Written question asked by Lord West of Spithead (Labour) on Tuesday, 6 December 2016, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 20 December 2016. It was answered by Earl Howe (Conservative) on Tuesday, 13 December 2016 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Autonomous Weapons

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what level of human control they consider necessary for compliance with international law in the context of lethal autonomous weapons; and how they will work with other states to define that level of control at the forthcoming Review Conference of the UN Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Answer: The Government of the United Kingdom does not possess fully autonomous weapon systems and has no intention of developing them. Such systems are not yet in existence and are not likely to be for many years, if at all. Although a limited number of defensive systems can currently operate in automatic mode, there is always a person involved in setting the parameters of any such mode. As a matter of policy, the UK is clear that the operation of our weapons will always be under human control. This information has been put on record a number of times, in both Parliament and international forums.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: HL3864
Session: 2016-17
Subjects: Regulation Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Autonomous weapons
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk