Paddy Walker PhD
Introduction:
Welcome to this website which houses articles and research written by Paddy Walker on the ethical, legal and technical challenges to deploying autonomous weapon systems (AWS).
AWS are defined as robotic weapons that have the ability to sense and act unilaterally depending on how they are programmed. Such human-out-of-the-loop platforms will be capable of selecting targets and delivering lethality without any further oversight.
While this still requires material step–change in both hardware and software, once deployed such weapons posit a significant change in how humans wage war. Much of the underlying analysis discusses the practical and technical challenges to removing supervision from lethal engagements. The subject‘s importance is that several well-tried concepts that have long comprised battlecraft may no longer be fit for purpose. In particular, legal and other obstacles challenge such the notion that any such weapons can remain compliant under the laws of armed conflict.
Curriculum Vitae:
Dr. Paddy Walker runs the Leon group, a fifth generation family office. A graduate of Durham University and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he holds an MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. He has a further Masters from the University of Buckingham’s School of Modern War Studies. Paddy has a PhD from Buckingham’s School of Humanities in the field of autonomous weapons and challenges to their deployment.
He is a senior research fellow at the Humanities Research Institute and an Associate at the Imperial war Museum‘s Institute for the Public Understanding of War and Conflict. He also sits on the development board of the Museum. Paddy is an Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. His recent book, War‘s Change Landscape? A primer on conflict’s forms and norms was co-authored with RUSI’s then head of military sciences, Professor Peter Roberts. A companion book, War Without Oversight: why we need humans on the battlefield, also published by Howgate, was released in 2025.
Formally co-chair of the London committee of NGO Human Rights Watch, Paddy is a director of Article 36, a charity focused on reducing collateral harm to civilians from weapon systems. A previous chair of the Family Office Forum for the UK’s Institute of Family Business, he sits on Leon’s Philanthropy Council. He is also a member of the Royal Company of Archers, the King’s official bodyguard in Scotland.
Books
War's Changed Landscape? A Primer on Conflict's Norms and Forms
[2022]
In late 2021, the new means of warfare were confidently being described by political and military leaders alike using phrases such as ‘grey zone’, ‘sub-liminal’ and ‘below the threshold of outright conflict’, a mix of hybrid strategies that would no longer involve the messy, noisy use of sticks and stones and bombs and gore. Future warfare was to be political warfare. Cyber and influence tools were the future and many academics agreed. In difficult retrospect, this was actually a narrative based on hubris and a simple extension of commentators’ own experiences over what had been twenty years of failed interventions.
But by February 2022, everyone had changed their tune. War was suddenly 20th century redux, a tapestry of trenches, bayonets and massed artillery that would have been quite familiar to participants of that century's two World Wars. The picture, of course, is more complicated and nuanced. Technology is disrupting practices and doing so right across battlespace. But hybrid warfare has very much not disappeared and political warfare in its many forms remains the overt strategy of several states notwithstanding unprecedented expansion in the means available to parties to undertake meddling and conflict.
It is quickly evident, moreover, that contemporary war is actually less defined by technical innovation than armchair experts would have you to believe. And disruptions today are too often tomorrow’s old news. Empirically, war’s norms and behaviours are quite slow to change with each shiny new driver for that change often giving rise to compelling versos and points of friction that combine to dull material transformation. This book unpicks the arguments made pre and post 2022 and, based on interviews with experts from around the world, seeks to dissect battlecraft’s enduring themes and how these may affect conflicts’ current norms.
War Without Oversight: Why We Need Humans on the Battlefield
[2025]
Autonomous weapon systems (AWS) are defined as robotic weapons that have the ability to sense and act unilaterally depending on how they are programmed. Such human-out-of-the-loop platforms will be capable of selecting targets and delivering lethality without any human interaction. This weapon technology may still be in its infancy, but both semi-autonomous and other precursor systems are already in service. There are several drivers to a move from merely automatic weapons to fully autonomous weapons which are able to engage a target based solely upon algorithm-based decision-making. This requires material step-change in both hardware and software and, once deployed, such weapons posit a significant change in how humans wage war. But complex technical difficulties must first be overcome if this new independent and self-learning weapon category can legally be deployed on the battlefield. AWS also pose basic statutory, moral and ethical challenges.
This book digs into the manifest complexity involved in fielding a weapon that can operate without human oversight while still retaining value as a battlefield asset. The book’s aim is to shine a light on the practical and technical feasibility of removing supervision from lethal engagements. The subject’s importance is that several well-tried concepts that have long comprised battlecraft may no longer be fit for purpose. In particular, legal and other obstacles challenge such weapons remaining compliant under the Laws of Armed Conflict. Technical challenges, moreover, include the setting of weapon values and goals, the anchoring of the weapon’s internal representations as well as management of its utility functions, its learning functions and other key operational routines. While the recent development pace in these technologies may appear extraordinary, fundamental fault lines endure. The book also notes the interdependent and highly coupled nature of the routines that underlies these weapons’ operation, in particular ramifications arising from its machine learning spine, and, in so doing, demonstrate how detrimental these compromises are across AWS deployment models. In highlighting AWS deployment challenges, the analysis draws on broad primary and secondary sources to conclude that meaningful human control should be a statutory requirement in all lethal engagements.
Endorsements
Book reviews
- War's Changed Landscape
Rt Hon Sir David Lidington KCB
Formerly Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office Chairman, Royal United Services Institute
‘A clear-eyed unsentimental analysis that challenges many comfortable western assumptions about modern warfare. This book should be on the reading-list for every military planner and defence analyst’.
Professor Beatrice Heuser
Chair, International Relations, University of Glasgow
‘What are the enduring, the changing, and the novel features of warfare? This thoughtful study has as its forte its understanding of the impact of new technologies and resulting operational dimensions, war in its most concrete forms, a compass to war’s changed landscape for the practitioner’.
General The Lord Richards of Herstmonceux GCB CBE DSO DL Formerly Chief of the UK Defence Staff
‘Prior to the war in Ukraine, defence professionals delighted in trading claims about the revolution in conflict and how it was changing the character and perhaps even the nature of warfare irrevocably. Those who demurred were written-off as cold war warriors incapable of keeping up with the effects of modern technology. This outstanding book decisively debunks such thinking. It explains that mass as well as technology must continue to determine the shape, size and training of our armed forces. Not to mention the need for raw human courage and resilience. The authors rightly conclude that 'the conduct of war has changed very little regardless of one's timeline. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough. Read it and re-learn some very old lessons!’
Professor Lloyd Clark
Director, Centre for Army Leadership, Sandhurst
‘A refreshingly honest, brave, and insightful book drawing from thinkers at the top of their game. Challenging and prescient, War’s Changed Landscape demands to be read – and discussed.’
General Sir Richard Lawson Barrons, KCB, CBE
Formerly Commander, Joint Forces Command, 2013-2017
‘Context is everything' - the last words of this excellent book - capture how our ministers, officials and generals are a danger to us all if they stick with the certainties about war espoused so stridently over the last 30 years. This primer illuminates the path to surviving and winning in the wars of the hardest century Homo Sapiens has ever faced.’
Professor Christian Enemark
Professor of International Relations, University of Southampton
‘In this timely primer, Walker and Roberts present a fascinating vision of changes in the relationship between international conflict practices, emerging military technologies, and the norms of war.’
Professor Matthais Strohn
The Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research (CHACR)
Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst
‘This book asks important, and sometimes inconvenient, questions about the future of war and warfare. A must-read for everybody who is interested in this topic.’
Major General Chris Barry CBE
Director Land Warfare Centre, British Army
‘This is such an important read, and one I will go back to again and again as we seek to understand the constants, and accelerants of conflict in the Land Domain, and meet them.’
Major General Simon Bernard, Deputy Commander.
Canadian Joint Operations Command
‘Paddy Walker’s War Without Oversight is a must-read for military professionals and defence analysts. It dives into the ethical, operational and technological challenges of autonomous weapon systems (AWS). Walker emphasizes the need for human oversight to ensure compliance with international laws and ethical standards. Despite advancements in AWS, the human element remains crucial on the modern battlefield.’
Justin Bronk, SRF for Airpower and Technology at RUSI
‘An important examination of the myriad complexities and challenges involved in fielding practical lethal autonomous weapons systems that are so often glossed over or ignored by both novel technology evangelists and those campaigning to regulate and restrict lethal autonomy.’
Air Vice-Marshal Michael Harwood CB CBE,
former Head of British Defence Staff United States
‘Paddy Walker explores the implications of humans being technically capable of handing over the decision to kill to a computer. Don’t turn a blind eye, read this book; discover what you must do to make future generations thankful you lived.’
Karin von Hippel, former Director General, RUSI
‘Paddy Walker yet again uses his shrewd analytical skills to delve into one of the thorniest challenges posed by modern warfare – how to manage advances in technology so as to maintain control on the battlefield. Walker’s approach is both practical and necessary so as to ensure that human decision-making stays central to current and future wars. A must-read for all students of military history and current conflict!’
Nicholas Valentine, Lead Engineer – Human Machine Teaming,
Defence Equipment and Support, UK MoD
‘This is a vital contribution to the debate on autonomous weapon systems. In painting the wider context within which these systems would sit, Paddy provides a well informed argument on the need for human agency in warfare. There are those that would present the unsupervised use of autonomous technology in war as a utopian ideal. I challenge them to read this book.’
- War Without Oversight: Why We Need Humans on the Battlefield
Shona Illingworth, Professor in Art, Film and Media, University of Kent
‘An insightful and sharply focused critique of the development of autonomous weapons that is grounded in an in-depth contextual analysis of the complex technical, political, operational, economic, ethical and legal issues involved. This very timely and necessary primer develops compelling arguments for maintaining human oversight and accountability in contemporary and future warfare.’
Professor Sean McFate, Georgetown University, US National Defense University, and author of The New Rules of War
Some believe the future of war will look like Skynet or the Matrix. But it probably won’t. Paddy Walker offers a precise analysis of the feasibility and desirability of autonomous weapon systems waging wars for us. Walker’s conclusions may surprise readers.’
Richard Moyes, Director, Article 36
‘Walker considers the drivers towards autonomy in weapons systems and the diverse technical, legal and moral challenges that different forms of autonomy might present. He sounds a stark warning – piece by piece, autonomy is already happening, with human agency being ceded incrementally. Whilst recognising the complexity of the challenge, this book makes a detailed case for rules to keep humans on the battlefield.’
Laura Nolan, International Committee for Robot Arms Control
‘War Without Oversight is a clear-eyed view of the complexity which the emerging autonomous capabilities of weapons systems will bring to the battlefield (and beyond) in the coming decade. While dealing with anticipated technical advances in the coming decade, Walker manages to be grounded in the practical, drawing on and extrapolating from recent and ongoing conflicts. Even those readers who have been following the debates over autonomous weapons closely will find much to consider here.’
Major General Bill Robins CB OBE, former Director General,
UK Defence Information and Communication Services,
Senior Research Fellow, RUSI
‘The allied military establishment is giving too little constructive thought to artificial intelligence and autonomous weapon systems. This thoughtful and well-researched analysis of one of the greatest challenges now facing allied forces should be required reading for all diplomatic and military policy makers and their advisors.’
Professor Peter Roberts, former Head of Military Science, RUSI, and Founder, Aurelius Labs
‘War has always been a human endeavour yet much of the clamour today predicts a wholesale change in that due to the arrival of autonomous systems on the battlefield. The reality, however, is that speakers and authors who parrot these claims have detached themselves from the detail of what needs to happen in order for their rhetoric to be made real. Paddy Walker provides us with a corrective to that: educating and informing us about the challenges and hurdles that must be met in order to make autonomous systems work in war. The requirement for supervision and oversight is clear: Humans may, just may, become less evident in combat over the coming decades but their actions and decisions will remain critical to employing systems effectively. Read it.’
Elke Schwarz, Professor of Political Theory at
Queen Mary University of London
‘War Without Oversight is a unique and much-needed contribution to the debate on autonomous weapon systems. I have not come across a text that manages so well to combine fine-grained technical detail with historical context and philosophical depth. Walker excels in spotlighting the challenging ways human-machine interactions are transforming war today. A must-read for scholars, activists and policymakers alike.’
Emily Tripp, Executive Director, Airwars
‘This deeply researched analysis successfully balances both the technical and conceptual in outlining the applications of autonomous weapons on the battlefield. Painting a granular picture from modern day Ukraine to historic US naval actions, Walker captures a vast and interconnected technological landscape within a highly readable and compelling framework. This book raises essential questions for military practitioners, policymakers and researchers alike.’
Professor Paul Cornish, Professor of Strategic Studies,
and Director, University of Exeter
This important book shows precisely why the principles and practices of international arms control and non-proliferation – too often considered to be mere relics of the Cold War – need urgently to be revisited and modernised. And with a view to the arrival on the battlefield of robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomous weapons systems, War Without Oversight makes a more fundamental point. If the organised use of violent force is to be ethically and legally constrained (and who would argue the opposite?) then humans must have oversight and must be responsible and accountable for decisions and actions taken in war.’
Samuel Cranny-Evans, Calibre Defence News
‘Autonomous weapon systems are highly likely to proliferate in the near future, introducing new types of weapon and ways of fighting onto the battlefield as they do. The narrative that is told on the way is already shaping the way they are perceived and assessed. Few if any indicate that they will be short of game changing. But, as Walker shows in War Without Oversight this outcome is far from certain. The book provides a sound technical grounding in the things that make autonomous weapons work, as well as the legal systems they will have to comply with, and some of the many frictions that all of this inherently builds into the design and development of truly autonomous systems. This technical grounding makes this book an indispensable read for anyone looking to understand this area more fully.’
Professor Anthony Downey, Birmingham City University
‘Examining the technological, legal, statutory, moral and ethical concerns that surround the deployment of autonomous weapons, War Without Oversight offers a rigorous critique of current proposals to transfer the authority to kill people to automated systems in contemporary theatres of war. Given the undoubted relevance and urgency of these concerns, and the import of Walker’s research into why we should question the apparent viability and efficacy of such systems, the volume is an indispensable reference point for discussing the impact of automated warfare in the 21st Century and beyond.’
Articles
Agile Procurement?
Norms and challenges to the integration of novel systems into legacy force design
Artificial Intelligence in Weapon Systems
House of Lords’ Public Enquiry Expert Evidence
The Rise of Autonomous Warfare
A Conversation between Dr Paddy Walker and Dr Iain Overton, Executive Director of NGO Action on Armed Violence on his book “War Without Oversight: Why We Need Humans on the Battlefield”.
Research Article The RUSI Journal
Leadership Challenges from the Deployment of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems
PhD thesis, Modern War Studies
War without oversight; challenges to the deployment of autonomous weapon systems
Presentations
War without oversight
The erosion of human supervision in lethal engagements and its impact on military commanders
Norms and forms of warfare
How belligerents will engage in conflict and how we need to prepare, 2025-2040
Palentir presentation
Big data on the battlefield; challenges to the deployment of AI, ML and data analytics at scale
Why We Need Humans on the Battlefield
Paddy Walker and Elke Schwarz discuss the techincal philosophical challenges of human-machine interaction and how these are transforming war
Podcasts
Episode 35: The Future Rules of Warfare
Technological change is creating an inflection point for Western states that will have radical implications on how they will fight in the future. Even if such rates of change are less extreme, the gap between how the West and adversaries are behaving on the battlefield nonetheless continues to diverge at an alarming rate.
Norms and behaviours in contemporary conflict are markedly different to our expectations and it is not clear that the West is adapting in the appropriate way. What does it tell us about the future? Dr Paddy Walker, principal investigator in a new project on 'The Future Rules of Conflict', talks to Peter Roberts about the scope of his important work and where this trend might lead us.
Episode 8: Autonomous Systems and The Future of Warfare
Paddy and Elke highlight the gap between expectations and reality, arguing that while AI-enabled technologies are often marketed as revolutionary, their real-world effectiveness remains uncertain due to data limitations, technical vulnerabilities and the challenges of human–machine integration.
Professor Elke Schwarz is Professor of Political Theory at Queen Mary University of London and the author of Death Machines: The Ethics of Violent Technologies.
War Without Oversight Why We Need Humans on the Battlefield
Amid the fanfare around AI and autonomous weapons, decision-makers - both military and political - are imagining an augmented future for warfare that minimises human influence and connection. But in their rush for speed and lethality, leaders have failed to understand the behavioural and technical challenges that accompany these new weapon types, as well as the detail of their operation and the practicalities involved in deploying these assets on tomorrow's battlefields.
Stephen Satkiewicz is an independent scholar whose research areas are related to Civilizational Sciences, Social Complexity, Big History, Historical Sociology, military history, War studies, International Relations, Geopolitics, as well as Russian and East European history.
Podcast - YouTube
New Books Network of America; Reviewing War without Oversight
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With its origins back in the late 19th century, the investment group now runs global exposures across a wide range of asset classes including public and private equity, property and farmland.
The group does not accept unsolicited investment approaches. Alongside its investment portfolio, J Leon runs a long- term philanthropic programme that that includes work around the protection of civilians in conflict zones and initiatives to improve civilian resilience in times of war.
