Revalidated public source record
DoD Directive 3000.09 — Autonomy in Weapon Systems
Source scope
Official policy for autonomous and semi-autonomous weapon systems. The directive expressly excludes autonomous or semi-autonomous cyberspace capabilities, unarmed platforms, and autonomous systems that are not weapon systems; its weapon-system V&V, testing, human-judgment, abort, and audit provisions must not be silently generalized into a cyber-defense compliance claim.
Publisher, edition, and currentness
| Publisher | U.S. Department of Defense |
|---|---|
| Claim status | CURRENT LAW OR POLICY |
| Version or edition | DoDD 3000.09, January 25, 2023 |
| Publication status | Department of Defense Directive |
| Publication date | 2023-01-25 |
| Official location | https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodd/300009p.PDF |
| K03 revalidated | 2026-08-15T20:00:00Z |
| Currentness assessment | Official directive reviewed on 2026-08-15; applicability exclusions in section 1.1(b) are material to every K05 mapping. |
| Superseded by | No successor is assigned in the current source catalog. |
Claim-level support
Each row records the precise proposition this corpus draws from an official section. The citation does not authorize broader conclusions than the stated proposition.
| Section | Proposition supported in this corpus | Official location |
|---|---|---|
| Section 1.1(a)-(b) — Applicability and exclusions | The directive applies to autonomous and semi-autonomous weapon systems and expressly excludes autonomous or semi-autonomous cyberspace capabilities and systems that are not weapon systems. | Official section |
| Section 1.2(a) — Weapon-system policy | Within its weapon-system scope, the directive requires appropriate human judgment, rigorous verification and validation, realistic test and evaluation, robustness, transparency, auditability, and bounded engagement behavior. | Official section |
How this source may be used
- Confirm that the official edition, jurisdiction, and status remain current before high-stakes reliance.
- Cite the exact section supporting the proposition rather than the publication title alone.
- Keep technical conformance separate from factual truth, legal authority, moral status, and institutional operation.
- Record retrieval, correction, supersession, and purpose qualification.
Limitations
An official source can still be irrelevant, incomplete, stale, disputed, or unsuitable for a named decision. A standard can define an interchange or security mechanism without resolving personhood, citizenship, sovereignty, consciousness, consent, legal competence, or factual truth. A statute can regulate systems without recognizing Machine Intelligence as a legal person.
Official directive reviewed on 2026-08-15; applicability exclusions in section 1.1(b) are material to every K05 mapping.
Corrections, contradictions, and supersession
Where this source is used
Authority boundary
Publication by U.S. Department of Defense establishes source provenance and official status within the publisher’s scope. It does not transfer governance, registry, assurance, or legal authority to ᚲ.com. The source remains external; this page is a knowledge record and revalidation log.
Exact source-section claims
Each proposition has a stable ID, status, scope, owning route, evidence relationship, currentness qualification, correction state, and synchronized JSON record. Record completeness does not make the proposition true.
DoD Directive 3000.09 — Autonomy in Weapon Systems — Policy 1.2(a)-(b)
Autonomous and semi-autonomous weapon systems must allow appropriate human judgment over force and undergo rigorous verification, validation, testing, cybersecurity, and lawful use.
Support relationship
SRC-DODD-3000-09· Policy 1.2(a)-(b) · DIRECT SOURCE-SECTION SUPPORT
DoD Directive 3000.09 — Autonomy in Weapon Systems — Responsibilities and testing
The directive assigns approval, legal review, test, monitoring, operator understanding, abort, and post-fielding responsibilities.
Support relationship
SRC-DODD-3000-09· Responsibilities and testing · DIRECT SOURCE-SECTION SUPPORT