I) Introduction Robotic technology has enabled the US military to use autonomous robots (or unmanned systems, UMS) in modern warfare. In the war with Iraq, the US military sent 12,000 ground robots at the end of 2008 (PW Singer). One of the most popular robots used in Iraq is the iRobot Packbot, an unmanned ground vehicle capable of detecting and destroying improvised explosive devices. Exploiting robots in war can save the lives of many human soldiers. Furthermore, robots are faster, have greater endurance, high precision and are immune to chemical and biological weapons (Ronald Arkin). In the National Defense Act of 2001, the US Congress, obviously impressed by the potential of robots to save human lives on the battlefield, established the requirement that within the decade one third of ground vehicles and one third of deep attack aircraft in the field military are robotic. Accordingly, the Office of the Secretary of Defense's “Integrated Roadmap for Unmanned Systems for Fiscal Year 2009-2034” outlines the four categories that will be focused on: reconnaissance and surveillance, target identification and designation, clearance of mines and explosive devices, and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear detection (Stew Magnuson). For now, most robot soldiers in the field do not have full autonomy. They are controlled by human soldier operators. However, the pressure of wars and the superior advantage of robots that can make decisions on their own will shift interest into the development of autonomous robots. On the battlefield, the time to decide whether to act or not is too short so it would be impractical for a robot to have to send a signal to an operator and wait for permission to fire (Ronald Arkin)...... middle of article ......gner, A.R., and Duncan, B., “Liability and Lethality for Unmanned Systems: Pre-Mission Accountability Ethics Consultation.” GVU Technical Report GIT-GVU-09-01, GVU Center, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009.Asaro, PM, “Robots and Responsibility from a Legal Perspective.” IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. Rome, Italy. April 2007. Magnuson, S., “Robo Ethics”. National Defense (Volume 94, Issue 672, November 2009), 28-29.Singer, P.W., “Military Robots and the Laws of War.” New Atlantic: A Journal of Technology & Society (Volume 23, Winter 2009), 25-45.Sparrow, R., “Building a Better WarBot: Ethical Issues in Designing Unmanned Systems for Military Applications.” Ethics of Science and Engineering (Volume 15, Issue 2/June 2009), 169-187.Sparrow, R., “Killer Robots.” Journal of Applied Philosophy, Vol. 24, no. 1, 2006.