Unmanned ground systems: ethical in war? I say yes

In June of 2007, I deployed to Iraq as an infantry soldier for a period of fourteen months. During that time, my unit and I came across multiple improvised explosive devices (IEDs), many of which were successfully cleared by this little guy:

This is the Talon explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) robot, manufactured by QinetiQ. Every EOD unit in Iraq was using some kind of unmanned ground vehicle like this to safely handle bombs that were intended to take American lives. We affectionately called these UGVs "Johnny 5" (after the robot in the movie Short Circuit II), and they saved our lives more than once. It then is no surprise that I fully endorse the use of UGVs in combat.

At any rate, the ethical, moral, and legal issues facing UGVs and unmanned maritime vehicles (UMVs) are the same which face unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs): is it right - and, more importantly, is it legal - for a man to use a machine to kill another man a thousand miles away? I believe the answer to the legal question is "yes", given that drone strikes are still used to take out targets in war zones all the time. Ethically, however, is another question. Some argue that using robots in war "cheapens the cost of war, making future war more likely" (Wagner, 2017). It is hard to dispute that logic; one of the biggest deterrents to going into war is the potential loss of human life. However, if your side is in no danger of losing anyone (since robots are doing all the fighting), then the only deterrent becomes negative economic impact. And the fact is, war tends to be good for business in a lot of places. It can be argued that war may also be politically harmful, but if you have the strongest military, you make your own politics.

Still, as long as battlefields exist, I believe that UGVs and UMVs should be on them. If a robot can save a soldier's life, then that is all the proof I need that the vehicles belong there. Watching Johnny 5 safely detonate another IED (and sacrifice itself in the process), I didn't care much for how fair or not war is, or of how loss of human live does or does not serve as a deterrent. I just wanted to get home in one piece. UGVs made that possible in 2007, and they're making it possible now. Unmanned systems have every right to be on the battlefield alongside their human counterparts.


                                                                     
                                                                  Reference

Wagner, A. R. (2017). Ask an ethicist: is it ethical to use robots to kill in a war? Retrieved from

     https://news.psu.edu/story/452771/2017/02/24/ask-ethicist-it-ethical-use-robots-kill-war