What are the ethical issues on the uses of smart weapons?

Answer 1

One of the problems is that it desensitizes the soldier who is working with them. In this case the technology becomes a barrier between the person in possession of the weapon which prevents him get exposed to the Horror of killing. The soldier is sitting in a Helicopter and shoots a missile toward a point on his screen which is a human on the ground. After a while this is no more than a computer game for the soldier.

The other problem with smart weapons is that we tend to generally overestimate their accuracy and the damage they can bring about. Like any other device they have their own inaccuracies, and when the errors occur, it the the lives of the human beings that is concerned. Moreover politicians use the idea of smart weapons to try to draw hide the real face of the war from their people: oh, the the modern warfare the casualties are minimal and claims such as this.