The project is hosted by the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research (HPCR) at Harvard University; Prof. Yoram Dinstein serves as the Project Advisor. The project aims to make an original and timely contribution to the application of international humanitarian law. The motivation for the project is that the use of aerial and missile technology as a strategic means for warfare has developed tremendously in recent years while the impact of this development has not been adequately reflected in the current legal framework.

The project draws from existing models for legal codification including the successful effort to restate the law of sea warfare that culminated in publication of the San Remo Manual in 1995. The ultimate product of this project will be a manual on air warfare restating customary international law governing air and missile warfare. The target audience of the manual will be State militaries as well as IHL policy makers, practitioners and scholars.

The project has at its core a group of about 30 qualified experts, led by a Project Advisor, who will meet 5-7 times in various locations around the world over a period of three years. The project can be divided into the following four segments:

1. Project launch and designation of key topics.
2. Substantive discussion of papers prepared by selected experts on these key topics.
3. Drafting and finalization of the manual.
4. Publication of the manual.

The project is expected to include the input of governments and other stakeholders on the drafting of the Manual. As well, the project seeks to engage policy and academic centers working on themes related to international humanitarian law. It is expected that original papers prepared for this project will be published at the end of the project period.