This document discusses a student project on weapon development ethics. It thanks the teacher and college for the opportunity. The project helped understand ethics of weapon development and factors contributing to it. It discusses why weapon development ethics is important for engineers and consequences of unethical use. It also discusses factors driving weapon development like technological advances and terrorism. It concludes that use of weapons unethically can harm lives and infrastructure while professionals should avoid unethical projects.

3. We would like to express our special thanks and
gratitude to our teacher, Dr. Kaushal Sharma, as
well as our college BVCOE, New Delhi who gave
us the golden opportunity to do this wonderful
project on the topic ‘Weapon Development’.
This project helped us to understand the ethics
related to weapon development and study in detail
the different factors responsible for it.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

4. Why is weapon development ethics important for
engineers ?
Tracing the path of weapon
development
Consequences of unethical use of weapons
Factors contributing weapon
development
Concluding remarks

5.  A weapon is a tool or instrument used with the aim
of causing damage or harm (either physical or
mental) to living beings or artificial structures.
HISTORY OF WEAPON
Major innovations in the history of weapons have
included the adoption of different materials - from stone
and wood to different metals, and modern synthetic
materials such as plastics - and the developments of
different weapon styles either to fit the terrain or to
support or counteract

6. “Ethics is a branch of philosophy
that addresses questions morality—
that is, concepts such as good and
evil, right and wrong, justice, virtue,
etc”.

7.  Based on the size of expenditures, direct or indirect involvement of
engineers and innovative developments, military technology is an area
that calls for serious discussion on engineering ethics.
 For some engineers, their involvement with weapons develop conflicts
with personal conscience, such as knowing that making weapons in a
company, is the job which would be done by someone else if he
doesn't do and that cannot change the results.
 Though working in a toxic chemical manufacturing plant can make
you feel guilty, the idea abolishing this disastrous thing once you
become the CEO of the company, makes you get the feeling of being
in good books, though you might or might not do that when the time
comes.

8. 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

9. Engineers involve in weapon development because of the following
reasons:
• It gives one job with high salary
• One takes pride and honor in participating in the activities towards the
defense of the nation.
• One believes the he fights a war terrorism and thereby contribute peace
and stability of the country, Ironically the wars have never won peace,
only peace can win peace
• By research and development, the engineer is reducing or eliminating
the risk from enemy weapons and saving one's country from disaster By
building-up arsenals and show of force a country can force the rogue
towards regulation

10. •Designed to kill human beings
•Many ethical professionals will refuse to engage
in weapon designing
•Morally responsible engineers find this to be ethically
acceptable
•Change in opinion if national interests are not guaranteed

11. Think tanks
DOD Science Boards
DOD Needs and
Procurements
DOD
Funding
“Get us more bang
for the buck!”
Autonomous
Weapon
Procurement
Contractor wins
Autonomous
Weapon project
System
& Design
Engineering
Testing, Validation
Verification
Sensor
Algorithms
Sensors
Actuators and
Weapons Interface
Artificial
Intelligence
Policy
Interface
War Rules
DOD Doctrine
Treaties
Ethicists
Field
Deployment
& Use
Intended
Results
Collateral
Damage
Designers
Government
Contractor
Battlefield
GOOD
BAD

12. 1. Technological Developments
2. Rise of terrorism
The future battlefield might also extend to
space, with orbiting arsenals and high-
altitude aero-spaceplanes, though robot
spacecraft capable of intercepting
satellites may be intended more to protect
the military’s investment in Global
Positioning Systems and other orbital
assets.
Terrorists are, on the whole, conventional in their use of
weapons; bombs and guns are their favorites. Among the
former, car- and truck-bombs have become very powerful
weapons, especially in suicide attacks. Terrorists use both
explosive bombings and incendiary bombings (e.g.
Molotov cocktails).

13. 3. Race to supremacy
4. Threat to National Security

15. Atomic bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
during World War II, American
bombing raids on the Japanese
cities of Hiroshima (August 6,
1945) and Nagasaki (August 9,
1945) that marked the first use
of atomic weapons in war. Tens of
thousands were killed in the initial
explosions and many more would
later succumb to radiation
poisoning.

16. The Kargil War, also known as
the Kargil conflict was
an armed conflict fought
between India and Pakistan fro
m May to July 1999 in the Kargil
district of Jammu and
Kashmir and elsewhere along
the Line of Control (LoC). In
India, the conflict is also
referred to as Operation
Vijay which was the name of
the Indian military operation to
clear out the Kargil sector.

17. •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 !

18. - Jonathan Granoff

19. - Answersingenesis.org
- Engineering ethics by M.Govindarajan
- IEEE : Robotics, Computational, Intelligence,
and Cybernetics chapter
- Wikipedia.org
- Goodfinancialcents.com
Instablogs.com
Nonprofitday.org
- Prosbeforehos.com
- Realclearworld.com
- Un.org