yemen (2002) US (Predator) Intelligence/Offence

East Timor (2002) Australia (Aerosonde III) Intelligence

Iraq (2003 to present)

Australia (ScanEagle, SkyLark), UK (Desert Hawk, Hermes

450, Phoenix), Italy (Predator), Japan (RMax), Romania

(Shadow 600), US (Desert Hawk, Dragon Eye, Global Hawk,

I.Gnat, Hunter, Pioneer, Predator, Reaper, Puma, Raven,

ScanEagle, Shadow 200, SilverFox, SnowGoose, Tern, Wasp)

Intelligence: UK, Italy, Japan,

Romania, US

Offensive: US

South Korea (2003) US (Shadow 200) Intelligence

Solomon Islands (2003) Australia (Aerosonde III, Avatar) Intelligence

Angola (2003 to present) Israel (Aerostar) Intelligence

Ivory Coast (2004) Israel (Aerostar)

Intelligence (This is moot.

There are no completely reliable

sources that confirm this)

Kosovo (2005) Belgium (Hunter) Intelligence

Congo (2006) Belgium (Hunter) Intelligence

Lebanon (2005) Hezbollah (Iranian drone) and IsraelIntelligence: Hezbollah

Offensiveiii

Lebanon (2006) Belgium (Hunter), France (Sperwer) Intelligence

Ivory Coast (2006) France (Skorpio)iv Intelligence

Gaza Strip (2009) Israel Intelligence/Offencev

Seychelles (2009) US Intelligencevi

Libya US (Global Hawk, Predator) Intelligence/Offencevii

Table 4: Deployment of drones (uavs)

i Economist(2007)Unmanned and Dangerous.

http://www.economist.com/node/10202603(10-01-2011)

ii TheIsraelDefenseForcesusedahighnumberofdronesin1982,todisturb

theradar-andanti-airsystemsofoftheLebaneseArmy.Rightafter,manned

armedaircraftconductedbombardments.

iii LaFranchi,P.(2006)Israel fields armed UAVS in Lebanon.http://www.

flightglobal.com/articles/2006/08/08/208315/israel-fields-armed-uavs-in-

lebanon.html(10-01-2011)

iv Firsttwocolumnsarebasedon:Eick,V.(2009)The Droning of the Drones.http://

www.statewatch.org/analyses/no-106-the-droning-of-drones.pdf(04-01-2011)

v HRW(2009)Precisely wrong, Gaza Civilians Killed by Israeli Drone-Launched

Missiles.http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/06/30/precisely-wrong-0

(04-01-2011)

vi AFRICOM(2009)Seychelles President James Michel Hails Strengthening of

Surveillance Cooperation with the United States.http://www.africom.mil/

getArticle.asp?art=3311&lang=0(04-01-2011)

vii Defensetech(2011)Global Hawk Drone and E-8 JSTARS may be helping the Libya

Fight.http://defensetech.

org/2011/03/22/e-8-jstars-and-global-hawk-drone-may-be-helping-the-libya-

fight/(11-04-2011)

Page 9: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

14 does unmanned make unacceptable? — exploring the debate on using drones and robots in warfare 15ikv pax christi

Drones(Packbots)werealsousedafterSeptember11tosearchforvictimsunder

therubbleofthecollapsedTwinTowers.32

TheIsraeliarmyusesarmed,remotecontrolledvehiclestoguardbordercross-

ingsandotherobjects.33TheIsraelimanufactureroftheAvantguardUGCValso

producessemi-autonomousvehiclesthattravelpre-programmedroutes.The

AvantguardUGCVisremotecontrolled,notautonomous.34TheUSisalsodevel-

opingarmedrobots.35AnexampleistheTALON,abasicplatformonwhich

othersystems,liketheSWORDS,canbebuilt.Whilethebasicplatformwas

usedtohelpclearexplosives(e.g.inBosniaandHerzegovinain2000),the

SWORDS,isanarmedtele-operatedrobotthatwasavailableforuseinIraqasof

2007.However,theUSarmyneverusedit.Itultimatelywithdrewtherobots.36

P.W.SingertellshowsoldiersinIraqusedaremotecontrolledrobottoelimi-

naterebels.37Therobotwasnotarmedwithanythingmoredangerousthan

cameras.However,thesoldiersattachedaminetothedevice,rodeittoaspot

whererebelshadbeenseenandthendetonatedthemine.

Theuseofrobotsonorunderwateralsohasamilitaryandciviliancomponent.

CompaniesuseUUVsforsoilsurveysforresourcedevelopmentorresearch.

MilitaryuseofUUVsismainlyorientedtowardclearingseamines.USVshave

mainlymilitaryapplications.IsraeliandSingaporeansailorshavearmed,

remotecontrolledboats.Israelusestheseprimarilyforpatroldutiesalongits

owncoast.In2005,SingaporeusedsuchboatsbeforethecoastofIraqduringa

peacekeepingoperationthere.38

32 Singer,P.(2009)Wired for War.NewYork,2005pp.40.

33 Skinner,T.andWhite,A.(2010)Eurosatory 2010: G-Nius unveils AvantGuard UGCV.

Via:http://www.shephard.co.uk/news/uvonline/eurosatory-2010-g-nius-unveils-avantguard-

ugcv/6540/(14-06-2011)

34 GNIUS(2008)Avantguard UGCV.

http://g-nius.co.il/unmanned-ground-systems/avantguard.html(04-01-2011)

35 LockheedMartin(2011)Multifunction Utility/Logistics and Equipment Vehicle (MULE).

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/products/mule/index.html(04-01-2011)

36 GlobalSecurity(2011)Intelligence. TALON Small Mobile Robot.http://www.globalsecurity.org/

military/systems/ground/talon.htm(04-01-2011)&PopularMechanics(2009)The Inside Story of

the SWORDS Armed Robot “Pullout” in Iraq: Update.http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/

gadgets/4258963(04-01-2011)

37 Singer,P.(2009)Wired for War.NewYork,2005pp.32.

38 SingaporeMoD(2010)Unmanned Surface Vehicles. http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/mindef_

websites/atozlistings/navy/assets/unmannedsurfacevehicles.html(04-01-2011)

Drones and the us, some figures 2006 2010

Budget usd 1.7 billion usd 4.2 billion

Number of drones 3000 6500

Drone strikes in Pakistan 9 (from 2004-2007) 53

Source: for (2010) Convenient Killing: Armed drones and the playstation mentality. pp. 7. Table 5: Drones and the us, some figures

2.2 Dutch use of unmanned systems at home and abroad

TheDutcharmyhasseveraldronesthatitusestogatherintelligence.Right

now,theNetherlandshasnoarmeddronescapableofoffensiveaction.The

Dutcharmyusestwotypesofdrones,theSperwerandtheRaven.TheSperwer

(Dutchforsparrowhawk)isatacticalresourceforaerialintelligencegather-

ing.39TheNetherlandsalsohastheAladinsystem,withlowercapacitythanthe

Raven.Theuseofthissystemwasterminatedin2007.40

Upto2007,theNetherlandsinvestedinacquiringaMALE(mediumaltitude

longendurance)UAVsystemthatcouldremainairbornelonger,designedfor

intelligencegathering.41TheMALEUAVwasintendedtoservefourpurposes:

observation,reconnaissance,targetselectionandbattledamageassessment.

TheDutchdefencedepartmentcurtaileditsinvestmentinthisweapondueto

budgetcuts.

InAfghanistan,theDutcharmedforcesusedtheSperwerandAladin.Inearly

2009,DutchpersonnelcouldnolongeroperatetheSperwerduetothefact

themhavingservedtheirmaximumtoursofduty.Afterthatreconnaissance

taskswithUAVswerecontractedouttoanIsraelicompanythatworkedwith

Britishtechnicians.42TheDutchdefencedepartmentalsousedtheRavenforciv-

il-militarycooperationintheNetherlands.Attheturnoftheyear2009-2010,

thepoliceandfiredepartmentsusedRavenUAVstokeepaneyeonareaswhere

therehadbeentroublesearlier.Adronewasalsoemployedwhenevicting

squattersin2008.TheDutchpolicehaveadronewithsensorsforpinpointing

cannabisplantations.43

TheDutcharmyalsohasarobot,calledtheWheelbarrow.44TheExplosives

OrdinanceDisposal(EOD)Unitusesitforreconnaissanceinsituationswhere

explosivescouldbepresentanditisusedtodismantleexplosives.The

Wheelbarrowcanalsobeenequippedwithremotecontrolweapons.TheEOD

Unithasaremotelyoperatedvehicle(ROV)forsimilarpurposesatsea.45Atthe

endof2010theEuropeanDefenceAgency(EDA)announcedthatseveral

Europeancountries,amongwhichtheNetherlands,wouldinvest53million

EURinunmannedmaritimesystems,mainlyforminesweeping,butpossibly

alsotoprotectportsfromsubmarines.46

39 DutchMoD(2008)Kamerbrief onbemande vliegtuigen. KST30806,no.4

40 See:http://www.defensie.nl/onderwerpen/materieel/vliegtuigen_en_helikopters/onbemande_

vliegtuigen/aladin_uav(04-01-2011)

41 DutchMoD(2007)Kamerbrief Defensiebeleid op hoofdlijnen. 2juli2007,kenmerk:HDAB2007018939

42 Derix,S.(2009)Defensie gaat inlichtingenwerk Uruzgan uitbesteden. http://www.nrc.nl/binnenland/

article2129426.ece/Defensie_gaat_inlichtingenwerk_Uruzgan_uitbesteden(04-01-2011)

43 Cannachopper(2009)Cannachopper helps Dutch Police Force in combating illegal growth of cannabis.

http://www.cannachopper.com/(04-01-2011)

44 DutchMoD(2011)Explosievenrobot Wheelbarrow. http://www.defensie.nl/onderwerpen/materieel/

voertuigen/genievoertuigen/explosievenrobot_wheelbarrow(04-01-2011)

45 DutchMoD(2011)Materieel.http://www.defensie.nl/landmacht/eenheden/explosieven_

opruimingsdienst_defensie/materieel(04-01-2011)

46 EDA(2010) Factsheet: European Unmanned Maritime Systems (UMS).http://www.eda.europa.eu/

WebUtils/downloadfile.aspx?FileID=1254(04-01-2011)

The Ministry of Defence was

asked to comment on the

information in this section (2.2),

but declined to do so. The US

embassy in Den Haag was also

asked for clarification. It stated

that it did not comment on

Wikileaks cables.

Page 10: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

16 does unmanned make unacceptable? — exploring the debate on using drones and robots in warfare 17ikv pax christi

TheDutchMinistryofDefencehasnootherinvestmentsinresearchondrones

orrobots.TheNetherlandsOrganisationforAppliedScientificResearch(TNO)

hashalteditsstudyofthisfieldduetospendingcutbacks.ADutcharmy’sroad-

mapfordevelopingUGVscametoadeadend.47TheExplorations,astudyofthe

futureoftheDutcharmedforces,doestreattheissueofrobots.Giventheper-

sonnelshortage,thebackgrounddocumentationtotheexplorationstakesinto

accounttheoptionofusingrobotsforsurveillance,transport,reconnaissance

andordinancedisposal.48Althoughwedonotintendtotriptheministrywith

itsuseofwords,ithasnotexcludedthedeploymentofarmedrobots:“Wehave

toreserveuseofourscarcemilitarypersonnelfortheplaceswheretheyare

reallyneeded:notasoperatorandfighter,butasnegotiator,managerand

leader. Othertaskswillbeassignedtorobots”.49

Inthespringof2011,thegovernmentdecidedtoacquireaMALEUAVsystem

withfourUAVs.Theresolutionwaspartofanbudgetcutpackage,butentailed

aninvestmentof100millionEUR.ThattheDutchgovernmentchoseforthis

investmentdespitecutbacksshowedthatthegovernmentwantstotakepartin

developingthetoolsofunmannedwarfare.Accordingtothecurrentgovern-

ment,theemphasisisondevicesthatwillbe

usedtoreinforcetheintelligenceposition.50

However,thereisnoguaranteethat,once

acquired,thesystemswouldnotbearmed.

AccordingtoWikileakscables,theDutch

ministryofdefencehasbeendealingwith

thepurchaseofPredatorB(MQ-9). Lo

Casteleijn,policydirectorattheDutchmin-

istryofdefence,issaidtohavecalledthe

purchaseofthisdrone“vital”,anditsdelay

orcancellation“asetback”.Thesameleaked

messageshowsthatupcomingcutbacks

requireDutchdefenceleaderstoturnto‘cre-

ative’methodstoreserveroominthebudget

topurchasedrones.51Itlaterappearedthat

theNetherlandswantedtopostponethese

plansduetobudgetrestrictions,butthe

planshaveremainedscheduled.52Acable

from2009showsthattheNetherlandswas

47 Seefortheroadmap:DUTCHARMY(2009)Robots beslissen in het gevecht, bouwen aan veiligheid?!

http://afdelingen.kiviniria.net/media-afdelingen/DOM100000140/Activiteiten2009/0414Kooysy

mposium/Bert_Stam_-_Robots_beslissen_het_gevecht.pdf.(28/02/2011)

48 DutchMoD(2010)Deelverkenning III: Aanbodzijde, houvast voor de krijgsmacht van de toekomst. pp.30.-32.

49 Ibid.

50 DutchMoD(2011)Defensie na de kredietcrisis: een kleinere krijgsmacht in een onrustige wereld.

KenmerkBS2011011591.

51 USEmbassyTheHague(2007)Netherlands:harddecisionsonthedefensebudget.

http://213.251.145.96/cable/2007/01/07THEHAGUE105.html(01-03-2011)

52 USEmbassyTheHague(2007)Netherlands:Defencebudgetwoes.http://cablesearch.org/cable/

view.php?id=07THEHAGUE63&hl=UAV(01-03-2011)

offeredanopportunitytohavetwopilotstrainwithdronesinNevadasince

theNetherlandswouldbepurchasingMQ-1orMQ-9droneswithin12to18

months.TheNetherlandsissaidtohaveshowninterestinthesetypesgiven

itsexperiencesinAfghanistan.ThisprobablyreferstotheUSresultswith

thesedrones.53TheMQ-9is

speciallydesignedforalargerweaponspayload;MQ-1canalsobearmed.54

ThissuggeststhattheNetherlandswas,andprobablystillis,interestedin

thesearmeddrones.

SeveralcompaniesintheNetherlandsaretakingpartindevelopingrobot

technology.CondorUAVisworkingontheBirdseyeUAVforcivilsurveillance

andsecurityservices.55HeeringUnmannedAerialServices(UAS)isusingthe

EasyStarfor3-Dlandsurveys;56DelftDynamicsisdevelopinganunmanned

helicopterforsurveillance.57GeocopterisworkingwithDSM/Dyneema,

Eonic,Imagem,SiemensNederlandandTenCateAdvancedCompositesto

developunmannedmilitaryhelicopters.58ThalesNetherlandsisalsopart

oftheabovementionedMALEUAVprogramme.Thiscompanyisdeveloping

sensorandradartechnologyforUAVs.59

53 USEmbassyTheHague(2009)Netherlands:

http://cablesearch.org/cable/view.php?id=09THEHAGUE328&hl=UAV(01-03-2011)

54 USAF(2010)MQ-9 Reaper factsheet.

http://www.af.mil/information/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=640501-03-2011)

55 Steketee,M.(2006)Robotvliegtuigje ook voor burgerdoeleinden geschikt.

In:TechnischWeekblad(18/06/2006)

56 TechnischWeekblad(2009)3D landmetingen met onbemand vliegtuig.

In:TechnischWeekblad(18/06/2006)

57 Jongeneel,C.(2005)Geen brevet nodig voor miniheli. In:TechnischWeekblad(18/06/2006)

58 NIDV(2009)NIDV-dag over strijd tegen bermbommen. In:NederlandseIndustrievoorDefensie

enVeiligheidMagazineNr.12009(viawww.nidv.eu)

59 Janes(2006)Netherlands’ aerospace companies aim fro stake in RNLAF Male UAV programme.

In:Janes’sInternationalDefenceReview(26/08/2006)

A Raven drone.© U.S. Department of Defense

A British Wheelbarrow dismantling explosives. © uk mod Crown Copyright

Page 11: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

18 does unmanned make unacceptable? — exploring the debate on using drones and robots in warfare 19ikv pax christi

Thatrobotscanoperatemoreeffectivelythantheirhumancounterpartsseemsto

beanimportantargumentinthediscussiononthegrowingnumberorrobotson

thebattlefield.Thissectionwillbrieflycompareseveralargumentswithaviewto

arrivingatanoverallpicture.Thisdiscussionwillstartbylookingathowdrones

androbotsareusedinwarfaretoday.Itwillalsobrieflylookintonewtechnologi-

caldevelopments,theirbattlefieldapplications,theirconsequencesforthearmed

forcesasawholeandfortheindividualsoldiersinthefield.

3.1 Pros and cons of unmanned systems

Aswasindicatedearlier,therearevariousreasonsfortheincreaseininvestment

inmilitaryunmannedsystems.Thesereasonscandifferpertypeofrobot.Drones

areabletocircle(loiter)aboveabattlefieldforlonghourstogatherintelligence

betterthanmannedsystems.Betterintelligencecanleadtomoreaccuratesitua-

tionassessmentsthatsoldiers,intheirturn,cantakeintoaccountandsoreduce

avoidableciviliancasualties.60Thiswouldmakedronesaneffectivemeansfor

intelligencegatheringandsurveillancethatwouldcreatebettersituationalaware-

nessforsoldiersinthefield.Dronesalsostandupbettertotheforcesofnature;

highspeed,socalledgravity-orG-forces.Humanpilotscanonlytolerateagiven

G-force,butadronedoesnotsufferfromthis.Moreover,ashot-downdroneis

easilyreplaceable;theykeephumanpilotsoutofharm’sway.Also,dronescan

performsomeriskymanoeuvresthatmannedplanescannot.61Groundrobotsare

knownforperformingworkconsidereddull,dirtyanddangerous,workbetterleft

tomachinesthantohumans.Robotsareindispensablewhenitcomestodetecting

anddismantlingIEDSandtheyhavesavedmanylives.Dronesorrobotscanprove

addedvalueforreconnaissance.

Dronescancircleaboveabattlefieldlonger,allthewhileprovidinggroundtroops

withintelligenceorfiresupport.Thisisanadvantageovermannedaircraftand

helicoptersthataremorelimitedintheircapabilitytocircleoverabattlefield

forlongerperiods.AlthoughF16scanbeusedforphotointelligenceflights,they

cannotremaincirclingaboveaterritorypermanentlywithlivevideosignalslike

60 See:HRW(2009)Precisely wrong, Gaza Civilians Killed by Israeli Drone-Launched Missiles. And:Singer,P.

(2009)Wired for War.NewYork,2005pp.394.

61 See:Graham,A.(2010)Drone operators rise on winds of change in Air Force. http://uavc.mckeon.house.

gov/2010/03/drone-operators-rise-on-winds-of-change-in-air-force.html(04-01-2011)

3 The effect and dangers of unmanned systems on a battleground

dronescan.Dronesandrobotsseemtocomplementthecurrentarsenaleffec-

tivly;manysoldiershaveindicatedthattheyarenotwillingtoparticipatein

operationsthathavenodronesupport.Thatshowstechnology’simpactonthe

conductofwar:theextrainformationthatdronescanprovidehasbecomevital

inpreventingunduerisk.

Nevertheless,wedohavesomereservations.Thereisstilltoolittleobjective

informationontheefficiencyofattackswitharmeddronesinAfghanistanand

Pakistan.Forthetimebeing,theCIA,USArmyandTalibanpropagandaallhave

theirownfiguresonthenumberofvictims.Thismakesitdifficulttoproperly

evaluatetheuseofandneedforarmeddrones.Wewishtodrawattentionto

threeproblemsthathavebeenraised.Theyare(1)theby-productsofattacks,

(2)theweaknessesinmilitarystrategyand(3)technologicalproliferation.

Side effects

DespitethefactthattheCIAoccasionallysucceedsineliminatingafewTaliban

andAl-Qaedaleaders,theseoperationsarenotalwaysperformedwithouta

hitch.Ittook16attacksandbetween204and321victimstoeliminatePakistani

TalibanleaderMehsud.62Obviouslyeveryciviliancasualtyisonetoomany.

ButlargenumbersofciviliancasualtiesalsoerodesupportforthepeacetheUS

strivesfor.EveryciviliankilledmeansincreasedchancesfortheTalibanand

Al-Qaidatorecruittheirfamiliesasfighters.63Deployingunmannedsystems

onthegroundorintheairalsocreatesotherissues.Theenemycaninterpret

failuretodeployhumansoldiersonthegroundduringbattleascowardice.

Thisperceptioncanincreaselocalresistancegroups’willingnesstofight.64Oras

Singerwrites,“Usingrobotsinwarcancreatefear,butalsounintentionally

revealit”.65

Weaknesses in military strategy

Seenfromtheperspectiveofmilitarystrategy,dronesarenotapanaceaforfuture

conflicts.Inalllikelihood,theconductofwarinthefuturewillbeprimarilyasym-

metrical;onesidewillalwaystechnologicallyoutguntheother.Non-stateactors

willplayamoreprominentroleandwillwanttoshowthatneithermilitary

mightnordronesandrobotscanbringthemtotheirknees.Ifanything,theuse

ofdronescoulddrivewarfurtherintourbanareaswherearmedfightersaremore

difficulttolocateandattack.Therealsoisadangerthatfromamilitarystrategy

pointofviews,theexpectationsfromunmannedtechnologywillbetohighand

unrealistic.A2008RANDstudyonterrorismshowsthatmilitaryviolenceisnearly

neverthereasonwhyarmednon-stateactorsendtheirstruggle.66

62 Mayer,J.(2009)The Predator War. What are the risks of the C.I.A.’s covert drone program?

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/26/091026fa_fact_mayer

63 Ghosh,B.andThompson,M.(2009)The CIA’s silent war in Pakistan.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1900248,00.html(28-02-2011)

64 Kilcullen,D.andExum,A.M.(2009)Death from above, outrage from below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/opinion/17exum.html(04-01-2011)

65 Singer,P.(2009)Wired for War.NewYork,2005pp.312.

66 Jones,S.GandLibick,M.C.(2008)How terrorist groups end. Lessons for Countering al Qa’ida.RAND.

http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG741-1.pdf(04-01-2011)

Ali Abu Shahla is an IKV Pax

Christi partner. He lives in the

Gaza Strip. He reports that

unarmed drones were used in

Gaza in 1987 to gather intelli-

gence. As of 2000, drones were

armed at some times and they

operated in combination with

helicopters and fighter jets,

including to eliminate targeted

people. “Civilians in Gaza have

become accustomed to the

presence of drones, despite the

disturbing and terrifying noise

that they produce. They do, how-

ever, make everyone feel unsafe.

You never know whether the car

in front of you or behind you

may be its target. Life goes on;

everyone still has to get to work

and do the shopping. People

have grown accustomed to

always being in danger.”

Page 12: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

20 does unmanned make unacceptable? — exploring the debate on using drones and robots in warfare 21ikv pax christi

TheWest’stechnologicaldominationonthebattlefieldisprovidinga

goodoccasiontofield-testnewtechnologies.Currentopponentshavefew,

ifany,adequateresponsestodrones.Thusfartheyhavebeenonlyable

tointerceptvideofeeds.Thesesignalshadbeensenttogroundstations

unencryptedandcouldbemonitoredwithcheapequipment.67Rightnow

specialistsareworkinghardtoencryptthesesignals.Butwhenfighting

againstamoretechnologicallysophisticatedopponentwithbetteranti-

aircraftsystems,droneswillbeinadequate.Becauseoftheirlimmited

speed,dronesarestillveryvulnerableandhencetheiruseinriskymis-

sionswillbeveryexpensive.Inshort,technologicalsupremacywillnot

producevictoryinpresent,complex,cross-borderconflicts.Thereis

greaterneedforastrategythatwillremoveorreducethecausesofthe

conflict.Relyingtooheavilyonthesupremacyofmilitarytechnology

willonlyincreaseresisters’resentment.

Technological proliferation

Finally,wewanttoexaminetheriskofproliferation.Thegrowthinuse

ofdroneshasledtoanenormousinvestmentinrobottechnology.

Around50countriesnowdevelopandusedrones.Thisnumberwill

probablyonlycontinuetogrowinthefutureasthetechnologyspreads.

Thepriceofmanufacturingdronesandrobotsislowcomparedtothat

ofmannedsystems.Smallcommercialdronescanbeboughtoffthe

shelf.Dronesarecurrentlycheaperthanmannedplanesandsupply

moreintelligence.However,aswasthecasewithmannedplanes,the

pricewillprobablygoupasthetechnologydevelops.Despitetheserising

costs,thereisachanceofaspill-overeffect,meaningthatinterestedpar-

tiescanfindearliertechnologyonthemarketatrelativelylowprices.

Inthelong-term,dronesarenotreallyacheaperalternativeformanned

systems.Thenumberofdroneswillgrowmuchmorestronglythanthe

numberofmannedplanes.Eachdroneunitusuallyconsistsofthree

people:apilot,anarmsexpertandasensoranalyst.Drones’sophisti-

catedsurveillancetechnologyalsorequiresmaintenance.Asweshowed

above,thereisagrowinginterestinusingdronesandrobotsformilitary

purposes,buttheirpricesarelikelytorise.Fornow,however,thecostsof

trainingdronepilotsaswellasforfuelarelower.68Becausesomedrone

technologyisbasedonopensourceresearch,non-stateactorsandgovern-

mentsoffragileandrepressivestatescaneasilygainaccesstothischeap

andsimpletechnology.Therapidspreadoftechnologicalknowledge

aboutarmedrobotscouldleadtotheiruseinattacks.Usedattheright

timeinacrowdedplace,anarmedrobotcancausemanycasualtiesand

adronewithexplosivescanbeanefficientmeansforanattack.Thatis

whytheappealtoregulatethistechnologyisgrowing.TheInternational

CommitteeforRobotArmsControl(ICRAC)–consistingofexpertsinthe

67 Gorman,S.,DreazenY.J.,andCole,A.(2009)Insurgents hack U.S. Drones.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126102247889095011.html(28-02-2011)

68 Hoffman,M.(2009)UAV pilot career field could save $1.5B.

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/03/airforce_uav_audit_030109/(04-01-2011)

fieldofartificialintelligence(AI),roboticsandbio-ethics–havelaunched

anappealtoregulaterobottechnologyinuniversallyapplicablearms

control.69

Thereisalsothequestionwhetherpresentlarge-scaleinvestmentindevelop-

ingmilitarytechnologyisjustified.Growthintheuseofdronesandrobots

can(andprobablywill)leadtoanewarmsraceandtheimaginableincrease

intensionthisentails.Notwithstandingtheinevitabledevelopmentofthis

technology,wemustquestiontheextenttowhichwewanttoacquiesceto

this.Anotherproblemthatmightariseisloweringthethresholdfordanger-

ous(spying)operationswhentheriskforpersonnelisloweredthroughthe

useofdrones.However,ifadronehoversorisshotdownoverhostileterri-

torythiscouldexacerbatetensionsbetweennations.Sofar,wedonotknow

howshootingdownadroneaffectstheius ad bellum(righttowagewar),but

itmaywellleadtoconflictescalation.WewillreturntothisinChapter4.

Insummarywecanconcludethatdronesandrobotscandoalottosupport

groundtroopsinspecifictypesofconflict,especiallywhenitcomestodetect-

ingandclearingminesandtoISRoperations.Theirdeploymentwillvery

probablygrow,butitisnotcertainthattheirusewillbedecisivewhenit

comestomilitarystrategy.Humanactiononthegroundismoreimportant

thancamerasintheairandpress-buttonwarfare.Theeasewithwhichthe

technologycanbespreadalsoincreasesthechancethatterroristgroupswill

usearmeddrones.

3.2 Dehumanising warfare

Amuchheardobjectionagainstusingremotecontrolleddronesandrobots

isthatitremoveshumancontactfrom(dehumanises)war.Thenewgenera-

tionofdronepilotsgrewupwithcomputergameslikeMedalofHonorand

CallofDuty.Thesearecalledfirstpersonshooterswheretheplayerassumes

thepersonaofasoldieronabattlefield.Inmorerecenteditionsofthese

games,playerscanalsousedronestolocaliseandeliminateanenemy.

WhentheUSarmygoesouttorecruitdroneoperators,itlooksforpeople

whogrewupplayingthesegames.Thelinebetweenthevirtualworldand

thedestructionthatoperatorscancauseonthegroundbecomesblurry

becausetheirworkisveryfarfromthephysicalexperienceofwar.Thereisa

legitimateconcernaboutwhetheroperatorscandistinguishbetweenagame

andreality. OneillustrationofthisisthecommentbyadronepilotinQatar,

“It’slikeavideogame. Itcangetalittlebloodthirsty. Butit’sfuckingcool”.70

Thedistancetothebattlefieldwherethedronesoperatehasitsprosand

cons.Apartfromthedirectphysicaldangerthatsoldiersfaceonabattle-

field,usingdronesavoidsanotherseriousproblem:physicalpresenceonthe

battlefieldcutsasoldier’sresponsespeedandthushis/herabilitytoreacha

69 ICRAC(2010)The statement of the 2010 Expert Workshop on Limiting Armed Tele-Operated and

Autonomous Systems. http://www.icrac.co.uk/Expert%20Workshop%20Statement.pdf

(28-02-2011)

70 Singer,P.(2009)Wired for War.NewYork,2005pp.332.

Page 13: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

22 does unmanned make unacceptable? — exploring the debate on using drones and robots in warfare 23ikv pax christi

correctassessment.Thisincreasesthe

chanceofmakinganincorrectdecision.

Thedroneoperator’sdistancefromthe

battlefieldisonewaytoresolvethis

problem.Droneoperatorscanalsobase

theirdecisionsonarangeofsupporting

datatypes.71

Yetanimpersonalwarwhereoperators

launchcomputer-guidedsmartweapons

fromremotelocationscanleadtopsy-

chologicalnumbinginthoseoperating

theweapons.Becausethedroneopera-

torsarephysicallydistantfromthebat-

tlefield,theyneedfearnophysicalharm.Theydo,however,participatein

thebattle.Theyareindirectvideoandaudiocommunicationwiththe

field.Theydoexperience(onanotherlevel)emotionalstimuliandstress

whentheyseeandheartheirfriendscomeunderfireorwhentheycansee

(oftenindetail)theeffectoftheirownactions.72Creatingmodifiedinter-

facesthatshownodirectimagesisonewaybeingconsideredtoeliminate

thesestressstimuli.Thedownsidetothisisthatresearchshowsthatusing

interfacescanleadtogreateremotionaldistancefromtheenemy.

Replacinganenemywithasymbolcanleadtoafailuretorecognisehim/

herasapersonandthustodehumanisation.Soldiersareintentionally

conditionedtoremainemotionlesswhenseeingtheenemy;thisisto

increasetheirtoleranceforviolencewithoutincreasingtheirstresslevels.

Or,tousethewordsofRoyakkersandVanEst“cubiclewarriorslosesight

ofmeansandtheirethicalimplicationsandstartconcentratingonly

ontheendsoroutcomes”.73RoyakkersandVanEstresearch’showsthat

dehumanisingleadstomoraldetachment.Thetargetisnolongerseen

assubjectinitsownmoralframework.Thismakespilotsmorelikelyto

displaybehaviourthatdeviatesfromtheirownethicalnorms.Reasons

forthisarethedisconnectionbetweentheirownbehaviour,responsibility

forthisbehaviourandtheconsequencesofthisbehaviour.Enlargingthe

distancetotherealbattlefieldandtheactualcontextmakesiteasierfor

soldierstokillbecausetheyarelessawareoftheconsequencesandare

programmedtoconsidertheirownobjectivesasmoreimportant.Singer

quotesresearchbyDavidGrossman,anarmypsychologist,whopositsthat

soldiersdonottendbynaturetokilltheiradversaries.74Accordingto

Grossman,militarytrainingaimstodehumaniseadversaries.Headdsthat

71 SpiegelOnline(2010)It is not a videogame: Interview with a drone pilot.DerSpiegel.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,682842,00.html

72 Ibid.Andseealso:CultMcCloskey,M.(2009)The war room: daily transition between battle,

home takes toll on drone operators. http://www.stripes.com/news/the-war-room-daily-

transition-between-battle-home-takes-a-toll-on-drone-operators-1.95949.(28/02/2011)

73 Royakkers,L.AndVanEst,R.(2010)The cubicle warrior: the marionette of digitalized warfare.

In:EthicsandInformationTechnology,no.12,pp.289-296.

74 Singer,P.(2009)Wired for War.NewYork,2005pp.395.See:Grossman,D.(1998)On

Killing. BackBayBooks,NewYork. 3,pp.99-133.

The cockpit of drone-pilots in Nevada. © U.S. Department of Defense

distanceisonefactorthatmakeskillingeasier.Thegreaterthephysical

andemotionaldistancetoatarget,theeasieritistokillsomeone.Singer

recountsthatthedroneoperators’armedbattleissoeasythattheysome-

timesseemtoforgetthattherearerealpeopleundertheirdroneandthat

theyarenotgodsthatholdswayoverlifeanddeath.Aredroneoperators

reallyabletomakeanethicallysupportabledecision?

Yetaswenoted,distancedoeshavenegativeconsequencesforpilotsof

unarmeddrones.Somedroneoperatorsnotethattheirimmediateenviron-

mentsgivethemnoopportunitytocometotermswiththeirexperiences

becausetheywerenotpresentonthebattlefield.Whereasinanormalwar

situationsoldiersarecontinuallywithoneanotherwheretheycanshare

andassimilatetheirexperiences,thesecubiclewarriorsmissoutonthis

experience.Attheendoftheday,theygetintheircarsanddriveback

hometotheircivilianlives.Theneedtoprocessthewarexperiencesis

essentialtopsychologicalstability;itsabsencecreatespsychologicalprob-

lems.Inshort,theeffectsofwarwithunmannedsystemsonthehuman

experienceofconflictaretoodiversetomakeanunequivocaljudgement.

Page 14: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

24 does unmanned make unacceptable? — exploring the debate on using drones and robots in warfare 25ikv pax christi

Developmentsininternationallawandthelawofwaroccurmainlyasresponses

tonewtechnology.Thatiswhyitisimportanttodevelopethicaljudgementson

unmannedsystemsandtheuseofdronesrightnow,whentheiruseisincreasing

andtheirimplicationsforinternationalhumanlawarenotcertain.Thissection

examinessixseparatesubjectsfromethicalandlegalperspectives.Theyarethe

culturalcontext,theuseofunarmeddrones,theuseofarmeddronesandtheuse

ofautonomousdrones.Finally,thissectionturnsbrieflytousingdronesforextra-

judicialkillingsandthefrictionbetweenpublicandprivate.Thissectionintends

todrawattentiontoethicalquestionsthatneedansweringbeforeusingdrones.

Humandignityisthemainprincipleunderlyingtheseethicalquestions.Fromit

springsthecriterionthatarmedactionmustcontributetohumansecurity.

4.1 Risk-free warfare

C.CokerdescribeshowWesternsocietiesconcentrateincreasinglyonreducing

exposuretodanger,evenwhenwagingwar.75Cokerexplainsthateversincethe

endoftheMiddleAges,stateshavecalledtheircitizenstoserveassoldiersinwars.

Itwasacivicdutytotakepartinthestate’sarmedstruggle.NiccoloMacchiavelli

calledthis‘courage’,Hegela‘vocation’anda‘publicservice’.Intheirdays,cour-

ageandsocialservicewerelinkedtothestate’sobjectives,whichhadtobefought

forordefended,whetherornotbyforceofarms.Clausewitzalsoexplicitlylinked

thestate,civiliansandsoldiers.ForClausewitz,thesoldierservedthecommunity,

thenationstate.Contemporaryauthors,amongwhichPrimoLeviandUlrich

Beck,showthatrisk-aversion,notcourage,istoday’sdrivingprinciple.Thisdevel-

opmentoccurredmainlyinWesterncountries.Theynolongerwagewarbecause

oftheirprinciplesorforwhatis‘right’,buttominimisethechanceofterrorist

attackornuclearproliferation.AccordingtoCoker,courageorsocialservice

arenolongerthefundamentalprinciplesusedinmakingadecisiontodeploy

soldiers;rather,itisbasedontheuncertaintyabouthowitwillaffecttheindivid-

ualsoldier.AlsoClausewitz’linkswiththenationstateareweakenedorgone.76

Publicopiniondemandsthatsoldiersavoiddangeroussituations.Cokerillustrates

thisbyreferringtothechoicetouseairforceinKosovo,whereNATOaircraftwere

forbiddentoflyunder15,000feettoprotectpilots.BecausetheWestisobsessed

bydanger,oursocietiesseewarinthatframe.PeriltoWesternsoldiersisoneof

themostimportantcriteriaindecidingtocalloutarmies.Robotwarfareisan

inseparablepartofthis.Allowingrobotstodothemostdangerousworkhelps

75 Thisparagraphismainlybasedon:Coker,C.(2001)Humane warfare. London,Routledge.pp.44.-66.

76 3,pp.90-94.

4 Ethical and legal issues and reflections

keepWesternsoldiersoutofharm’sway.Thereseemtobefeweranswersto

thequestionwhytodeploysoldiersatall.Thelinkbetweenthenationstateand

thecommongoodhasweakenedandwewanttokeepsoldiersassafeaswecan.

Thatmakesthefollowingquestionsmorepressing:whatdosoldiersreallydo?

Whatarewereallyfightingfor?

Ofcoursewealsohavetolookattherisksforthosewhodonothavethemeans

toletrobotsdothefighting.Webelievethatthemostimportantelementinthe

ethicalassessmentoftheuseofdronesisthesafetyofciviliansinwarzones.Does

usingrobotsenhanceordecreasetheirsafety?Whenitcomestoprotectingcivil-

ians,RANDCorporationandotherthinktanksdrawattentiontohavingsufficient

soldiersandpoliceofficersontheground.77Ofcourse,unmannedsystemscan

providesupport,buttheycannotcreatesafetyforciviliansororderontheground.

Onlyphysicalpresencecandothat.Whenprotectingciviliansservesasguiding

principleonemustinevitablyacceptthatsoldierswillrunrisks.Toputitmildly,

thatdoesnotmeshwithWesternsociety’sneedtoavoidrisks.Unmannedsystems

cannotreplacebootsontheground.

Wealsowishtomentionthatnowadaysthedesiretouseunmannedsystemsto

reducethedangerofwarisdrawingenormousinvestmentsintotechnologyand

research.Financialresourcesthatcouldbeusedforsocio-economicadvancement

arenowbeingusedformilitary-industrialdevelopment.Wewouldalsoliketo

drawattentiontothepossibilitythatthesedevelopmentscouldleadtoanarms

raceofwhichonecouldquestionthedesirability.

4.2 Unarmed systems

Wewouldliketonotefirstthatsomeunmannedsystemscansavelivesandcan

helpincreasehumansecurity.Theuseofrobotstodismantleexplosivesisanobvi-

ousexample.Unmanneddronescanaddsignificantlytointelligencegathering.

Theyallowsoldierstoseearoundcornersandoverhills.Theoretically,thisgreatly

expandstheirabilitytoprotectcivilians.Whenmilitarycommandershavebetter

informationonwhereciviliansandcombatantsarelocated,theycandirect

attacksmoreaccuratelyordecidenottouseit.Intheory,civiliansaremuchsafer

whensoldiersusedronesduringanarmedconflict.Ofcourse,picturesfrom

dronesarenotenough.Oftentheseimagesarewithoutcontext;othersourcesof

informationmustprovidethat.Anotherconcernisthatofinformationoverload.78

AnalysisofaneventthatoccurredinAfghanistanin2010showswhatthisover-

loadcanleadto.UShelicoptersbarragedseveralcarsthattheythoughtcontained

Talibanfighters.Thisconclusionreliedonananalysisofpictures.Adronewasone

sourceofthesepictures.Theconclusionwaswrong.Thepassengerswerecivilians,

includingwomenandchildren.79Theanalysisofthisincidentpointstotoomuch

77 RAND(2008)Establishing law and order after conflict. RAND.pp.19.

78 Shanker,T.andRichtell,M.(2011)In new military, data overload can be deadly. NewYork,2005

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/17/technology/17brain.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1(06-04-2011)

79 Seeforthecompletereport:Cloud,D.S.(2011)Anatomy of an Afghan war tragedy. LosAngelesTimes,

19September2005.http://www.nyu.edu/ccpr/LA%20TImes%20OpEd_9.19.05.pdfhttp://www.

latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghanistan-drone-20110410,0,2818134,full.story

(18-04-2011)

Evert-Jan Grit works on IKV Pax

Christi’s Middle East team.

He visited the West Bank and

Gaza during the second intifada.

While there, he had a close-up

view of the impact that drones

had on life on the ground.

“As soon as you hear the drones

coming you know that you are

being watched. Although local

people were indifferent and

complained mainly about dis-

rupted TV reception, I felt mainly

fear and apprehension. I realised

that, theoretically, I could become

a target at any moment, that

maybe someone was watching

me and that I was never really

safe. That is intimidating.”

Page 15: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

26 does unmanned make unacceptable? — exploring the debate on using drones and robots in warfare 27ikv pax christi

informationasthecause.Theuseofdronesforintelligencecanonlycon-

tributetohumansecuritywhenusedalongsideothermethodsforgather-

ingintelligenceandwhenthereareadequateresourcesforinterpretingthe

information.

Therearetwoethicalobjectionstousingdronestogatherintelligence.

Thefirstisprivacy.Thisappliesespeciallywhenusingdronestogather

informationforcivilianpurposes,i.e.whenthereisnoarmedconflict.

Insuchsituations,civilianandmilitaryauthoritiescanusedronestopre-

ventorfightcrime.Usingdronesisthencomparabletohangingupcameras.

SinceJanuary12004,thelawrequiresthatthepublicbenotifiedwhen

camerasareusedforsurveillanceinpublicplacesintheNetherlands.80

Thisnotificationismorecomplicatedwhen(small)dronesareusedinstead

ofnormalcameras.InthecasementionedabovewhenaRavenwasused

duringNewYeareve,it’susewasannouncedinthemedia,butthisisnot

anoptionforsystematicuse.Smallerdronesarequieterthanthehelicop-

tersorjets,nowsometimesusedforcivilobservation.

Whendronesareusedtogatherintelligenceduringarmedconflicts,thisis

militaryuse.Insuchsituationsonlythe‘slipperyslope’argumentisvalid.

Thereasoningisthatonceyoustartusingdronestogatherinformation,

itisjustasmallsteptoarmingthem.Fundamentally,thisargumentiseasy

todefend,especiallywhenyouthinkthatarmeddronesarejustgrown-up

versionsofintelligencedrones.

StoriesfromIKVPaxChristi’spartnersfocusonthefearthatdronesevoke

incivilians.Itisimportanttorealisethatcivilianshavenowayofknowing

whetheradroneisarmedornot.Forthem,thesoundofa(larger)drone

meansthatarocketcanstrikeatanymoment.Commanderswhoconsider

usingdronesshouldgiveseriousthoughttothepermanentfearthatthis

arousesincivilianpopulations.Therearestrategic(antipathytowhichthe

useofdronesleads)andethicalgroundsforthis.

4.3 Armed systems

Theuseofarmedsystemsincreasesthedistancebetweenthesoldierand

his/hertarget.Whatnewethicalandlegalquestionsdoesthisraise?

HumanRightsWatch(HRW)investigatedtheuseofarmeddronesbythe

IsraeliarmyintheGazaStripinDecember2008andJanuary2009.

AccordingtotheHRW,dronesfallunderthelawofwarjustlikeotherweap-

onssystems.AccordingtotheHRW,droneoperatorsareboundbythelaw

ofwarinthesamewayasanyothersoldier.Astrikingpointinthereportis

thatHRWextensivelydiscussesthebenefitsofarmeddronesoverfighter

planesorhelicopters.HRWrepeatedlystatesthattheIsraeliarmydidnot

takeadvantageofthesebenefitsduringtheperiodstudied.Itdrawsatten-

tiontodrones’improvedaccuracyandtotheresponsibilitythisplaceson

80 Engelfriet,A.(2010)Cameratoezicht, filmen en fotograferen van mensen. http://www.iusmentis.

com/maatschappij/privacy/filmen-cameratoezicht/#openbareruimte(07-03-2011)

theiruserstoreduceciviliancasualties.Whendronesdocauseciviliancasual-

ties,theusercannothidebehindtheweaponsystem’simperfections.HRWdid

notobjecttodronesasamatterofprinciple.81

Becausedronesareusedforextrajudicialkillingsinsomesituations,theUN

appointedrapporteuronthissubjectaddressedtheethicalimplicationsof

usingunmannedsystems.Therapporteurdrawsattentiontoseveralmatters.

Firstofall,whendronesareusedasarms,theirusemustbejudgedunderinter-

nationalhumanitarianlaw.Furthermore,therapporteurnotedthatbecause

usingdronesiseasyandrisk-free,thereisadangerthatarmedforceswill

stretchtheinterpretationofinternationalhumanitarianlawtoofarsincethe

dangertoone’sownpersonnelisminor.Therapporteurwarnedcommanders

torespecttherulesininternationalhumanitarianlawregardlessoftheweapon

systemsused.Therapporteuralsohighlightedthechanceofcreatingaplay

stationmentalityinwhichdroneoperatorstendtoregardtheiractionsasa

computergame.82Inchapter3,wedescribedtheoperativepsychologicalmecha-

nismhereasdehumanisation.Someexpertsthinkthatincreasingthedistance

betweentargetandthepersonfiringwillmakeiteasierforthelattertousevio-

lence.Tosomeextent,long-rangeartilleryandbombershavethesameproblem,

butinthecaseofdroneoperatorsitistakentoanextremedegree.Thatadds

weighttotheethicalobjectionthatincreasingdistancemakeskillingeasier.

Anotherdrone-relatedethicalissueconcernstheclaimthatusingdronesimproves

theabilitytoprotectcivilians.Inthepast,thesamehasbeensaidofbombs.

DuringtheFirstGulfWar,laser-guided(smart)bombsreplacedfree-fallorgravity

(dumb)bombs.Theselaser-guidedbombsaremuchmoreprecise,canbetter

discriminatebetweenciviliansandcombatantsandcandrasticallyreducethe

numberofciviliancasualties.Inpractice,however,thesebombstendtobeover-

usedsimplybecausetheyarebetterabletodiscriminate.Afterall,therearefewer

risks,right?Forthisreason,precisionbombsareusedinsituationswherefree-fall

bombswouldnotbeusedduetotheriskofciviliandeaths.Thenumberoftargets

isexpandingtoincludesitesclosetocivilianlocations.Yet,themarginoferror

resultingfromincorrectintelligenceremainsthesame.Becasuseofthisthe

numberofciviliancasualtiescouldperhapsincrease.Intheory,dronesincrease

precision,butwedowonderwhethertheymightnotfollowthesamepathaspre-

cisionbombing.Arangeofestimatesonthenumberofdrone-relatedciviliancasu-

altiesaregoingaround. AreportbytheFellowshipofReconciliation(FoR)listssev-

eralofthem.TheNewAmericanFoundation83,aUSthinktank,believesthatone-

thirdofthecasualtiesinPakistanarecivilians.FORdrawsonPakistanisources

(PakistaniBodyCount),thatclaimthat50civiliansdieforeverymilitantkilled.84

81 HumanRightsWatch(2009)Precisely Wrong. Gaza Civilians Killed by Israeli Drone-Launched Missiles.

http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/06/30/precisely-wrong-0(04-01-2011)

82 Alston,P.(2010)Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

UNno.A/HRC/14/24/Add.6.pp.24.-25.

83 Bergen,P.andTiedemann,K.(2010)The year of the drone: an analysis of U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan,

2004-2010. NewAmericaFoundation

84 FOR (2010)Convenient Killing: Armed Drones and the PlayStation Mentality. pp.6.Seealso:Pakistan

Bodycount(2011)Pakistan Body Count. http://www.pakistanbodycount.org/(07-02-2011)

Page 16: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

28 does unmanned make unacceptable? — exploring the debate on using drones and robots in warfare 29ikv pax christi

Asofthiswritingtherehasbeennoexten-

siveanalysisbasedonaccuratedataabout

thenumberofciviliancasualtiesresulting

fromtheuseofdrones.Oncewehavesuch

figures,wewillknowwhetherdrones

causemoreorfewerciviliancasualties

thantheirmannedalternativeswould

cause.Onlywhenwehavethosefigures

willwereallybesurewhetherdroneshelp

orhinderhumansecurity.Itisimportant

thatstatesusingdronessubmitthefigures

toexamination,andundertaketoexam-

ine,whetherdronesreallydoreduceor

whethertheymightnotpossiblyincrease

thechancethatcivilianswillbekilled.

Therearealsolegalissuesalongsidetheethicalones.Singeraskswhether

droneoperatorscouldbeconsideredcombatantsunderinternational

humanlaw.85Underpresentrules,thisisthecase.Thatmeansthattheyand

theirhomebases–inthecaseoftheUS,thereisamajorcontrolcentrefor

dronesnearLasVegas–arelegitimatetargets.Anotherimportantlegal

questionconcernsresponsibility.Thatadegreeofresponsibilitydevolves

upondroneoperatorsisobvious.Butwhataboutseniorhierarchy?Isthe

droneoperator’simmediatecommanderresponsibleorisitthefieldcom-

manderwhorequestedthedrone’sdeployment?RoyakkersandVanEste

poseasimilarquestion.86Theystressthatautomatedsystemsalreadymake

manydecisionsfordroneoperators.Thesesystemscreateanabstractpicture

withinformationthattheoperatorcannotverify.RoyakkersandVanEst

arguethatoperators(cubiclewarriors)cannotreasonablybeheldresponsi-

blefordecisionsonwhetherornottofire,becausetheyhavenocontrolover

theinformation(seealsochapter3).Acleardefinitionofthisresponsibility

isessentialforabidingbythelawofwar.

4.4 Autonomous systems

Autonomousdrones,too,canbearmedornot.Eachtypehasitsownethical

questionsandobjections.Autonomousdronesraiseanimportantnewobjec-

tion.Whoistobeheldresponsibleforanautonomousdrone’sactionswhen

peopleare‘outoftheloop’?Ofcourse,thisquestionisevenmorepressing

whenthedronesarearmed.Whoistobeheldresponsiblewhenanarmed

drone’sactionsresultinciviliandeaths?Thecompanythatmanufacturedit?

Theperson/teamthatprogrammedit?Ordoesresponsibilityremainstuck

somewhereinthemiddle?Theseareimportantquestionsbecausethelawof

warislargelybasedontheideathatsomeonecanbeheldresponsibleforthe

violenceused.

85 Singer,P.(2009)Wired for War.NewYork,2005pp.386.

86 Royakkers,L.andVanEst,R.(2010)The cubicle warrior: the marionette of digitalized warfare.

In:EthicsandInformationTechnology,no.12,pp.289-296.

Protest in Pakistan against attacks with drones.

Theyarealsoimportantbecausethereisneverasimpleanswertothe

questionofwhetherusingviolenceislegitimate.Warsituationsarenever

completelyclear-cut.Thequestionstheyraiseneverhaveyesornoanswers.

Autonomoussystems,programmedinabinarylanguage,arenotableto

actwithrespectforhumandignityduringverycomplicatedwarsituations.

Isitpermissibletotargetanti-aircraftgunslocatedonaschoolroof?Mayan

enemyunitbeattackedwhenithastakencoverinabusymarketplace?

Insuchsituationsonlyhumanjudgementcantakeintoaccountthehuman

dignityofciviliansthatcouldbeindanger.Thereforeautonomousarmssys-

temsseemunsuitableforuseinwarzones.87

ManyauthorsstudyingtheuseofrobotsrefertofictionalworksbyIsaac

Asimov,aUSscientistandsciencefictionauthor.Inhisseriesofbookson

robots,heformulatedthreeethicallawsofrobotics.

1. Arobotmaynotinjureahumanbeingor,throughinaction,allowahuman

beingtocometoharm.

2. Arobotmustobeyanyordersgiventoitbyhumanbeings,exceptwhere

suchorderswouldconflictwiththeFirstLaw.

3. Arobotmustprotectitsownexistenceaslongassuchprotectiondoesnot

conflictwiththeFirstorSecondLaw.

LaterAsimovprefixedlawzero.“Arobotmaynotharmhumanity,or,byinac-

tion,allowhumanitytocometoharm.”Asimovusedtheterm‘robots’torefer

toautonomoussystems.Theselawsforbidrobotsfrombeingusedincombat.

Thisissciencefictionthathasbecomereality.TherestrictionsthatAsimov

placedontheuseofrobotshavebecomeimportantintheethicaldiscussion

ofautonomousarmedsystems.C.HomanreferstoProf.Coker(citedabove)

whosaidthatwhilerobotsmaygatherintelligence,theyhavenoknowledge.88

Autonomoussystemsmaybeabletoanalyse,buttheycannotassessasitua-

tioninamannerthatrespectsreality.Singerofferstheexampleofacomputer

thatcannottellthedifferencebetweenanappleandatomato.Itsdigitalsen-

sorsrespondthesametoboth.Singeralsoquotesamanufacturerofautono-

mousarmyvehicles,“Ifit’sachild,youwanttostop. Ifit’saguywithanRPG-7

[arocket-propelledgrenadelauncher],youwanttorunhimover.”89 Butwhatif

it’sakidwithanRPG?Orawoundedenemysoldier?Canarobottellthedif-

ference?Moreimportantly,canarobotrespondtothissituationasahuman

would?Canarobotcalmachildandconvincehimtohandoverhisweapon?

ApresentationbyanarmyofficerontheroadmapforUGVspositsthatrobots

cannotreplacepeoplebecausetheycannotmeasuretheviolenceusedor

interactwithpeople.90Weconsiderthisavalidreasoning.

87 Singer,P.(2009)Wired for War.NewYork,2005pp.389.

88 Homan,C.(2009)Op weg naar de ethisch geprogrammeerde gevechtsrobot? In:Atlantisch

Perspectiefno.6,pp.4-9.

89 Singer,P.(2009)Wired for War.NewYork,2005pp.80.

90 DutchArmy(2009)Robots beslissen in het gevecht, bouwen aan veiligheid?! http://afdelingen.

kiviniria.net/media-afdelingen/DOM100000140/Activiteiten2009/0414Kooysymposium/Bert_

Stam_-_Robots_beslissen_het_gevecht.pdf.(28/02/2011)

Page 17: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

30 does unmanned make unacceptable? — exploring the debate on using drones and robots in warfare 31ikv pax christi

Grey area

Theuseofautonomousrobotscreatesarelativelylargegreyarea.Bywayofexam-

ple:manyarmedandunarmedUAVsflyforlongdistancesonautomaticpilot.

Atsuchmomentsthedronesaremoreorlessautonomous,althoughtheoperator

canalwaysassumecontrol.Isthisanautonomoussystem?

Morepressingisthequestionwhetherarmedsystemsmaytakeautonomous

armedaction.Oneexamplethatclearlybelongstothegreyareaisthesystems

usedtorenderfiredprojectilesharmless.TheNetherlands’Goalkeeper(madeby

Thales)isonesuchsystemdesignedforinstallationonships.Peoplearetooslow

andtooinaccuratetoeliminateallfiredprojectiles.Theautonomousgoalkeeper

systemcandothis.91Othercountriesusesimilarsystems.TheUSandUKusea

modifiedversionofthesystemtoprotectbasesinIraqagainstprojectiles.92In

2007,anerrorwiththistypeofweaponcaused9deathsandwounded14when

SouthAfricansoldierstestedthesystem.93

Moreover,muchofthetechnologyaimedatprocessingintelligencefallsinthe

greyarea.Manyarmssystemsareequippedwithsoftwarethatidentifieselements

inthelineofsightorfireasfriendorfoeandspecifiesthetype.Oftenthedecision

toshootatanelementinthelineofsightorfiredependslargelyoninformation

thatthisautonomoussystemsupplies.ThedestructionofanIraniancivilianair-

craftbyanUSwarshipin1988suggeststhatthesesystemscanalsomakemistakes.

Noconclusiveexplanationwasevergivenforthiserror.Someattributeittothis

kindofsoftware.Itissaidto

havebeenresponsibleforthe

officersresponsibleforfiring

theanti-aircraftgunsmistak-

ingthepassengerplanefora

fighter.94Manynations’armed

forcesusesuchautomated

systems,theforegoingexam-

pleshowstheproblemsto

whichtheycangiverise.The

greyareashowsthatitisessen-

tialtothinkaboutthelimits

ofautomation.Insomecases,

likeGoalkeeper,itisclearthat

automationcontributesto

soldiers’safety.Theothercases

mentionedshowthattheycan

alsobedangerous.

91 Thales(2011)Goalkeeper - close-in weapon system. http://www.thalesgroup.com/goalkeeper/?pid=1568

(04-01-2011)

92 Scott,R.(2007)Raytheon eyes defence at the speed of light.http://www.janes.com/events/exhibitions/

dsei2007/sections/daily/day2/raytheon-eyes-defence-at-.shtml(04-01-2011)

93 Shachtman,N.(2007)Robot Cannon kills 9, wounds 14. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2007/10/

robot-cannon-ki/(04-01-2011)

94 SeeforinstancethereportintheWashingtonPost,in1988:Wilson,G.C.(1988)Navy Missile Downs

Iranian Jetliner. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/flight801/stories/

july88crash.htm(04-01-2011)

An Israeli armed ugcv. © G-Nius Unmanned Ground Systems

4.5 Extrajudicial killings

Thequestionofusingdronesiscloselylinkedtothatofthe

legitimacy(andlegality)ofextrajudicialkillings.Asother

meanscanalsobeusedforextrajudicialkillingthissubject

mustbetreatedindependentlya.Thediscussiononthesekill-

ingsisnotidenticaltothataboutdrones.Nevertheless,thereis

alink.ThethresholdforextrajudicialkillingsinPakistanseems

tobemuchlowersimplybecauseoftheabilitytouse

unmannedarmssystems.

AmitaiEtzionidefendstheextrajudicialkillingsofcombatants

belongingtoanon-stategroup.95AccordingtoEtzioni,because

thesecombatantsabusetheircivilianstatustheyforfeittheright

tobetreatedasciviliansduringaconflict.Etzioni’sreasoningis

thatbecauseirregularsoldiershideamongthecivilianpopula-

tionwheretheyaredifficulttocapture,theymustbeeliminated

beforetheycanhideamongcivilians.ForEtzioni,dronesare

ideallysuitedforthis.AUSgovernmentofficialexplainedextra-

judicialkillingsinthisway:“Inthisongoingarmedconflict,the

UnitedStateshastheauthorityunderinternationallaw,andthe

responsibilitytoitscitizens,touseforce,includinglethalforce,

todefenditself,includingbytargetingpersonssuchashigh-level

alQaedaleaderswhoareplanningattack.”96

Othersaskwhetherthereisnotariskthatextrajudicialkilling

maybecomethenewnorm.JeffreySmith,aformersenior

CIAofficial,saysthattheseexecutionscansuggestthatthis

isnormalbehaviour.Hewarnsagainstaboomerangeffect

thatcouldmakeUSofficialstargetsofextrajudicialkillings.97

Extrajudicialkillingcanbeanargumentforopponentsto

attackveryspecifictargetsinthecountriesthatperformthese

executions.Thisenlargesthebattlefieldinawaythatcanhave

unforeseeableconsequences.

TheUNrapporteurforextrajudicialkillingsjudgedthatthese

couldbelegalunderstrictconditions.98Therapporteurposited

thatwhenstatesdecidetocarryoutextrajudicialkillings,they

mustclearlymakeknowntheinternationalrulesonwhichthis

actionisbased.Andalsotheciviliancasualtiesmustbecounted.

95 Etzioni,A.(2010)Unmanned Aircraft Systems: the Moral and Legal Case.

In:JointForcesQuarterly,Issue572010.pp.66.-72.

96 Johnson,K.(2010)US defends legality of killing with drones. http://online.wsj.

com/article/SB10001424052702303450704575159864237752180.html

(04-01-2011)

97 Mayer,J.(2009)The Predator war: what are the risks of the CIA’s covert drone

program? http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/26/091026fa_fact_

mayer(10-01-2011)

98 Alston,P.(2010)Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or

arbitrary executions. UNno.A/HRC/14/24/Add.6.pp.27.-29.

Video stills of an attack on armed insurgents in Northern Baghdad, 2008. The attack killed 6 people. Source: Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System

Page 18: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

32 does unmanned make unacceptable? — exploring the debate on using drones and robots in warfare 33ikv pax christi

ThereporteralsoaskedtheHighCommissionerforHuman

Rightstojoinstates,theRedCross,andotherorganisationsin

thinkingaboutwhensomeonecanberegardedasparticipat-

inginanarmedstruggle.Tobespecific,therapporteursays

thatitisthedroneoperator’sresponsibilitytoensurethat

thecommanderbaseshis/herdecisiononvisualconfirmation.

Furthermore,thecivilianpopulationintheimmediatevicin-

itymustbewarnedoftheattack.

Inanycase,itisclearthatinternationallawhasaninsuffi-

cientlegalframeworkontheuseofdronesforextrajudicial

killings(andprobablyforanyuseofthem).Thisframework

shouldbeputintoplaceasquicklyaspossible.Whendoing

so,thediscriminationprincipleshouldbecentral:civilians

mustsnotbecomethevictimsofarmedviolence.

4.6 Unmanned systems and friction between public

and private

Civilianeffortinmilitarymattersisbydefinitionamatter

ofdebate.Militaryactionhasitsowncategorywithininter-

nationallaw.Legaluncertaintyarisesassoonascivilians

becomeinvolvedinmilitaryactions.Attheendofthisdocu-

mentwenotethatmorecivilianactorsareinvolvedinthe

armedoperationsofunmannedsystems,thanofmanned

systems.OneclearexampleisthecivilianCIA’suseofdrones

forarmedinterventioninAfghanistanandPakistan.This

raisesthequestionwhetherthisisanactofwar,anddepend-

ingontheanswer,whatlawgovernstheact.Anotherexample

ishiringcivilianactorstooperateunmannedsystems.

TheNetherlandshiredanIsraelicompanytouseUAVsto

collectintelligencefortroopsinUruzgan.Thequestionhere,

ofcourse,isthestatusofthesecivilianactors.99Aretheya

legitimatetarget?Whoisresponsibleiftheymakemistakes?

Dronesarealsousedforcivilianpurposes,usuallytocollect

informationforgovernmentinvestigationsservices.That

raisesquestionsaboutwhomayusethepicturestaken,where

theymaybestoredandwheredronesmaybeused.Shouldit

berequiredtonotifyciviliansthatgovernmentservicesare

usingdronesinthesamewaythattheyarenotifiedabout

cameras?

Thereissome,buttoolittle,internationaldiscussionon

unmannedorautonomouswarfare.Dronemanufacturers

andmilitaryexpertstendtocreateanimaginaryworldin

whichrobotsareatechnologicalsolutionforthepolitical

99 Homan,C.(2009)Op weg naar de ethisch geprogrammeerde gevechtsrobot?

In:AtlantischPerspectiefno.6,pp.1418.

problemoflegitimatingwarandthecasualtiesthiscancause.Thisseemsto

leadtotechno-fetishisminwhicharobotbecomesamagicalobjectonto

whichneedsforarisk-freewarcanbeprojected.Inthisconceptualisation,

unmannedsystemssavelivesandminimiseloss.However,thischaracterisa-

tionignoresthegreaterimpactthatusingarmedrobotshasonthelegiti-

macyofwarfareandthepossibilityofrisk-freeentryontoabattlefield.Will

thisnotmakegoingtowartooeasy?Weneedindependentcriticalanalysis

toexaminetheextenttowhichsuchideascoincidewiththerealbenefitsof

usingdronesandrobots.100

100Roderick,I.(2010)Mil-bot Fetishism: The Pataphysics of Military Robots.In:TOPIA,Issue23-24,

November2010.

A prototype armed swords. © uk mod Crown Copyright

Marjan Lucas is responsible for IKV Pax Christi’s

programme in Pakistan. For her work she often

speaks with Pakistanis about their country.

She says that the public is indignant about the

drone attacks on Pakistani territory. Many consider

it an outrage that the US thinks it can resolve

problems this way. The fact is that the Pakistani

people and army must bear the brunt of the

Taliban’s retaliation for the drones.

However, off the record, military officials and politi-

cal leaders admit that the drones are effective

and that “they must be unmanned”, sais Lucas.

Pakistan would never have permitted manned air-

craft in its own airspace, just like it does not accept

foreign combat troops on its territory. But because

the aircraft are unmanned, there is an essential

psychological difference and Pakistan tolerates

them as necessary evil.” Unmanned means that

the rules of state sovereignty can be side-stepped

because it is nearly impossible to explain to one’s

own population that a foreign intervention is tak-

ing place on Pakistani soil.

She has her doubts about the legitimacy, and

certainly about the effectiveness of using drones.

“The effect seems to be contrary. There are many

civilian casualties and this results in more jihadis.

When drones kill people, this only confirms the

rhetoric of martyrdom that is so essential in

recruitment for the jihad. Because of the drones,

leaders flee to Karachi and other overpopulated

cities. Moreover, because drones are available,

no thought goes to alternatives like ideological

counter-attack based on knowledge of extremist

networks. This knowledge and information can be

extracted when arrests are made. The point should

be uprooting extremism; using drones is only

about uprooting extremists.”

Page 19: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

34 does unmanned make unacceptable? — exploring the debate on using drones and robots in warfare 35ikv pax christi

Inrecentdecades,theuseofdroneshasrisensharply.Atthesametime,

onlyafewstatesusearmeddrones.Itiscertain,however,thatfurther

developmentinroboticsformilitaryusewillleadtomorecountriesfacing

thedecisionofwhethertoacquirearmedandevenautonomousrobots.

Thisreporthasarguedthatunmannedsystemscanplayausefulrolein

supportingtroopoperations.Atthesametimeithasdrawnattentionto

thedownsideofunmannedsystems:unmannedsystemscannotwina

war.Basicallyitisalways,andpossiblyevenmoresonow,amatterofboots

ontheground.Moreover,thereareseveralimportantethicalobjections

tousingarmed,unmannedsystems.Doesusingdronesnotmakeittoo

easytokill?Doesadroneoperatorlocatedthousandsofmilesawayfrom

his/hertargethaveadequateinformationtomakelifeordeathdecisions?

Cantheanxietyandantagonismthatdronesarouseinthecivilianpopula-

tionbejustified?

Itisclearthattherehavebeenciviliancasualtiesinoperationsinvolving

armeddrones.Sofarhowever,anextensiveanalysisislacking.Itisalso

unclearwhatthelegalimplicationsofdeployingdronesare.Aredrone

operatorsalegitimatetarget?Doesthisexpandthebattlefield?Whatare

therulesfortheproliferationofrobottechnology?Therearealsomany

questionsaboutextrajudicialkillings.Aretheylegal?Iftheyare,arethey

effective?Inotherwords,dotheycontributetostabilisingaconflict

situation?

TheNetherlandsnowusesmainlysmallrobotsanddroneswithashort

operationaltimespan.Inthespringof2011,thegovernmentdecidedto

acquirefourUAVsforintelligencegathering.Soonerorlaterthequestion

ofacquiringarmeddronesandrobotswillariseintheNetherlandsaswell.

Moreover,theNetherlandstakespartinmissionswithcountriesthatdouse

armeddrones.Whenconsideringusingdrones,itisimportanttotakeinto

accounttheirethicalandlegalimplicationsandnotjusttheirpractical

militaryprosandcons.Thisisnotsimplyaboutintechnologicalprogress,

butaquestionoftheresponsibleuseofnewtechnology.Unmannedwarfare

isnotbydefinitionagoodidea.Responsibledecisionsmustincludeareliable

assessmentoftheobjections.Statescurrentlyusingdronesmustbemore

openaboutdisclosingtheiruseandtheireffectsontheground.Howmany

civiliancasualtiesdotheymake?Howdocivilianslivingintheareaswhere

theyareusedperceivethem?

IKVPaxChristiconsidersitimportantfornewweapontechnologiestobe

validatedagainstethicalandjuridicalprinciplesbeforetheyareputtouse.

5 Conclusions Weareconvincedthatthedecidingfactorandcorevaluemustbewhether

ornotdeploymentofnewtechnologyincombatimproveshumansecurity.

Theremustbearesponsiblebalancebetweenthesafetyofsoldiersandthe

safetyofcivilians.Thedeploymentofrobotsismuchsaferforsoldiers,but

dotheybenefittheciviliansthesesoldiersaresupposedtobeprotecting?

Initialassessmentagainstethicalandjuridicalprinciplesleavesuswith

negativefeelingsaboutthedeploymentofarmedorautonomousrobots.

Armedunmannedsystemssatisfyadesireinoursocietytowagewarwith-

outputtingourownpeopleatrisk.Thisurgeseemstobebasedonthemis-

conceptionthatwarscanbewagedclinically.Deployingrobotsanddrones

canmakeiteasiertouseviolence,andthat,inturn,canresultinescalation

ofviolenceandconflict.Humansmustremainincontroliftheyengagein

warfare.Theyaretheoneswhomustdrafttheinterpretationsandmakethe

decisions.Thismayneverbelefttocomputersorcomputer-generateddata.

Unarmedandunmannedaircraftcanhelpsoldierstodistinguishbetter

betweencombatantsandcivilians.Butthefootageandintelligencegathered

areonlyusefulwhentheycanbeprocessedandinterpreted.Continuous

aerialsurveillancewithoutadequateinterpretationorcorroborationfrom

othersources-canleadtoaone-dimensionalapproachtothecomplexsitua-

tionontheground.Thisapproachalsoleadstomorecivilianapplications

andsurveillancedutiesfordroneswhileside-steppingdiscussionsontheir

desirabilityandeffectiveness.

Obviouslywealsocondemnextrajudicialkillingsasmorallyunacceptable.

Theseexecutionsmayappeartoremoveashort-termthreat,butthereisa

seriouschancethattheywillonlynourishlong-termantipathyto‘Western’

behaviour.Unarmedrobotscanprobablyhelpenhanceciviliansecurity

whentheyareusedtoreinforcebootsontheground.Itisessentialthat

statesnowusingarmedrobotsbemoreopenabouttheireffectiveness.

Dotheyreallymakepeopleonthegroundsafer?

Weaimfordebateontheuseofrobots–internationallyandinDutch

militaryaffairs–beforethedecisionwhetherornottoacquirerobots

becomeshard.Wehopethatthisreportisaconstructivecontribution

tothatdiscussion.

Page 20: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

36 does unmanned make unacceptable? — exploring the debate on using drones and robots in warfare 37ikv pax christi

A

Ackerman,S.(2010)Obama: Never Mind Afghanistan,

It’s All About The Drones.http://www.wired.com/

dangerroom/2010/12/never-mind-afghanistan-its-

all-about-the-drones/(04-01-2011)

AFRICOM(2009)Seychelles President James Michel Hails

Strengthening of Surveillance Cooperation with the

United States. http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.

asp?art=3311&lang=0(04-01-2011)

Alston,P.(2010)Report of the Special Rapporteur on

extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

UNno.A/HRC/14/24/Add.6.Pp.24-25

B

BAE(2010)Taranis. Informing the future force mix.

http://www.baesystems.com/Sites/Taranis/index.

htm(04-01-2011)

BBC(2002)CIA ‘killed Al-Qaeda suspects’ in Yemen.http://

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/2402479.stm(17-03-2011)

BBC(2004)Hezbollah drone flies over Israel.http://news.

bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3990773.stm(04-01-2011)

Bergen,P.andTiedemann,K.(2010)The year of the

drone: an analysis of U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan,

2004-2010. NewAmericaFoundation

C

Cannachopper(2009)Cannachopper helps Dutch Police

Force in combating illegal growth of cannabis.

http://www.cannachopper.com/(04-01-2011)

CLAS(2009)Robots beslissen in het gevecht, bouwen aan

veiligheid?! http://afdelingen.kiviniria.net/media-

afdelingen/DOM100000140/Activiteiten2009/0414K

ooysymposium/Bert_Stam_-_Robots_beslissen_

het_gevecht.pdf.(28-02-2011)

Cloud,D.S.(2011)Anatomy of an Afghan war tragedy.

LosAngelesTimes.http://www.latimes.com/news/

nationworld/world/la-fg-afghanistan-drone-

20110410,0,2818134,full.story(18-04-2011)

Coker,C.(2001)Humane warfare. London,Routledge.

Pp.44-66

Bibliography

CompaniesandMarkets(2010)The Unmanned Ground

Vehicles (UGV) Market 2010-2020: Military Robots for

EOD & Counter-IED. http://www.companiesandmar-

kets.com/Market-Report/the-unmanned-ground-ve-

hicles-(ugv)-market-2010-2020-military-robots-for-

eod-counter-ied-329174.asp(04-01-2011)

D

DefenceAviation(2011)New photos of USAF RQ-170

Sentinel released. http://www.defenceaviation.

com/2011/01/new-photos-of-usaf-rq-170-sentinel-re-

leased.html(07-03-2011)

Defensetech(2011)Global Hawk Drone and E-8 JSTARS

may be helping the Libya Fight. http://defensetech.

org/2011/03/22/e-8-jstars-and-global-hawk-drone-

may-be-helping-the-libya-fight/(11-04-2011)

DutchMoD(2007)Kamerbrief Defensiebeleid op hoofd-

lijnen. 2juli2007,kenmerk:HDAB2007018939

DutchMoD(2008)Kamerbrief onbemande vliegtuigen.

KST30806,no.4

DutchMoD(2010)Deelverkenning III: Aanbodzijde, hou-

vast voor de krijgsmacht van de toekomst. Pp.30-32

http://www.defensie.nl/onderwerpen/materieel/vlieg-

tuigen_en_helikopters/onbemande_vliegtuigen/

aladin_uav(04-01-2011)

DutchMoD(2011)Defensie na de kredietcrisis: een klei-

nere krijgsmacht in een onrustige wereld. Kenmerk

BS2011011591.

DutchMoD(2011)Explosievenrobot Wheelbarrow.

http://www.defensie.nl/onderwerpen/materieel/

voertuigen/genievoertuigen/explosievenrobot_

wheelbarrow(04-01-2011)

DutchMoD(2011)Materieel.http://www.defensie.nl/

landmacht/eenheden/explosieven_opruimings-

dienst_defensie/materieel(04-01-2011)

Derix,S.(2009)Defensie gaat inlichtingenwerk Uruzgan

uitbesteden. http://www.nrc.nl/binnenland/arti-

cle2129426.ece/Defensie_gaat_inlichtingenwerk_

Uruzgan_uitbesteden(04-01-2011)

DID(2009)SWARMS Project: Swarming Drones to Sting

the Enemy? Via:http://www.defenseindustrydaily.

com/Swarming-Drones-Will-Be-Able-to-Sting-

Enemy-05540/(04-01-2011)

E

Economist(2007)Unmanned and Dangerous. http://

www.economist.com/node/10202603(10-01-2011)

EDA(2010) Factsheet: European Unmanned Maritime

Systems (UMS).http://www.eda.europa.eu/WebUtils/

downloadfile.aspx?FileID=1254(04-01-2011)

Eick,V.(2009)The Droning of the Drones.

http://www.statewatch.org/analyses/no-106-the-

droning-of-drones.pdf(04-01-2011)

Engelfriet,A.(2010)Cameratoezicht, filmen en foto-

graferen van mensen. http://www.iusmentis.com/

maatschappij/privacy/filmen-

cameratoezicht/#openbareruimte(07-03-2011)

Etzioni,A.(2010)Unmanned Aircraft Systems: the Moral

and Legal Case. In:JointForcesQuarterly,Issue57

2010.Pp.66-72

F

FellowshipofReconciliation(FOR)(2010)Convenient

Killing: Armed drones and the playstation mentality.

Pp.6

Flightglobal(2006)Pilotless F35 breaks cover. http://

www.flightglobal.com/articles/2006/08/22/208525/

pilotless-f-35-breaks-cover.html(17-03-2011)

G

Ghosh,B.andThompson,M.(2009)The CIA’s silent

war in Pakistan.http://www.time.com/time/maga-

zine/article/0,9171,1900248,00.html(28-02-2011)

GlobalSecurity(2011)Intelligence. MQ-1B Armed

Predator. http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/sys-

tems/armed-predator.htm(23-02-2011)

GlobalSecurity(2011)Military. TALON Small Mobile

Robot.http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/sys-

tems/ground/talon.htm(04-01-2011)

Gorman,S.,DreazenY.J.,andCole,A.(2009)

Insurgents hack U.S. Drones.http://online.wsj.com/

article/SB126102247889095011.html(28-02-2011)

GNIUS(2008)Avantguard UGCV. http://g-nius.co.il/

unmanned-ground-systems/avantguard.html

(04-01-2011)

Graham,A.(2010)Drone operators rise on winds of

change in Air Force. http://uavc.mckeon.house.

gov/2010/03/drone-operators-rise-on-winds-of-

change-in-air-force.html(04-01-2011)

Grossman,D.(1998)On Killing. BackBayBooks,

NewYork. pp.99-133

H

Hambling,D.(2009)Army Tests Flying Robo-Sniper.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/04/army-

tests-new/(23-02-2011)

Hoffman,M.(2009)UAV pilot career field could save

$1.5B. http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/03/

airforce_uav_audit_030109/(04-01-2011)

Homan,C.(2009)Op weg naar de ethisch geprogram-

meerde gevechtsrobot? In:AtlantischPerspectiefno.

6,pp.4-9

HRW(2009)Precisely wrong, Gaza Civilians Killed by

Israeli Drone-Launched Missiles.http://www.hrw.org/

en/reports/2009/06/30/precisely-wrong-0

(04-01-2011)

I

ICRAC(2010)The statement of the 2010 Expert Workshop

on Limiting Armed Tele-Operated and Autonomous

Systems. http://www.icrac.co.uk/Expert%20

Workshop%20Statement.pdf(28-02-2011)

IDA(2008)International Assessment of Unmanned

Ground Vehicles.http://www.jointrobotics.com/doc-

uments/studies/International%20Assessment%20

of%20Unmanned%20Ground%20Vehicles.pdf

(04-01-2011)

J

Janes(2006)Netherlands’ aerospace companies aim fro

stake in RNLAF Male UAV programme. In:Janes’s

InternationalDefenceReview(26/08/2006)

Jennings,G.(2010)Predator-series UAVs surpass one

million flight hours.http://www.janes.com/news/

defence/jdw/jdw100409_1_n.shtml(23-02-2011)

Johnson,K.(2010)US defends legality of killing with

drones. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405

2702303450704575159864237752180.html

(04-01-2011)

Jones,S.G.andLibick,M.C.(2008)How terrorist groups

end. Lessons for Countering al Qa’ida.RAND.

http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/

monographs/2008/RAND_MG741-1.pdf(04-01-2011)

Jongeneel,C.(2005)Geen brevet nodig voor miniheli.

In:TechnischWeekblad(25/11/2005)

Page 21: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

38 does unmanned make unacceptable? — exploring the debate on using drones and robots in warfare 39ikv pax christi

K

Kilcullen,D.andExum,A.M.(2009)Death from above,

outrage from below.http://www.nytimes.

com/2009/05/17/opinion/17exum.html(04-01-2011)

Kumar,V.(2011)Scalable sWarms of Autonomous Robots

and Mobile Sensors (SWARMS) project. www.swarms.

org(07-03-2011)

L

LaFranchi,P.(2006)Israel fields armed UAVS in

Lebanon. http://www.flightglobal.com/

articles/2006/08/08/208315/israel-fields-armed-

uavs-in-lebanon.html(10-01-2011)

LockheedMartin(2011)Multifunction Utility/Logistics

and Equipment Vehicle (MULE).http://www.lockheed-

martin.com/products/mule/index.html

(04-01-2011)

M

Marks,W.(2010)X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System

Taking Shape On Board Lincoln. http://www.navy.mil/

search/display.asp?story_id=51239(04-01-2011)

Mayer,J.(2009)The Predator War. What are the risks of

the C.I.A.’s covert drone program? http://www.

newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/26/091026fa_

fact_mayer(01-03-2011)

McCloskey,M.(2009)The war room: daily transition

between battle, home takes toll on drone operators.

http://www.stripes.com/news/the-war-room-daily-

transition-between-battle-home-takes-a-toll-on-

drone-operators-1.95949.(28-02-2011)

MTCR(1987)MTCR Guidelines and the Equipment,

Software and Technology Annex. http://www.mtcr.

info/english/guidelines.html(07-02-2011)

N

NIDV(2009)NIDV-dag over strijd tegen bermbommen.

In:NederlandseIndustrievoorDefensieen

VeiligheidMagazineNr.12009(viawww.nidv.eu)

P

PakistanBodycount(2011)Pakistan Body Count.

http://www.pakistanbodycount.org/(07-02-2011)

PopularMechanics(2009)The Inside Story of the

SWORDS Armed Robot “Pullout” in Iraq: Update.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/

gadgets/4258963(04-01-2011).

R

RAND(2008)Establishing law and order after conflict.

RAND.Pp.19

Rawnsley,A.(2010)Wikileaks reveals everybody’s

Christmas list: the world wants drones. http://www.

wired.com/dangerroom/2010/11/wikileaks-reveals-

everybodys-christmas-list-the-world-wants-drones/

Roderick,I.(2010)Mil-bot Fetishism: The Pataphysics of

Military Robots.In:TOPIA,Issue23-24,November

2010.

Royakkers,L.andVanEst,R.(2010)The cubicle warrior:

the marionette of digitalized warfare.In:Ethicsand

InformationTechnology,no.12,pp.289–296.

S

Scott,R.(2007)Raytheon eyes defence at the speed of

light.http://www.janes.com/events/exhibitions/

dsei2007/sections/daily/day2/raytheon-eyes-de-

fence-at-.shtml(04-01-2011)

Shachtman,N.(2007)Robot Cannon kills 9, wounds 14.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2007/10/robot-

cannon-ki/(04-01-2011)

Shanker,T.enRichtell,M.(2011)In new military, data

overload can be deadly. NewYorkTimes.http://www.

nytimes.com/2011/01/17/technology/17brain.

html?pagewanted=2&_r=1(06-04-2011)

Shephard(2010) Unmanned Vehicles. The concise global

industry guide 2011. Berkshire,TheShephardPress

SingaporeMoD(2010)Unmanned Surface Vehicles.

http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/mindef_web-

sites/atozlistings/navy/assets/unmannedsurfaceve-

hicles.html(04-01-2011)

Singer,P.(2009)Wired for War.The robotics revolution

and conflict in the 21st century.NewYork,Penguin.

Singer,P.(2009)Robots at War, The New Battlefield.

http://www.wilsonquarterly.com/article.

cfm?aid=1313(06-01-2011)

SpiegelOnline(2010)It is not a videogame: Interview

with a drone pilot.DerSpiegel.http://www.spiegel.

de/international/world/0,1518,682842,00.html

Steketee,M.(2006)Robotvliegtuigje ook voor burgerdoe-

leinden geschikt.In:TechnischWeekblad(18/06/2006)

Skinner,T.andWhite,A.(2010)Eurosatory 2010:

G-Nius unveils AvantGuard UGCV. Via:http://www.

shephard.co.uk/news/uvonline/eurosatory-2010-g-

nius-unveils-avantguard-ugcv/6540/(14-06-2011)

T

TealGroup(2010)Teal Group Predicts Worldwide UAV

Market Will Total Over $80 Billion In Its Just Released

2010 UAV Market Profile and Forecasthttp://www.teal-

group.com/index.php?option=com_

content&view=article&id=62:uav-study-

release&catid=3&Itemid=16(04-01-2011)

TechnischWeekblad(2009)3D landmetingen met onbe-

mand vliegtuig. In:TechnischWeekblad(28/02/2009)

Thales(2011)Goalkeeper - close-in weapon system. http://

www.thalesgroup.com/goalkeeper/?pid=1568

(04-01-2011)

U

UKMoD(2008)RAF Reaper fires weapons for first time.

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://

www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/

EquipmentAndLogistics/

RafReaperFiresWeaponsForFirstTime.htm(28-02-

2011)

UKMoD(2010)‘Flying robot’ pilot helps find IEDs in

Helmand. http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/

DefenceNews/EquipmentAndLogistics/flyingRobot-

PilotHelpsFindIedsInHelmand.htm(04-01-2011)

USADepartmentofDefense(2006)Report to Congress:

Development and Utilization of Robotics and Unmanned

Ground Vehicles.

USADoD(2000)National Defense Authorization, Fiscal

year 2001. http://www.dod.gov/dodgc/olc/

docs/2001NDAA.pdf,p.38

USAF(2009)Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Plan

2009-2047.Washington.Via:http://www.aviation-

week.com/media/pdf/UnmannedHorizons/17312080-

United-States-Air-Force-Unmanned-Aircraft-

Systems-Flight-Plan-20092047-Unclassified.pdf

(04-01-2011)

USAF(2010)MQ-9 Reaper factsheet. http://www.af.mil/

information/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=6405

01-03-2011)

USEmbassyTheHague(2007)Netherlands: hard deci-

sions on the defense budget. http://213.251.145.96/

cable/2007/01/07THEHAGUE105.html(01-03-2011)

USEmbassyTheHague(2007)Netherlands: Defence

budget woes. http://cablesearch.org/cable/view.

php?id=07THEHAGUE63&hl=UAV(01-03-2011)

USEmbassyTheHague(2009)Netherlands/Scenesetter.

http://cablesearch.org/cable/view.

php?id=09THEHAGUE328&hl=UAV(01-03-2011)

V

VandenBrook,T.(2009)More training on UAVs than

bombers, fighters.http://www.airforcetimes.com/

news/2009/06/gns_airforce_uav_061609w/(04-01-

2011)

W

Wilson,G.C.(1988)Navy Missile Downs Iranian Jetliner.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/long-

term/flight801/stories/july88crash.htm(04-01-

2011)

Z

Zwijnenburg,W.andOudes,C.J.(2011)Onbemand

maakt onbemind: consequenties van gebruik van onbe-

mande systemen. In:InternationaleSpectator,Jg.65,

no.3,pp.141-145

Page 22: Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable? - paxforpeace.nl · 2020-06-13 · Duties uav Types uav Intelligence: eavesdropping rq-4 Global Hawk, rq-1, rq-11 Surveillance rq-4, gnat 750, Sperwer,

po box 193183501 dh UtrechtThe Netherlands

+31 (0)30 233 33 [email protected]