A CADEMIC P EACE O RCHESTRA M IDDLE E AST P OLICY B RIEF F OR THE M IDDLE E AST C ONFERENCE ON A WMD/DV S F REE Z ONE N O . 8• A UGUST 2012 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles A Challenge to a WMD/DVs Free Zone in the Middle East T he 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty(NPT) proposed a conference to be held in 2012 on the establishment of a zone free of weapons of mass destruction(WMD) in the Middle East. The mandate also includes delivery vehicles(DVs) which are explicitly mentioned with reference to the 1995 Resolution on the Middle East. The relevant clause“[c]alls upon all States in the Middle East to take practical steps in appropriate forums aimed at making progress towards, inter alia, the establishment of an effectively verifiable Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear, chemical and biological, and their delivery systems , and to refrain from taking any measures that preclude the achievement of this objective.” 1 Unregulated Systems to Deliver Weapons of Mass Destruction Three different types of armaments are subsumed under the term WMD: nuclear, biological, and chemical. All of these are prohibited or regulated by various inter­national treaties. Chemical and biological weapons are outlawed in general, whereas no comprehensive nuclear weapon ban has yet been achieved. In addition to the NPT, different nuclear weapon free zones have been established over the last decades(see P OLICY B RIEF No. 5 by Roberta Mulas). In general, however,“there is still no multina­tional treaty restricting the development and use of delivery systems.” 2 This is astonishing in as much as they constitute an important part of WMD: appropriate means of delivery are required to transport WMD from their storage or deployment areas to their targets in a‘militarily useful’ way. Therefore, the control of delivery systems is a relevant step towards reducing the threat of weapons of mass destruction and making them useless. Christian Weidlich and Jürgen Altmann in Cooperation with Ioannis Anastasakis, Reuven Pedatzur, Oleg Shulga, Philipp Stroh, and Pieter Wezeman Taking the Middle East Conference(MEC) mandate seriously requires dealing with various delivery systems: ballistic and cruise missiles, combat aircraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs). This P OLICY B RIEF focuses on the challenges UAVs pose for the Conference and how to appropriately address them with the goal of establishing a WMD/ DVs Free Zone in the Middle East. Therefore, we concentrate in the first part on why UAVs are important for the creation of such a zone as well as why states seek to acquire these systems. In the second part, we focus on the status and recent trends regarding UAV prolif­eration in the Middle East. We then take stock of various arms control regulations which address UAVs in a direct or indirect way. Based on these insights, we make recommendations on how to deal with armed unmanned aerial vehicles at the Middle East Conference and propose feasible first steps in the field of UAV norm building and arms control. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Definition and Characteristics UAVs represent the latest available military technology in the field of delivery systems. An unmanned aerial vehicle is commonly defined as a“powered, aerial vehicle that does not carry a human operator, uses aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle lift, can fly autono­mously or be piloted remotely, and can carry a lethal or nonlethal payload.” 3 UAVs are perceived to be fundamentally different from manned aircraft and cruise missiles, although they share some common features. This makes it difficult to draw a clear distinction among these categories. Manned aircraft and most UAVs are recoverable by design, whereas cruise missiles are intended to be one-way vehicles which explode on impact. 4 Hence, the U.S. government’s exclusion of cruise missiles from the category of UAVs is Abstract Among delivery systems, unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs) constitute the latest military technology available. They offer new military options, but also new challenges in terms of their implications for politics and conflict in the Middle East. In this P OLICY B RIEF , we argue that the establishment of a WMD/DVs Free Zone in the Middle East is effective only if all regional states agree on restrictions regarding the development and use of UAVs, since they could be capable of carrying nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons. We therefore strongly encourage Middle Eastern states and external powers to bring the issue of the control of UAVs on the agenda of the Middle East Conference. In this P OLICY B RIEF , we take stock of various regulations which directly or indirectly address the UAV probléma­tique. We do so by evaluating existing arms control regulations, export controls, transparency as well as confidence­and security-building measures. Based on these insights, we make recom­mendations on how to deal with armed unmanned aerial vehicles at the Middle East Conference and propose feasible first steps in the field of UAV norm building and arms control. n This P OLICY B RIEF draws on a number of contributions from participants of the A CADEMIC P EACE O RCHESTRA M IDDLE E AST workshop held in Budapest, Hungary, from September 26–28, 2011. Members of the UAV working group came from the Middle East/Gulf and Europe.