Part Three Distinction, 11 Invisible Soldiers: The Perfidy Implications of Invisibility Technology on Battlefields of the Future

Subject(s):

Armed conflict

The idea of invisibility has long tantalized the human imagination. Once considered fantastical, recent advances have edged technology closer to the possibility of invisibility. On the battlefield, invisibility technology could be used to cloak soldiers and military equipment without restraining the mobility or manoeuvrability of troops and equipment. These developments necessitate a consideration of how the Law of Armed Conflict should be interpreted and applied to the use of invisibility technology in warfare. In particular, invisibility raises questions concerning how to determine when the use of invisibility technology has crossed from lawful ruse to prohibited act of perfidy. This chapter explores how the use of invisibility to conceal the causal connection between an act of perfidy and an attack may fall within a grey area of the law.