NATO Assembly Issues Report on Drones

BRUSSELS, Belgium — As part of a sustained parliamentary debate on the impact of drone technology, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly released a new draft report, entitled Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Opportunities and Challenges for the Alliance. The demand for drones continues to grow, their operational advantages having once again been highlighted during the 2011 air campaign over Libya. And despite widespread cuts to defence budgets, NATO members are strengthening their drone capabilities. The increasing use of drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), has raised questions necessitating thoughtful, broad based debate. Drone technology continues to evolve, transforming the way we fight wars, verify weapons stocks, enforce laws, and more. And these developments will continue to challenge policymakers for years to come. As Special Rapporteur Senator Pierre Claude Nolin (Canada) underlines, “we need to ask these questions today and not wait until technological ‘faits accomplis’ make any debate obsolete.” To help inform the discussion, the report examines UAV’s capabilities, their use in NATO-led operations, their strategic impact, controversial deployments, and ethical and legal issues. It can be found at http://www.nato-pa.int/Docdownload.asp?ID=C356C8265C04020C05DA (22 PDF pages). Despite the media’s focus on armed drones, most UAVs in operation today are unarmed, carrying out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions. Still, […]
NATO Assembly Issues Report on Drones