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The current issue of IEEE Computer (Nov 07) has an article by Noel Sharkey about the move toward autonomous weapons.-  Excerpts below.

Jeff Johnson

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“Automated Killers and the Computing Professions

by Noel Sharkey, U. of Sheffield

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… The U.S. has robots playing an integral part in its Future Combat Systems project, with spending estimated to exceed $230 B.-  … The U.S. military has … plans to develop unmanned vehicles that can strike from the air, under the sea, and on land.-  The U.S. Congress set a goal in 2001 for one-third of U.S. operational ground combat vehicles to be unmanned by 2015.-  More than 4000 robots currently serve in Iraq, with others deployed in Afghanistan.-  The U.S. military will spend $1.7 B on more ground-based robots over the next five years. …

These developments pose a moral and ethical minefield for engineers and computer scientists. …

To date, robots deployed in ground wars have been used mainly for ordinance disposal, such as clearing improvised explosive devices. This has saved lives.-  However, this summer the U.S. Army introduced the first three … SWORDS (Special Weapons Observation Reconniaissance Direct-Action System) armed combat robots into Iraq (https://www.foster-miller.com).-  These have been so effective that 80 more have been approved for use …

Semi-autonomous robots in the form of unmanned combat aerial vehicals (UCAVs) have also proven popular…

All these platforms currently work as extensions of the human fighters who control the application of lethal force.-  A human remains in the loop to decide when to kill.-  … But James Canton, CEO of Institute for Global Futures, predicts the deployment within a decade of detachments that will include 150 soldiers and 2000 robots. … With these ratios, the robots will need a lot more battlefield decision power.

…-  They enable a single battlefield soldier to initiate a large-scale robot attack from the air or on the ground.

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This is dangerous new territory for warfare, yet there are no new ethical coldes or guidelines in place.

… Killer robots are coming soon and will not wait for us to solve all our AI problems.