No black ops for drones, Vance says
Military to adopt armed UAVs for first time
OTTAWA • Public perceptions about armed drones have been clouded by Hollywood, Canada’s top soldier said Thursday as he insisted the Canadian Armed Forces won’t be using its stealthy new technology for socalled black-ops missions like assassinations.
“The fact that they’re armed, I think people have this idea, kind of a Hollywood view of assassination by that,” Gen. Jonathan Vance, the chief of the defence staff, said in an interview.
“That’s not the business we’re in. Can I underline that? Double bold it, make it big font? This is not the business that we’re talking about. And this policy is not that.”
The Liberal government’s long-awaited new defence policy, released Wednesday, said Canada’s military would finally be authorized for the first time to purchase and use armed drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs.
That decision represents one of the most notable shifts in the new policy, alongside the authorization of government-sanctioned cyberattacks.
The acquisition and use of armed drones has been sharply debated both at home and abroad, with much of that debate centred on the U.S. having used UAVs to assassinate people in various parts of the world.
That includes strikes against what the U.S. says are extremist leaders in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and Libya — strikes non-governmental associations, human rights groups and others say also killed many civilians.
The military plans to use armed drones in much the same way as other conventional weapons, such as fighter jets and artillery, said Vance.
“There are rules of engagement, there is an approved target, there is the absolute commitment to avoiding any collateral damage, any harm to a civilian population,” he said. “So to us, it’s just another weapon.”
Canadian soldiers relied heavily on the U.S. to provide drone support in Afghanistan, he added, noting that fielding such weapons is a critical part of deploying a modern military force.
During an event Thursday in Montreal, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government had “fulsome discussions” about the decision.
“We have talked about remotely piloted vehicles of many different types and we know that’s going to be part of the defence mix moving forward for most countries, if not all countries,” Trudeau said.