The Moral and Ethical Implications of Precision-Guided Munitions

Aerial precision is airpower's modern contribution to the just war tradition. The fundamental purpose of this analysis is to examine the ethical and moral implications of this statement and identify some of the inherent dilemmas resulting from it for political decision makers and military strategists. In addition, likely trends and characteristics of American airpower in the twenty-first century are examined. In a world where international relations are dominated increasingly by pragmatism, this study recognizes the importance of moral virtues and ethical reasoning in political and military affairs. This work explores the relationship between one of the most significant military capabilities to emerge in the past century, namely aerial precision-guided munitions, and the just war tradition.