Drones - Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

US lethal drone strikes in countries like Pakistan have brought up serious questions about the legal and political implications of using these systems. Fault Lines looks at how these new weapons of choice are allowing the US to stretch the international laws of war and what it could mean when more and more autonomy is developed for these lethal machines.

See: more Drone videos here
 

More resources and information:
UAV News - from Spacewar
Code Pink: Women for Peace, No Drones Site
Nevada Desert Experience, US drone protest site
Drone Wars UK - info and comment on use of UK drones
Bro Emlyn for Peace and Justice, Wales UK drone protest site
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles - from the Federation of American Scientists
The International Committee for Robot arms Control (ICRAC)- calls for arms control
The Drone Wars and Pakistan's Conflict Casualties, 2010 - from the Oxford Research Group
The Legal Obligation to Record Civilian Casualties of Armed Conflict - from the Oxford Research Group
Challenging Robotic Warfare and Social Control - 1st Day of a conference held in Hood River, April 2010
Coming soon - ARROWS: Alliance
 

Anti-drone Protests during Keep Space for Peace week October, 2011

U.S. Drone Strikes in Pakistan

Drone Wars UK Briefing
- January 2012

Drone Attacks, International Law and the Recording of Civilian Casualties of Armed Conflict
Oxford Research Group Discussion Paper - June 2011

Does Unmanned Make Unacceptable?
Pax Christi - May 2011

Precisely Wrong
Human Rights Watch Report

June 30 2009

Predator Drones and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles - articles from the New York Times

Why the future doesn't need us - by Bill Joy, Wired, April 2000

U.S. Unmanned Aerial Systems report from CRS
- by Jeremiah Gertler, January 2012

U.S. Army Unmanned Aircraft Systems Roadmap 2010-2035

US Air Force Unmanned Aircraft Systems Roadmap 2005-2030

UK Ministry of Defence ponders the legal and ethical issues
 - March 2011

Air Power - UAVs: The Wider Context
Royal Air Force (UK) - 2009

Unmanned Aircraft Systems: US Government Accountability Office, March 2010

United States Air Force Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Plan 2009-2047

Transcript:
DoD News Briefing on Air Force UAS Flight Plan 2009-2047 with Lt. Gen. Deptula and Col. Mathewson from the Pentagon
23 Jul 2009 -- Presenter: Lt. Gen. David Deptula, Deputy Chief of Staff for ISR and Col. Eric Mathewson, Director, Air Force UAS Task Force
News Items for: 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, <2007
More Drones, Less Troops - January 26 2012
New drone has no pilot anywhere, so who's accountable? - January 26 2012
Air Force launches military satellite to improve communications with drone aircraft - January 19 2012
The Crash and Burn Future of Robot Warfare - January 15 2012
U.S. drone strike in Pakistan ends six-week pause; 4 dead - January 11 2012
Almost 1 In 3 U.S. Warplanes Is a Robot - January 9 2012
Pentagon Plan: More Drones, Increased Presence in Asia - January 5 2012
Elbit Systems Awarded Contract to Supply Hermes 900 - January 5 2012
Congress in dark over US drone program - January 1 2012

News Items - 2011

CIA halts drone raids on Pakistan - December 24 2011
Chapel leaders oppose drone tests over Wales in Christmas message
- December 23 2011
Future drone pilots may fly four warplanes at once - December 23 2011
US drones hacked by Iraqi insurgents - December 17 2011
Pakistan: US must heed our red lines - December 16 2011
Did Iran hijack the 'beast'? US experts cautious about bold claims
- December 16 2011
Iran hijacked US drone, says Iranian engineer - December 15 2011
Drone-Ethics Briefing: What a Leading Robot Expert Told the CIA - December 15 2011
Cyber war on US drones? Another spy craft crash, now in Seychelles - December 14 2011
Police employ Predator drone spy planes on home front - December 10 2011
Drone Program Attacked By Human-Rights Groups - December 9 2011
Iran Uses Captured Drone To Play The Victim Card - December 9 2011
High-Rez Photos Fuel Debate Over Captured Stealth Drone - December 9 2011
The ethics of unmanned vehicle warfare - December 8 2011
Satellite images reveal secret Nevada UAV site - December 7 2011
Iran Probably Did Capture a Secret U.S. Drone - December 6 2011
Did Iran Capture a U.S. Stealth Drone Intact? - December 4 2011
Iran Military Shoots Down US Drone, Threatens Response - December 4 2011
US terror drones kill 24 in Somalia - December 2 2011
What is Britain's role in the CIA's illegal drone campaign? - November 19 2011
The Drone Threat to Privacy - November 14 2011
The Drone Threat to National Security - November 11 2011
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark testifies at DeWitt trial of Hancock Field drone protesters - November 3 2011
Teen who protested drone strikes killed in US attack - November 2 2011
Drone strike killed Americans - October 17 2011
America’s Secret Empire of Drone Bases - October 16 2011
German Air Force Unveils Powerful Spy Plane - October 16 2011
U.S. deaths in drone strike due to miscommunication - October 14 2011
Air Force finds out about drone virus from the Internet - October 13 2011
UK MoD release presentations on Reaper and Watchkeeper drones to Drone Wars blog under FoI - October 13 2011
US drones fly from secret Kenya bases - October 12 2011
Wars in the 21st Century: From Drones to Cyber Wars - October 12 2011
Anti-drone Protests during Keep Space for Peace week  - October 1 -8 2011
US drone strike kills 16 in Somalia - October 8 2011
Spyware may have Compromised Killer Drones Missions - October 7 2011
Computer Virus Hits U.S. Drone Fleet - October 7 2011
Paradigm, Skynet, UAVs, Remote killers & assassins - October  6 2011
Death by drone is swift and efficient – it's also murder - October 6 2011
Secret panel approves executions of Americans - October 6 2011
Opposing the Rise of the Drones - October 4 2011
CIA executes two Americans - September 30 2011
As The Drone Flies... - September 26 2011
U.S. Expands Drone Flights to Take Aim at East Africa - September 21 2011
U.S. assembling secret drone bases in Africa, Arabian Peninsula, officials say
- September 21 2011
Music Links Mulitple Assets - September 13 2011
FAA ruling to ignite UAV job growth - September 1 2011
Iran claims U.S. drone shot down over nuclear site in Qom - August 23 2011
Study Reveals 168 Child Deaths in Pakistan War - August 11 2011
US missiles kill 21 in Pakistan - August 10 2011
Israel deploys drones over offshore gas fields - August 9 2011
Fighting back against the CIA drone war - July 31 2011
Iran claims to have shot down U.S. drone 'spying on nuclear facility for the CIA'
- July 20 2011
Campaigners seek arrest of former CIA legal chief over Pakistan drone attacks
- July 15 2011
Drones don't allow hit and run - June 23 2011
Drone exclusion zone from Aberporth made permanent - June 16 2011
'Toxic chemicals in US drone strikes' - June 10 2011
War Evolves With Drones, Some Tiny as Bugs - June 10 2011
U.S. Is Intensifying a Secret Campaign of Yemen Airstrikes - June 8 2011
US drone strike kills 23 in Pakistan - June 8 2011
Pakistanis protest US drone attacks - June 5 2011
Pentagon Looks to Double Its Unmanned Air Force - May 31 2011
Pentagon weapons buyer quietly visits California to discuss bomber planes
- May 22 2011
RAF announces new Reaper squadron - May 13 2011
Northrop Grumman Challenges Emirati Students to Think in an Unmanned World
- May 6 2011
US drone 'kills two in attack on Saudi Qaeda chief' - May 5 2011
Boeing Phantom Ray Completes First Flight - May 4 2011
First Flight of Heavy-Fuel Powered Fury 1500 UAS - April 28 2011
NATO supplies halted ahead of Pakistan protest - April 23 2011
US carries out first drone strike in Libya - April 23 2011
Deaths in US drone attack in Pakistan - April 22 2011
US missiles kill 25 people in Pakistan tribal area - April 22 2011
Gates: U.S. to use Predator drones in Libya - April 21 2011
The Terminators: drone strikes prompt MoD to ponder ethics of killer robots - April 17 2011
RAF Reaper reaches 20,000 hours over Afghanistan - April 8 2011
US drone strike 'kills 40' in Pakistani tribal region - March 17 2011
BAE Systems signs up for UK-French drone - 14 March 2011
Inside the Killing Machine - February 13 2011
Unmanned drones, controlled by Air National Guard from Hancock Airfield, will fly over the Adirondacks - February 6 2011
Las Vegas: Judge finds drone base protesters guilty of trespass - January 27 2011
US denies Iran shot down spy planes over Gulf - January 4 2011
Iran 'shoots down Western spy drones' in Gulf - January 2 2011
US to deploy new intelligence drone in Afghanistan - January 2 2011
US drone strikes kill 15 militants in Pakistan - January 1 2011
News Items - 2010
Obama's other 'surge': US drone war in Pakistan - December 23 2010
U.K. To Double Reaper UAV Fleet - December 7 2010
Rise of the robots and the future of war - November 21 2010
Raytheon Tests New Weapon Designed for Unmanned Aircraft Systems - October 22 1010
CIA drones could be grounded by software suit - October 11 2010
Pakistan envoy links drone strikes to Europe terror plot - October 6 2010
US drone strike kills Germans in Pakistan terror zone - October 5 2010
Iran muscles into the UAV battlefield - October 5 2010
Japan may buy US drones: report - October 4 2010
CIA mum on lawsuit alleging drone targeting errors - October 4 2010
US drone strikes kill 15 as Pakistan blocks NATO supplies - October 3 2010
Pakistani tribesmen protest against US drone strikes - September 30 2010
From Helmand to Merseyside: Unmanned drones and the militarisation of UK policing - September 27 2010
Flood Aid and Drone War: The U.S.'s Schizo Policy in Pakistan by Loring Wirbel - September 2010
Drones and Autonomous Warfare in the 21st Century by Loring Wirbel - September 2010
A Peace Movement Victory in Court - September 18 2010
Robot warfare: campaigners call for tighter controls of deadly drones - September 16 2010
Record level of US airstrikes hit Afghan militants - September 15 2010
US drone strikes kill 17 militants in Pakistan - September 15 2010
Vegas drone trial makes history - September 14 2010
US drone strike kills 6 militants in Pakistan - September 12 2010
US drone strike kills 6 in Pakistan - September 9 2010
Grey Eagle Weaponized UAS Slated For Afghanistan - September 9 2010
US drone strike kills 18 militants in Pakistan - September 8 2010
First Global Hawk Lands In Guam - September 7 2010
US drone strike kills four militants in Pakistan - August 28 2010
Upgraded Surveillance Aircraft Arrive In Afghanistan - August 27 2010
US Drone strike kills 12 people in Pakistan - August 24 2010
Iran unveils first bomber drone - August 22 2010
An asymmetrical drone war - August 19 2010
Boom Time Expected For Israeli Military UAVs - August 17 2010
India gets reassurance over Predator sale - August 13 2010
Afghanistan: The War Logs - July 25 2010
Skynet 5: Connecting the Drones - July 21 2010
MoD lifts lid on unmanned combat plane prototype - July 12 2010
Iran drones to safeguard border bases - July 4 2010
US to Deploy Drones to Shore Up Border with Mexico - June 24 2010
Government under pressure to open US skies to unmanned drones despite safety concerns - June 14 2010
US missiles kill 15 in NW Pakistan - June 11 2010
We, Robot by P.W.Singer - May 19 2010
The Cyborg Insects Are Coming! - May 19 2010
Wonder Weapons Don't Win Wars - May 19 2010
How The White House Learned To Love The Drone - May 19 2010
Unmanned planes could begin flying over Texas in a matter of months - May 11 2010
High-Tech Death from Above: U.S. Drone Wars Fuel War Crimes - May 2 2010
Drone Pilots Could Be Tried for ‘War Crimes’ - April 28 2010
Unmanned military space planes usher in new weaponry era - April 23 210
US Army Preparing For Mountainous, Battalion-Sized Test- April 22 2010
Indiana Connections to Drone Warfare Technology - April 14 2010
First Drone Friendly Fire Deaths - April 12 2011
Japan gets U.S. pitch to buy spy drones - April 9 2010
Meet Lt. Col. Chris Gough: Killing by Drone and Proud of It - April 2-4 2010
UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston Responds to US Defense of Drone Attacks’ Legality - April 1 2010
Mindless Missiles - April 2010
Campaign against military drones - March 2010
Official Hails Effect of Unmanned Aircraft on Warfare- March 25 2010
Legality of US Drones Questioned- March 24 2010
Drone Wars, Without Any Rules - March 24 2010
C2-C4ISR Systems Constitutes Around 5 Percent Of National Defence Budgets - March 18 2010
How Drone Pilots Wage War - March 12 2010
CIA drone attacks produce America's own unlawful combatants - March 12 2010
US military to step up video-game training - March 10 2010
Suspected US drone attacks kill 5 in Pakistan - March 9 2010
Decade Of The Drone: America’s Aerial Assassins - March 9 2010
One in Three Killed by US Drones in Pakistan Is a Civilian, Report Claims - March 4 2010
As drones multiply in Iraq and Afghanistan, so do their uses - March 2 2010
Armed drones: war by remote control - February 2010
Drone operators climb on winds of change in the Air Force - February 28 2010
Elbit Systems Unveils It's UAS Intelligence Management Center - February 26 2010
Flight centre "fails to create jobs" - February 24 2010
How Israel's Biggest Drone Could Take Out Iranian Nukes - February 23 2010
Israel's long-range UAV 'no gamechanger' - February 23 2010
Call for assurance over Aberporth jobs - February 22 2010
Unmanned drones set to give defence a lift - February 21 2010
Drone pilots have a front-row seat on war, from half a world away - February 21 2010
Israel unveils new drone fleet that can reach Iran - February 21 2010
Drone warfare is inhumane - February 14 2010
America's deadly robots rewrite the rules - February 12 2010
Pentagon to Increase Stock of High-Altitude Drones - February 5 2010
Drones and Death: The Israeli Connection - February 1 2020
StratCom: The Fulcrum for Drone Warfare - January/February 2010
Pentagon Master Plan: Super-Size My Drone Fleet- January 28 2010
The Forty-Year Drone War - January 25 2010
Shall We Gather at the CIA? - January 8-10 2010
Death toll from US missiles rises to 13: Pakistani officials - January 7 2010
Hovering drone draws rave reviews at CES - January 6 2010
US drone attack kills five in Pakistan - January 3 2010
News Items - 2009
UAV strike kills 13 in Saidgi, NW Pakistan - December 27 2009
Colombia launches US drones over Venezuela – or was that 'Santa's sleigh'? - December 22 2009
MDA Refines UAS Concepts For Missile Defense - December 18 2009
Another Pakistan drone strike 'kills three militants' - December 18 2009
SkyGrabber: the $26 software used by insurgents to hack into US drones - December 17 2009
Insurgents Intercept Drone Video in King-Size Security Breach - December 17 2009
Iraq insurgents 'hack into video feeds from US drones' - December 17 2009
CIA cancels Blackwater drone missile-loading contract - December 12 2009
U.S. Military Joins CIA’s Drone War in Pakistan - December 10 2009
Our Murderers in the Sky - December 10 2009
US Air Force confirms 'Beast of Kandahar' drone - December 8 2009
'Don't dote on drones' - November 21 2009
UK's Largest Fully-Autonomous UAS Completes Initial Flight Trials - November 18 2009
Army Eyes Missiles Filled With Flying Spy Bots - November 17 2009
UK could arm its Watchkeeper UAVs - November 3 2009
UN rights investigator warns US drone attacks may violate international law - October 28 2009
Jane Mayer on Predator Drones and Pakistan - October 21 2009
EuroHawk UAV Finally Goes Global- October 19 2009
From Space, No One Can Watch You Die by Loring Wirbel and Bill Sulzman - September 28 2009
The problems with drones by Dave Webb - September 2009
Air Force working to retain its global edge in the air - September 27 2009
Drone crashes at Parc Aberporth – the twisted shape of things to come? - September 23 2009
FAA air space designation touted as boon for BNAS reuse - September 21 2009
AFA cadets learn to fly planes half a world away- September 11 2009
Attack of the drones - September 3 2009
Should drones be part of BNAS reuse? - September 1 2009
Guess who loads missiles on US drones in Pakistan - August 21 2009
Military spy drones not licensed for training in Britain - August 20 2009
C.I.A. Said to Use Blackwater to Put Bombs on Drones - August 20 2009
Point. Click. Kill: Inside The Air Force's Frantic Unmanned Reinvention - August 18 2009
Predator Execs Eye Global Expansion - August 14 2009
Robot Three-Way Portends Autonomous Future - August 13 2009
Air Force Training More Pilots for Drones Than for Manned Planes - August 11 2009
Experts criticise plan to fly ‘unsafe’ unmanned craft over West Wales - August 8 2009
Remote-control Warriors Suffer War Stress - August 7 2009
Beware march of the killer robots, expert warns- August 4 2009
Scientists fear a revolt by killer robots - August 2 2009
Will drones push fighter pilots out of the cockpit? - July 26 2009
Air Force Report Envisions a Broader Use of Drones - July 24 2009
How robot drones revolutionized the face of warfare - July 23 2009
Afghanistan Exit Could Bring Escalated Air War - July 20 2009
'Flesh-eating robot' is actually a vegetarian, say inventors - July 19 2009
Air Force Plans for All-Drone Future - July 17 2009
Pentagon Looks to Use Drones For Missile Defense - July 17 2009
Do Targeted Killings Work? - July 14 2009
C.I.A. Had Plan to Assassinate Qaeda Leaders- July 13 2009
Germany, Italy and Sweden hold project talks on 'Agile' advanced UAV in bid to beat French-led Neuron - July 11 2009
Top judge: 'use of drones intolerable' - July 6 2009
Israeli Drones Killed 29 Civilians in Gaza War - June 30 2009
US Drone Strike Said to Kill 60 in Pakistan - June 23 2009
US drone targets northwest Pakistan - June 23 2009
March of the killer robots - June 15 2009
US Raising Status of Drone Pilots - June 10 2009
CBS TV Propaganda Piece on UAVs - May 12 2009
The Global Airborne ISR Market 2008-2018
Drone Wars by Paul Rogers - April 22 2009
Three Dead in Suspected US Strike in Pakistan - April 19 2009
Peaceniks Target Killer Drones - April 14 2009
The Scream and the drone - April 9 2009
Killer Robots—What Could Go Wrong? - April 6 2009
Thousands flee bomb attacks by US drones - April 5 2009
Closer Look at Killer Drones - April 3-5 2009
Ground the Drones--Protests at USAF Base Against Pakistan Drone Attacks - April 3 2009
Killer Robots - What Could go Wrong? - April 2009
UK Ponders Loitering Munitions, UAVs - March 31 2009
Pentagon exploring robot killers that can fire on their own - March 25 2009
Flying robots to spy on Taliban bombmakers - March 23 2009
The Downside of Letting Robots Do the Bombing - March 21 2009
RAF bomb the Taliban from 8,000 miles away - March 21 2009
Drones Are Weapons of Choice in Fighting Qaeda - March 16 2009
Interactive Map: U.S. Airstrikes in Pakistan on the Rise - March 5 2009
Afghan-border missile attack kills 8, Pakistan says - March 2 2009
War without warriors - February 21 2009
Feinstein comment on U.S. drones likely to embarrass Pakistan - February 13 2009
Boeing Laser Avenger Shoots Down Unmanned Aerial Vehicle In Tests - January 28 2009
Robots at War: The New Battlefield - January 2009

News Items - 2008

US Spy Plane Crashes in North Cotabato - October 24 2008
Suspected US strike kills four in Pakistan - October 23 2008
New Killer Drones Could be Piloted by Teenagers - October 10 2008
Remote_control Warriors Suffer War Stress - August 7 2008
How UK fights remote control war - June 6 2008
Robot War Continues - March 31 2008
Pentagon battle breaks out over a spy plane - March 21 2008
Automated killer robots 'threat to humanity' - February 26 2008
Pentagon wants more unmanned drones - February 5 2008
News Items 2007
Unmanned and dangerous - December 6 2007
Unmanned US spy plane crashes near inter-Korean border - August 24 2007
Sweden's New UAV Player - July 30 2007
News Items before 2007
Boeing's pilotless fighter could make JSF obsolete- October 26 2001


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