Targeting
Dual-Purpose Objects
Editors’ note: This post is based on the authors’ recently published article “On the Purpose Limb of the Military Objective Test under the Law of Targeting” published in volume 64 of Military Law and Law of War Review. The concept of dual-use objects is misleading. It...
Jamming Enemy Weapon Systems and the Law of Targeting
Throughout history, superior weaponry and tactics have always provided a decisive edge in warfare, driving continuous cycles of measures and countermeasures among adversaries. Today’s battlefields are no exception. In the Russo-Ukrainian war and the armed conflict...
From Imagery to Targeting: Commercial Satellite Support in War
Commercial Earth Observation (EO) and geospatial intelligence firms now provide near-real-time imagery and analysis during active hostilities. Existing international humanitarian law (IHL) applies to these situations, but its application to commercial support embedded...
Dual-Use Objects and Dual-Purpose Attacks
Editors’ note: This post highlights work in the author’s recent chapter, “Objective and Subjective Tests for Determining Violations of the Law of Targeting: The Unreasonable Commander and the Guilty Mind,” appearing in Volume 27 of the Yearbook of International...
Warification and the Illusion of Precision: AI, Targeting, and Increasing Civilian Harm
Editors’ note: This post features analysis included in the authors’ recently published article, “The Warification of International Humanitarian Law and the Artifice of Artificial Intelligence in Decision-Support Systems: Restoring Balance through Legitimacy of...
Targeting in the Swiss Army
Many members of the press and media are generally uninformed, dismissive, and even sneer at matters related to international humanitarian law (IHL). These conditions apply equally with respect to most issues of public international law. Reality concerning the weight...
Fighting at Machine Speed: AI and U.S. Army Counterfire Under the Law of War – Part I
A strategic shift in national security priorities from counterinsurgency operations to great-power competition and conflict has exposed significant technological and capability gaps in the U.S. military. Among these are lack of guaranteed air superiority and peer...
When Cartels Fight Back: El Mencho and the NIAC Question in Mexico
On February 22, 2026, Mexican Army Special Forces launched a pre-dawn raid on a gated residential compound in Tapalpa, a mountainous municipality in the Western state of Jalisco. Their target was Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, a.k.a. “El Mencho,” the elusive founder and...
When Red Lines Cross Blue Lines: Cyber Attacks on Poland’s Water Infrastructure – Part II
In Part I of this post, we addressed the threshold issue of whether cyber operations targeting water infrastructure qualify as attacks, thus bringing international humanitarian law (IHL)’s targeting rules into effect. This post assumes that the threshold for an attack...
Military Animals in Armed Conflict
For much of human history, armies have relied on military animals to prosecute wars. Horses have served as means of transportation and tactical maneuver since ancient times. Mules, donkeys, camels, and other pack animals have been critical to supplying armies in the...
Gamifying War: Reward Incentives and “Outlawry” in Armed Conflict
Both sides of the Ukraine-Russia conflict maintain incentive programs that reward soldiers for kills on the battlefield. Russia offers monetary bonuses for the destruction of enemy equipment, such as helicopters and tanks, while Ukraine awards points redeemable for...
The Ukrainian Attacks Against Gambian-Flagged Oil Tankers in the Black Sea
On October 28, 2025, Ukrainian so-called “Sea Baby drones” attacked two Gambian-flagged oil tankers, the Kairos and Virat. Whereas the vessels were severely damaged, no casualties were reported. Presumably, the ships are part of Russia’s “shadow fleet,” and are on a...
Future of Warfare and Law Series – Addressing Uncertainty in the Use of Autonomous Weapons Systems
Editors’ note: This post is part of a series featuring topics discussed during the Third Annual Future of Warfare and the Law Symposium. LTC Christina Colclough’s introductory post is available here. The Future of Warfare and the Law Symposium, which took place in May...
Operation Spider Web and Instrumentalizing Civilian Objects
On 1 June 2025, in one of the boldest operations of the war, Ukraine carried out a massive surprise attack against Russian military installations. The attack, known as Operation Spider Web, was carried out by drones and resulted in significant damage to strategically...
Non-State Cyber Actors in the 12-Day War – The Gray Zone of LOAC, Part I
Editors’ note: In this two-part series, Professor Gary Corn examines law of armed conflict issues arising from cyber operations conducted during the recent conflict between Israel and Iran. With little fanfare, the traditional line between public and private war was...
An Operational Perspective of Military Advantage and Proportionality
Scholars have described the law of targeting as lying at the heart of the law of armed conflict (LOAC). Within the law of targeting, the rule of proportionality requires military planners, commanders, and those executing attacks to assess whether the expected harm to...
Assessing the Legality of Israel’s Action Against Iran Under International Law
As related in previous Articles of War coverage (here, here, and here), in the early hours of 13 June, Israel launched “Operation Rising Lion” which struck Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities in Natanz, ballistic facilities, military commanders, and nuclear...
Attacking Scientists and the Law of Armed Conflict
On June 13, 2025, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, an attack on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, ballistic missile program, and senior military leadership. Additionally, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted so-called “targeted killings” of scientists working...
Judging Battlefield Conduct
Editors’ note: This post is based on the author’s article-length work, “The Rule of Law in Armed Conflict” published in volume 34 of the Minnesota Journal of International Law (2025). The rule of law is an appraisal concept that purports to restrict arbitrariness in...
Targeting Iranian Spy Ships
On March 17, 2025, Al-Hadath, a Saudi news outlet, reported that U.S. forces in the Middle East had targeted and sunk Iran’s newest signals intelligence (SIGINT) ship, the IRINS Zagros (H313), while the spy ship was on station in the Red Sea. Both U.S. and Iranian...
Ukraine Symposium – Terrorizing Civilians and the Law of Armed Conflict
Reports from the Kherson Oblast, an area of Ukraine the Ukrainian military recaptured in November 2022, indicate that the Russian military is using drones to target Ukrainian civilians as part of a systematic effort to terrorize the civilian population (see also here,...
I Spy: Espionage, Perfidy, and Fighting in the Shadows
In a 2024 Articles of War post, I identified that intelligence gathering, including espionage, is authorized by both treaty and customary international law during armed conflict. For international armed conflicts, the treaty basis is found in Article 24 of the 1907...
The Status of the U.S. Coast Guard’s People, Bases and Equipment, and Vessels Under LOAC
The U.S. Naval Institute (USNI) recently published an article highlighting the integral role the U.S. Coast Guard might play in a future high-intensity conflict. Set in the context of the American Sea Power Project’s fictional War of 2026 scenario, wherein the United...
Indo-Pacific Legal Topics for Operational Lawyers
The year 2024 was a time of increasing instability for global security. The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has resurrected the specter of a world war, in which North Korea is also involved. Perhaps related to that war, November of last year saw an incident in...
The Drone Threat, the Laser Response, and the Law – Part I
In conflicts during the last few years, unmanned air weapons, commonly referred to as drones, have increasingly been used to undertake attacks of ground targets. These attacks have recently involved large numbers of these drones, often directed at multiple targets....
Year in Review – 2024
2024 was defined by a landscape of intensifying conflicts, continuous technological advancements (see here and here), and evolving debates over the application of the law of armed conflict (LOAC). The persistent war in Ukraine, the volatile Israel-Hezbollah and...
