Human-Less Warriors

As bloody wars drag on in Iraq and Afghanistan the United States military increasingly turns to human-less warriors to stem the loss of lives. The MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper aerial drones are seeing an increase in use, while remote controlled robots are being used to dispose of improvised explosive devises. At what point do these computer systems move from machines capable of unethical actions, to machines whose very existence is unethical? I argue that fully automated systems should not be used in an offensive manner; rather they can only see ethical uses in limited defensive roles. In exploring this question I will draw on the only fully autonomous US armed forces weapon system I am aware of, the Phalanx CIWS, a missile defense system used by the US Navy. I will contrast this to a Soviet Cold War nuclear retaliation system called Perimeter. Once I have outlined my ideas for a permissible autonomous war machine I will see if it is possible to create a nuclear retaliator that adheres to these guidelines.

The Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) is a ship-borne missile defense system. Its goal is to protect the ship from incoming anti-ship missiles. It does this by searching the sky for object that fit a particular profile. Once an object has been identified as having a high probability of being an incoming missile the system aims a gun at the threat and fires until it is neutralized. It is comprised of a 20mm Gatling gun with an internal sensory and decision-making system. Each Phalanx unit is able to make its own engagement decisions independent of the ship on which it is based. The unit scans the sky until an object that fits an incoming missile’s description. At this point one of two things can happen, if the unit is in...

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...one off; timers are ticking. There's a checklist, and soldiers are trained to follow checklists. ”

Perhaps a system like Perimeter could be allowable if it used conventional or tactical nuclear weapons, those with a low yield intended to neutralize military targets, to strike at the enemy’s forces. Instead of trying to wipe out humanity the system could attempt to neutralize the enemy’s ability to attack again, or with more force. This is more like the Phalanx, because it:

1. Is intended to be used against military targets

2. Makes every effort to avoid accidental firing (i.e. the 4 step checklist)

3. By targeting military targets, and especially missile silos, the scale of human death is brought down

This would seem to create an autonomous nuclear defense system that would come closer to what I’ve outline as a more acceptable kind of autonomous war machine.