Article

Unmanned platforms in the cyber age

by William H. Boothby

• Israel yearbook on human rights, Vol. 43, 2013, p. 171-197

English

The question that this chapter seeks to explore is how the application of the law of armed conflict targeting rules to unmanned and autonomous attack operations is likely to be affected by cyber operations. It shows in three fictitious scenarios how a cyber operation deceiving the other party, who is using unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV), can lead to catastrophic consequences for civilians. It starts by summarising the legal rules on unmanned air operations and the precautions that are required in attack, as set out in the HPCR Manual on the law of air and missile warfare. Then it turns to the rules that apply to deception operations - the modern law of perfidy, ruses and misuse of indicia - and how they can apply to deception cyber operations.

• Israel yearbook on human rights / publ. under the auspices of the Faculty of Law, Tel Aviv University
• Israel yearbook on human rights [Vol. 43, 2013] / publ. under the auspices of the Faculty of Law, Tel Aviv University