Production and use of unmanned maritime vehicles in naval warfare from the perspective of international law

The production and use of automated unmanned maritime vehicles, as well as major changes in tools and methods of warfare are planned, their operation is automatic at all stages, and Their use in naval warfare poses serious challenges to humanitarian laws. It is therefore necessary to examine such systems in accordance with international law from the stage of production to operation. Therefore, this brief seeks to answer two questions; how does Article 36 of the First Additional Protocol regulate the production, development and use of automatic unmanned maritime vehicles? And how does international humanitarian law regulate the use of unmanned maritime vehicles in naval warfare? Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the principles governing the use of unmanned maritime vehicles from the perspective of humanitarian law, and to examine the legal obligations related to the production and pre-use of these devices from the perspective of international law. Research findings show that under international law, governments are required to review the compliance of these devices with humanitarian law before use and in the production process, and to expand them if they do. In the field, despite the fact that the degree of independence of unmanned maritime systems is expected to expand in the future, until then, their use must be under human control and supervision.