Military autonomous drones (UAVs) - from fantasy to reality. Legal and Ethical implications.

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicles, (UAVs), called drones, have recently greatly increased their role from simple surveillance and reconnaissance to increasingly controversial targeted killings. Autonomous drones raise important judicial and ethical issues about responsibility for unintentional harm which will be discussed in this paper. Autonomy refers to respect for human autonomy (in contrast with the autonomy of a drone) and includes the free choice of individuals and groups. In the context of drones used, the ethical principle of autonomy is translated into the human values, responsibility and trust. Some features of these unmanned combat aircraft (UAVs), such as flying at high altitudes, the ability to collect effective information and their impact on civilians, influence decisions on the legality of these weapons, and the distance between the operator of the aircraft and military targets also affects the principles of international law and humanitarian law. The paper will analyze the legal and ethical issues on using drones as a weapon.