Technological advances and rising military expenditures in recent years have accelerated the development of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS). Though this technology is still in its infancy, it has already transformed the face of modern warfare. LAWS, when fully evolved, will provide means for a methodical, precise and independent selection and engagement of targets without exposing the soldiers to the dangers of the battlefield.

A 2025 Congressional Research Service report titled Defense Primer: U.S. Policy on LAWS classifies it as “a special class of weapon systems that use sensor suites and computer algorithms to independently identify, target and employ an onboard weapon system to engage and destroy it without manual human control.” The US Department of Defense Directive 3000.09 titled Autonomy in Weapon Systems (2023), defined LAWS as systems that, once activated, “can select and engage targets without further intervention by a human operator.” This concept, known as “human out of the loop” or “full autonomy,” involves target selection and engagement based on inputs from artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics and sensor-based identification.

According to Data M Intelligence, the global autonomous weapons market reached USD 14.2 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow to USD 33.47 billion by 2032, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.39 percent during 2025-2032. Simultaneously, global civil society initiatives are advocating for a ban on fully autonomous systems. In October 2012, Amnesty International launched the Stop Killer Robots campaign, an alliance of over 180 organizations across 65 countries, calling for an international law on autonomy in weapon systems, ensuring that machines are not allowed to make decisions that affect life and death. 

Concerns have arisen over unsupervised use and the potential of system errors in these weapons systems that can cause unintended civilian casualties, escalate conflicts and threaten global peace and security. The increasing integration of autonomous weapon systems in combat has already been highlighted by their reported use in Ukraine conflict and genocide by Israel in Gaza. A February 2025 report by the Foundation for Political, Economic and........

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