Charting great power progress toward a lethal autonomous weapon system demonstration point

The emergence of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS) offers a comparatively low adoption-cost strategy to emerging great powers that would allow them to offset the conventional military advantage enjoyed by their rivals, which threatens the established global balance of power. This article criti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Defence studies 2020-01, Vol.20 (1), p.1-20
Main Author: Wyatt, Austin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
autonomous military technology
Balance of power
diffusion
Geopolitics
hardware
hegemonic conflict
LAWS
Lethal autonomous weapon systems
Military
revolution in military affairs
Software
Weapon systems
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Summary:The emergence of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS) offers a comparatively low adoption-cost strategy to emerging great powers that would allow them to offset the conventional military advantage enjoyed by their rivals, which threatens the established global balance of power. This article critically analyses the role of China and the United States in the development of the "hardware" and "software" components of LAWS, concluding that, while the demonstration point has not yet been reached, the incubation of this emerging revolution in military affairs has already begun to have a geopolitical impact.
ISSN:1470-2436
1743-9698
DOI:10.1080/14702436.2019.1698956