London : The increasing use of unmanned aircraft in war zones requires Britain to developa policy on what constitutes “acceptable machine behaviour,” warns a UK Ministry of Defence report.
The disclosure comes just days after Pakistan asked the United States to scale down drone attacks in its sensitive regions. The use of drones to attack enemy targets could make war more likely and raisesquestions about the role of the human in combat "from a moral and ethical standpoint", report says. Unmanned military vehicles also have potential to begin "incremental and involuntary journey towards aTerminator-like reality", according to the report seen by The Guardian newspaper.
The study, called The UK Approach to Unmanned Aircraft Systems, was ordered by British defence officials amid growing controversy over the use of drones against insurgents on Afghanistan and Pakistan borders. “It is essential that before unmanned systems become ubiquitous (if it is not already too late) … we ensure that, by removing some of the horror, or at least keeping it at a distance, we do not risk losing our controlling humanity and make war more likely.”
Unmanned Predators drones have been used widely in the war in Afghanistan and along its borders, some for surveillance and others which fire missiles. The report says "recent extensive use of unmanned aircraft over Pakistan and Yemen may already herald a new era". It refers to descriptions of "killer drones" in Afghanistan and notes that "feelings are likely to run high as armed systems acquire more autonomy".
It says insurgents gain from every mistake, casting themselves "in role of underdog and the west as a cowardly bully that is unwilling to risk his own troops, but is happy to kill remotely.” It calls for “open and public discussion” about implications of remote warfare. It was written by MoD’s internal think tank, Development, Concepts & Doctrine Centre.
