CENTRE for DEFENSE HIGHER STUDIES

DEFENSE HIGHER STUDIES INSTITUTE

11th International Capstone Course

11 January – 17 March 2023

“The Drone warfare and international laws”

Individual Paper

Edited by:
COL Faisal ALQATTAN (Kuwait MOD)
Director:
Rear Admiral Antonio GALIUTO

I
 Summary

The increasing use of armed drones during the last two decades in the
context of military operations during armed conflicts and measures to combat
terrorism, and the efforts of many States to obtain armed drone technology and
develop it through technology Artificial intelligence is a simulation of human
characteristics, which has affected many problems and questions about the
legality of its use and the extent of its compatibility with the rules and principles
of international law and standards relevant to the conduct of armed conflicts,
especially since compliance with this section as It is one of the branches of
international law and is based on human characteristics based on emotions,
Feelings and moral brotherhood are like mercy, sympathy, pity, and manhood...
which, in any case, are not employing the machine on behalf of the humans and
the classic armies.

II
INTRODUCTION

Observers came to a certainty to a reflection of the reality of the course

of armed conflicts during the last two decades which shows a radical change
was evident in the means of conducting armed conflicts, as it departed from
what was distinguished Its classic warfare reliance on gear and gear embodied
in size .The armed forces of both parties to the conflict, as well as the enormous
destructive power of means of combat such as cannons and armored vehicles,
as modern strategies are striving to human beings being removed from the
battlefields in order to preserve lives, and they were replaced by machines and
robots Including armed drones, which have become an essential link in the
course of contemporary armed conflicts. Considering international humanitarian
law, it is based on the basis of the primacy of human interests on military
targets, and that the characteristic of humanity is a purely human trait and
characteristic. In no case can be conceived outside of the human subject, but it
is within the framework of the recent trends of contemporary armed conflicts
and their dependence to a large degree on robots and armed drones make it a
principle and characteristic of humanity that demonstrate international
humanitarian law at stake.

CHAPTER I (THE NATURE OF MILITARY OPERATIONS USING DRONES)

Some of the features of contemporary armed conflicts have

fundamentally changed the nature of the conduct of hostilities, and the
strategies adopted by states to confront even in the beginning of armed
conflicts, it changed its defense systems. And the classic offensive between
modernity and technology, and the most important is the air power which
became a decisive actor in the modern war, so most countries are working on

III
this approach by developing its air systems and focusing more on air superiority
and at the head of these countries is the United States after the attacks of the
eleventh of Sep 2001 and their proclamation of the war on terrorism in both
Afghanistan and Iraq and the emergence in the recent period of what is called
the campaign against ISIS, this has become the experimental right to review
what the military technology has produced from unmanned aircraft to remote
attacks being conducted from thousands of miles away .

1.1 DEFINITION OF UNMANNED AIR VEHICLES

Drones are remotely piloted aircraft carrying on board cameras, sensors

and communications equipment and very advanced missile weapons, and it is
noted that more than 50 countries use it .It is also known as an aircraft that can
be programmed, piloted or directed wirelessly while in flight or controlled and
controlled remotely. The US Department of Defense defines it as “a drone or a
remotely piloted aircraft, pneumatics to lift the vehicle and it can fly
independently or it can fly with it from a distance and with the possibility of
placing a lethal or non-lethal charge. and here are some of the developments
achieved recently to these platforms :

1. Demonstrating the ability to distinguish friendly forces and sites.

2. Demonstrate the ability to compile computerized weather reports .
3. Demonstrating the ability to reduce the hostile interference of data receiving
devices.
4. Better GPS positioning systems with the provision of this media without
initial reception satellites.

1.2 CONCEPT OF UAV OPERATIONS SINCE SYSTEMS EMPLOYED IN

COMBAT
Drones were used for the first time in operations in the Vietnam
War by American forces and they were launched from Hercules transport

IV
planes. aerial vehicles and were developed by several companies. Photography
was the main use and aerial reconnaissance over northern Vietnam and in the
late 1990s samples were developed like drones that are lighter in weight and
less in price to mitigate human losses during the last two decades. This
category has been developed and UAVs have undergone a major development,
whether in terms of combat specifications or even in terms of the ability to
achieve military and intelligence objectives, by means of its enormous capability
in detecting and identifying military targets on one hand continuity and accurate
hitting and on the hand reconnaissance and permanent surveillance of enemy
areas, since this task is difficult to perform by classic or manned aircraft, they
are exposed to risks and losses with confirmed statistics. Perhaps the most
important thing that distinguishes modern aircraft that were used in the last two
decades the latter either in the international war against terror to this day, this
type of aircraft is widely used, as it has become capable of flight for a long
period of time, due to its ability to provide it with energy solar system, as it
reached a high altitude of more than 20,000 meters. It has become so small that
a soldier or fighter can move it in backpacks. Some aircraft also have the ability
to launch weapons. Rockets directed to and from Earth. It can also destroy the
radars and armored vehicles and targeting people, which is what has been
activated through targeting and pursuing Al-Qaeda members in the war against
terrorism .There are modern attempts to develop unmanned aircraft and make it
modern than conventional forces - human - where these aircraft can identify
elements or persons targeted through their personal interests or biometrics and
the initiative to kill them immediately based on computer software. The decision
is automatic, not based on the commands of the operators sitting behind the
screens, senses in places tens of thousands of kilometers and meters away
which will assist through AI, the conduct of hostilities or assassinations. It is
expected that drones will continue to be used in combat or conflicts , even in
peace keeping operations and expanding in the near future to hit strategic
locations or maintaining air dominance and superiority for current and future
V
conflicts, and this technology has dimensions and aspects and multiple
reflections. in this modest overveiw , to fully comprehend its technical and
military aspects, so the focus is mainly on the aspect of empoying these sytems
and the relation to the international laws .

CHAPTER II (IMPLEMINTING INTERNTATIONAL LAWS ON DRONE

WAREFARE)

The development of drones has contributed to a radical change in its profile and
the warfare doctrine in terms of the balance of force ratio .Soldiers and regular
forces, i.e. the army of different types and formations during traditional wars, a
shortage of numbers in the military forces used to happen a security imbalance
threatens the security of the state with disintegration, but today it is no longer
the number of forces. The armed forces have no strategic value, because the
drones were shot down.The concept of the interrelationship between the
capacity of the army and its number, and strengthened the capacity of one
owning country for this weapon to ensure its safety on its own. Where as it
became possible for a small, weak country, to confront a better equipped
country on its own. The superiority of the army , after it built a fleet of unmanned
aircraft for multiple purposes and purposes exploring the battlefield and
supplying the soldiers disrupting wired and wireless communications and
providing the necessary information to direct the situation of the enemy, the
operational status of the enemy, the direction of military operations, and by
tracking the various targets, the assassination of individuals, the search for
soldiers, and the transfer of the wounded .This will give these systems a better
operational status and will legalize use of lethal force against international laws.

VI
2.1 CONCEPT OF VIOLATIONS TO INTERNATIONAL LAWS BY DRONE
WAREFARE

The text, and rules of international human law are contained in the Geneva
Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 about we find that
the air war, especially by defining the concept and legal meaning of the fighter,
drones have blurred the distinction between combatants and non-combatants.
The two sides considered the illegality of flying planes outside theater of
operations Bombing Ordnance Factories and Railway Stations, industrial
centers and other high value targets .Behind the increasing use of armed
drones in battlefields, in sniping, killing and armed attacks determining where its
legal or not to do so, perhaps the most prominent of which is the exact nature of
this weapon from the rules of engagements in conflicts. Especially in light of the
legal differences between them and agreements. The Four Geneva
Conventions of International Humanitarian Law of 1949 and its Protocols the
two additions of 1977, so it was difficult to determine the status. This weapon is
within the means or methods of conducting armed conflicts. In the same
context, the international community and humanitarian organizations took action
to resolve the legal issues associated with this weapon, as it was established
the United Nations General Assembly and the Human Rights Council held their
first panel discussion on the issue of armed drones willing as It controls and
regulates the uses of this type of weapon, whether through it International
humanitarian law and a discussion of the legality of the targeted killing
conducted by this type of arms or through the rules, principles and norms of
international humanitarian law, Where the topic was greatly enriched through
the intervention of experts and legal experts in this matter. However, these
discussions are as important as they are important in order to enrich
International humanitarian law and the inspiration for some of the principles that
apply to this type new articles are unarmed, but they lack the element of legal
obligation and international consensus. To the extent that it is considered a

VII
green law, it can be referred to as a reference, and it is mentioned in its
entirety.Research paper by Harvard University on International Law Applicable
to War Air Force and Missile War of 2009 .

CONCLUSION

The employment of armed drones, remotely controlled or autonomous

control has become a means and a method of conducting contemporary armed
conflicts. It represents a greater challenge than even the implementation of
international humanitarian law, and their use, according to the current pattern, is
a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, the reason is that many
jurists of international law and those working in the humanitarian field oppose
weapon systems not under human control. And they see that put a new treaty
law is the best way to ensure this, and many have been issued states are
political statements that state that human beings will be part of the process,
when publishing weapons capable of working remotely and wondering if it
works that someone he presses the button and then the machine takes over
and confirms that the matter is the seal of humiliation to make a machine put a
decision to kill. From the point of view of humanitarians, weapon systems
automated, fully automated, or fully autonomous, serious questions are also
asked. As more targeting and firing functions are automated in these machines,
these highly efficient lethal machines will differentiate between hostile and
military targets on the one hand, and civilians on the other. And if you lead
unmanned warplanes supersonic came to a dramatic increase in speed in
conflict, as some expect, will humans be able to make correct decisions
regarding targeting and protecting civilians in light of the lightning speed of next
generation fighting? And if these drones commits an act of control or a means
of control these decisions are also automated in rules of war, who will bear the
responsibility? The commander who was sent to do a violation or the plane or
the robot is sent to the battlefield, or to the side manufacturer of the system
VIII
itself, which does not make any sense in terms of being accountable for the
decisions and will affect the decision making process in a way .

In this context here are some suggestions to assist in reaching a better

understanding on how to counteract with these systems :

1. The preventive work of humanitarian organizations, including the

International Committee of the red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty
International, and the United Nations at awareness of the danger of excessive
use of uncontrolled autonomous weapons and their impact on the principles of
international humanitarian law.

2. The need to enrich international humanitarian law and review it according

to the changes dictated by it. Contemporary armed conflicts and work to adopt
draft agreements and researches related to the air force and armed drones.

3. Defining clear and precise legal frameworks and standards to define

responsibilities for armed drone violations and the principles of international
humanitarian law, and the harmonization of the rules of international criminal
law and the national criminal laws to adapt to the developments of emerging
incidents.

To conclude at last to the rule of proportionality, which requires a self-guided

weapon must also comply do not outweigh the accidental losses among
civilians that are expected to result an attack on a military target compared to
tangible and direct military gains expected from this attack. During the attack,
the weapon must be a able to take precautions to minimize civilian casualties.
And that technology still, that allows computers to have such discriminating
capabilities and precautions which contradicts international laws and requires
the new set of rules just tailored to maintain the use of these systems .

IX
 INDEX

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I (THE NATURE OF MILITARY OPERATIONS USING DRONES)

1.1 DEFINITION OF UNMANNED AIR VEHICLES

1.2 CONCEPT OF UAV OPERATIONS

CHAPTER II (IMPLEMINTING INTERNTATIONAL LAWS ON DRONE

WAREFARE)

2.1 CONCEPT OF VIOLATIONS TO INTERNATIONAL LAWS BY DRONE

WAREFARE

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAFY

1. Rory Milson and David A. Herman, Killing by Drones ; Legality under - O.

International Law, The Foundation for Law, Justice and Society Law, University
of Oxford, 2015, p 2 – 4.

2. Program On Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research HPCR, «

Commentary on Manual on International Law Applicable to Air and
Missile .Warfare », section A dd, ee, the HPCR,P 6

3. Dr Dahmani kamal 2020 ,

Journal of the Department of Legal and Political Research and Studies