Training and Education of Armed Forces in the Age of High-Tech Hostilities

In recent decades, new technologies have so radically changed current warfare that, as a consequence, the very law of armed conflict had to be applied to new means and methods of warfare, such as unmanned aerial vehicles and cyber attacks, as well as autonomous weapon systems. This Chapter explores the impact of this high-tech trend on the education and training of the personnel of armed forces from two different perspectives. First, it explores what military training duties States have with respect to high-tech means and methods of warfare and, in particular, whether the law of armed conflict requires that States employing them provide specific military training to their armed forces. It is argued that States may be held responsible for the inadequate training of their soldiers in situations where this results in a violation of the principle of precaution. Second, the analysis aims at establishing whether a duty to provide international humanitarian law education and training exists with specific regard to high-tech means and methods of warfare, in light of State practice regarding the dissemination of international humanitarian law. Arguably, although a significant trend regarding the supply of specific instructions and education pertaining to high-tech means and methods of warfare does exist, the lack of a specific international humanitarian law education and training focusing on high-tech means and methods of warfare may not be considered a violation of international humanitarian law in every case