title: Drones--ethical considerations and medical implications.
abstract: Drones enhance military capability and form a potent element of force protection, allowing humans to be removed from hazardous environments and tedious jobs. However, there are moral, legal, and political dangers associated with their use. Although a time may come when it is possible to develop a drone that is able to autonomously and ethically engage a legitimate target with greater reliability than a human, until then military drones demand a crawl-walk-run development methodology, consent by military personnel for weapon use, and continued debate about the complex issues surrounding their deployment.
authors.affiliation: tom.pepper@virgin.net
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pepper
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008889:Military Personnel; D009014:Morals; D011057:Politics; D012371:Robotics / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D014857:Warfare / Q000941:ethics*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*