Reflections on War Ethics in the Employment of UAVs

Abstract

The debate over the ethical justification of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles has been growing heated for years with the proliferation use of UAVs. At the center of this debate are the underlying question of war ethics and the concerns of whether UAVs will be able to fully comply with war ethics in future. This article is trying to articulate the relevant precepts and points out some misunderstanding clouding UAVs. After focusing the moral debates based on the basic principles of the just war, this article contends that regulations should respond to the character that UAVs is in incremental development to adjust themselves, rather than ban simply.