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AbstractOver the last several years, there has been considerable interest in the problems of effective programming, decision‐making, and progress evaluation, in the development and production of weapon systems. The need for solving these problems was great when budget ceilings were less restrictive. At the present time when budgets are more stringent, the need is indeed urgent if defense is to be most adequate. The principles and methods described in this article were developed as guides to the development and installation of a management system for programming, decision‐making, and progress evaluation in weapon systems development, procurement, and production in the U. S. Air Force. The principles, however, have applicability to programming, decision‐making, and control in other governmental and in industrial and business organizations. Some of these principles and methods already have been applied in other situations; some are new. However, the amount that is new is relatively small; we are confident the system is feasible and economic within the existing state of the art, and that it would contribute to efficiency in the development and production of weapon systems.

Robotic weapons systems that can select and engage targets without any human intervention are standing on the edge of being tangibly implemented. Proponents of this development expect decisive military and possibly even humanitarian benefits from such autonomous weapons systems. Critics, however, raise concerns over whether it would be ethically justifiable, politically responsible and legally allowed in compliance with (international) law to delegate the decision on the life and death of human beings to machines. Moreover, the development and possible use of AWS might entail some risks with regard to security policy. Within the framework of the TA project a broad analytical approach has been followed and a wide range of aspects regarding the topic have been examined. TAB's policy brief in English TAB-Fokus no. 26 summarizes the key results of the TA project and provides an overview of technological developments, security policy implications, ethical arguments and issues in humanitarian ...

Given the swift technologic development, it may be expected that the availability of the first truly autonomous weapons systems is fast approaching. Once they are deployed, these weapons will use artificial intelligence to select and attack targets without further human intervention. Autonomous weapons systems raise the question of whether they could comply with international humanitarian law. The principle of proportionality is sometimes cited as an important obstacle to the use of autonomous weapons systems in accordance with the law. This article assesses the question whether the rule on proportionality in attacks would preclude the legal use of autonomous weapons. It analyses aspects of the proportionality rule that would militate against the use of autonomous weapons systems and aspects that would appear to benefit the protection of the civilian population if such weapons systems were used. The article concludes that autonomous weapons are unable to make proportionality assessments on an operational or strategic level on their own, and that humans should not be expected to be completely absent from the battlefield in the near future.

Abstract
The obligation to legally review weapons, means and methods of warfare has been identified by the Group of Governmental Experts on Emerging Technologies in the Area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems as one of its Guiding Principles. Despite calls to share practical measures and processes to undertake this review, national practice remains opaque and fragmented. This article describes the traditional weapons review process and explains why this process may need to be modified to adequately evaluate autonomous weapon systems (AWS). It uses three case studies of fictional AWS in various stages of development and acquisition to demonstrate how existing review processes can be adapted for the review of AWS. This article shows the utility of these reviews for ensuring compliance of AWS with existing legal requirements, thereby also demonstrating the suitability of existing law to regulate the use of this novel technology in warfare.