Drone usage in Military
I. Introduction
Back in the 1800s, no one would even imagine using an unmanned aerial vehicle in the military. Through the years, however, technology has changed the way we live our life and how we fight our wars. From having to fight only on grounds to killing a target using an aircraft that is being controlled thousand of miles away. This paper will concentrate on the military usage of unmanned aerial vehicle also known as drones. The United States military uses two types of drones: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV). II. Background
Some people would think that drones are new technology, however the technology could be traced back as early as the First World War. …show more content…
Before this technology was invented in order to collect intelligence, human lives were put at risk. Drones minimize those risk and offer information with precision (Lewis). With the defense budgets under pressure, the usage of drone could offer another alternative to manned aircraft as it costs less than the latest combat aircraft. But one of the biggest advantages of drones are their ability to endure long hours, allowing them to surveillance a target for longer hour compare to manned aircraft that needs to be refueled every few hours (Lewis). With that being said, it allows time for the military to properly identify the target and lawyers to assess the situation if weapons should be released or not. Unlike other weapons, drones response to command quickly and drone missiles can be diverted anytime (Himes, p 15). Drone offers lower civilian casualties than the other alternative methods and it minimizes the number of soldiers we put on the field (Byman). With experience leaders of terrorist group being eliminated in drone strikes, the rise of new leaders who are not as experiences as the former, making the terrorist groups more prone to making errors and miscalculations. According to Byman, eliminations of those in the lower position also hurt the terrorist organization as they are often specialize in forging passports, bomb making, recruiting new members, and …show more content…
Since terrorists are considered being civilians, they should be captured and be prosecuted and punished accordingly to the justice system. One of the IHL, International Human Rights Law, and requirement for lethal force to be employed is offering the target an opportunity to surrender. However, as drones are not capable of offering surrender before the uses of lethal force, the used of UCAV is not legal in situations governed by the IHRL (Lewis). According to the international law, “targeted lethal force may be used only under specific and narrowly defined circumstances- against combatants in a recognized armed conflict and those directly participating in hostilities or who pose an immediate threat to innocent life and when capture is not feasible and would involve significant military risk and potential loss of life” (Cortright, p 12-13). With the amount of drone strikes conducted, many questions whether if those strikes really satisfy the requirement of the international law
I. Introduction
Back in the 1800s, no one would even imagine using an unmanned aerial vehicle in the military. Through the years, however, technology has changed the way we live our life and how we fight our wars. From having to fight only on grounds to killing a target using an aircraft that is being controlled thousand of miles away. This paper will concentrate on the military usage of unmanned aerial vehicle also known as drones. The United States military uses two types of drones: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV). II. Background
Some people would think that drones are new technology, however the technology could be traced back as early as the First World War. …show more content…
Before this technology was invented in order to collect intelligence, human lives were put at risk. Drones minimize those risk and offer information with precision (Lewis). With the defense budgets under pressure, the usage of drone could offer another alternative to manned aircraft as it costs less than the latest combat aircraft. But one of the biggest advantages of drones are their ability to endure long hours, allowing them to surveillance a target for longer hour compare to manned aircraft that needs to be refueled every few hours (Lewis). With that being said, it allows time for the military to properly identify the target and lawyers to assess the situation if weapons should be released or not. Unlike other weapons, drones response to command quickly and drone missiles can be diverted anytime (Himes, p 15). Drone offers lower civilian casualties than the other alternative methods and it minimizes the number of soldiers we put on the field (Byman). With experience leaders of terrorist group being eliminated in drone strikes, the rise of new leaders who are not as experiences as the former, making the terrorist groups more prone to making errors and miscalculations. According to Byman, eliminations of those in the lower position also hurt the terrorist organization as they are often specialize in forging passports, bomb making, recruiting new members, and …show more content…
Since terrorists are considered being civilians, they should be captured and be prosecuted and punished accordingly to the justice system. One of the IHL, International Human Rights Law, and requirement for lethal force to be employed is offering the target an opportunity to surrender. However, as drones are not capable of offering surrender before the uses of lethal force, the used of UCAV is not legal in situations governed by the IHRL (Lewis). According to the international law, “targeted lethal force may be used only under specific and narrowly defined circumstances- against combatants in a recognized armed conflict and those directly participating in hostilities or who pose an immediate threat to innocent life and when capture is not feasible and would involve significant military risk and potential loss of life” (Cortright, p 12-13). With the amount of drone strikes conducted, many questions whether if those strikes really satisfy the requirement of the international law