Weapon Development

&
Ethics

By : Yajur Mahendru
 Points to be discussed
Why is weapon development ethics important for
engineers ?
Factors contributing weapon
development
Tracing the path of weapon
development
Consequences of unethical use of weapons
Concluding remarks
 What are ethics ?
“Ethics is a branch of  philosophy
that addresses questions morality—
that is, concepts such as good and
evil, right and wrong, justice, virtue,
etc”

-Wikipedia
 Why for Engineers ?

Defence industry is one of the largest employer

worldwide
Decide accordingly whether to work in the area of
weapon development
Weapon developing engineering requires stringent
examinations of ethical issues to ensure responsible
participation
 Should I….?

•Designed to kill human beings

•Many ethical professionals will refuse to engage
in weapon designing
•Change in opinion if national interests are not guaranteed
•Morally responsible engineers find this to be ethically
acceptable
Tracing the path of responsibility
Think tanks
DOD Science Boards

Government
Autonomous Contractor wins Contractor
DOD Needs and
Weapon Autonomous Battlefield
Procurements
Procurement Weapon project GOOD
BAD

War Rules Designers

DOD System
DOD Doctrine
Funding & Design
Treaties
“Get us more bang Engineering
Ethicists Intended Collateral
for the buck!”
Results Damage
Testing, Validation
Verification Field
Deployment
& Use

Artificial Sensor
Policy
Intelligence Algorithms Actuators and
Interface
Weapons Interface
Sensors
 Weapon Development Factors
Technological Developments

Rise of terrorism
 Race to supremacy

Threat to National Security

Consequences of unethical use
of weapons
Hiroshima – Nagasaki Bombings
Kargil War
Iraq War
 Conclusion
•Use of weapons in an unethical manner leads to
loss of lives, infrastructure and capital
•Unethical display of weapons may promote anti
national activities within a country

•Countries all over the globe must take steps in

promoting a safer nuclear weapon free planet

•Professionals must avoid in working on any

projects which they deem to be UNETHICAL
even if it leads to a CAREER ADVANCEMENT !
 Golden Rule

“Treat others as you wish to be

treated”
- Jonathan Granoff
 References
Text courtesy:
- Answersingenesis.org
- Engineering ethics by M.Govindarajan
- IEEE : Robotics, Computational, Intelligence,
and Cybernetics chapter
- Wikipedia.org

Image Courtesy:
- Goodfinancialcents.com
- Instablogs.com
- Nonprofitday.org
- Prosbeforehos.com
- Realclearworld.com
- Un.org