Regulating armed swarms under international law

Pollard, Mike

Abstract

Of the known military systems under development today perhaps none are more controversial than autonomous weapons systems (AWS). Indeed, for several years, opponents have been urging the United Nations (UN) to prohibit this emerging weapons technology by way of a new treaty. Despite this concentration of protestation however, the term AWS is particularly ambiguous. Indeed, there is no widely accepted definition as to what an AWS is; thus it is not always clear what form of weaponry is under consideration, and/ or whether AWS in general could be deployed in adherence with International Humanitarian Law (IHL). What is clear is that for a weapon to be classified as an AWS it must utilise artificial intelligence (AI) in support of its decision-making processes. Simply put, an AWS is a weapon that is delegated life-or-death decision-making responsibilities on a battlefield. Arguably, one of most troubling forms of AWS is armed swarming drones. While still in its developmental infancy, these are, as the name suggests, somewhat similar in form and function to the dense collections of insects found in nature. The primary reason swarms are controversial is, that without regulation, there is a significant likelihood they will be deployed onto the contemporary urbanised battlefield, in and amongst the civilian population located upon it. On the face of it, future armed swarms may be capable of operating in adherence with the obligations stemming from IHL. This includes, not least, the principle of distinction. To do this a swarm could be programmed, for example, to target only enemy tanks. A key concern, however, is that a military decision-maker may instruct a swarm to target individuals based upon certain pre-defined characteristics, such as kill all males of a military age. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that such an instruction could, and perhaps should, be seen as a violation of IHL. It is argued this is because when IHL treaties are interpreted in good faith, with the ordinary meaning given to the terms contained within (as is required by Article 31 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties), a swarm can be classified a bombardment. In doing so, and when utilising the temporal element of military decision-makers authorisation to deploy the swarm as a point of reference, a significant number of autonomous armed swarm deployments would be unlawful under Article 51(5)(b) Additional Protocol I.

• Online Publication Date: May 28, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jun 7, 2024
• Pages: 16-23
• Book Title: New Technologies in International Law
• Chapter Number: 1
• Keywords: International Law; International Humanitarian Law; Autonomous Weapons Systems; Armed Swarms; Drone Warfare; Artificial intelligence
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/12037147
• Publisher URL: http://www.rww-publishers.com/en/index.html
• Contract Date: Mar 28, 2024