Pandora's Box: Lethally-Armed Ground Robots in Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan

Unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) have become increasingly popular for many intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions and explosive-ordnance disposal missions in the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. In these roles, UGVs are credited with saving countless lives. Given the succes...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Shay, Lisa A
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
AFGHANISTAN
Combat Vehicles
CONFLICT
COUNTERINSURGENCY
Cybernetics
GROUND VEHICLES
IRAQ
IRAQI WAR
LETHAL ROBOTS
MILITARY COMMANDERS
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE
MISSIONS
RECONNAISSANCE
ROBOTS
STRIKE WARFARE
SURVEILLANCE
UNMANNED
UNMANNED GROUND ROBOTS
UNMANNED GROUND VEHICLES
WEAPONIZED ROBOTS
WEAPONS
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Summary:Unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) have become increasingly popular for many intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions and explosive-ordnance disposal missions in the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. In these roles, UGVs are credited with saving countless lives. Given the success in missions undertaken so far, there is an interest in arming these UGVs and using them for strike missions. This paper presents three arguments against using unmanned ground vehicles for strike missions in the counterinsurgency operations the U.S. military is conducting in Iraq and Afghanistan. The arguments are based on the Laws of Armed Conflict, the principles of counterinsurgency operations, and the professional military ethic. A counter-argument based on the similarity to Predator strikes is presented and refuted, as are counter-arguments based on saving money and personnel. Finally, this paper recommends that combatant commanders not employ lethally-armed ground robots in the current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The original document contains color images.