While arms manufacturers will tend to disfavor limitations on arms, few if any are currently profiting from the sorts of weapons that might be prohibited by international agreement, and there is plenty of scope for profit-making in designing defenses against lethal autonomous weapons, etc. [emphasis added]
But if use of AWSs is limited by international agreements, people won’t be as interested in spending money on defences against AWSs. So it seems like the scope for profit-making via designing defences against AWSs is a reason why arms manufacturers would oppose efforts to get international agreements here, rather than a reason they wouldn’t?
That’s probably true. The more important point, I think, is that this prohibition would be an potential/future, rather than real, loss to most current arms-makers.
But if use of AWSs is limited by international agreements, people won’t be as interested in spending money on defences against AWSs. So it seems like the scope for profit-making via designing defences against AWSs is a reason why arms manufacturers would oppose efforts to get international agreements here, rather than a reason they wouldn’t?
That’s probably true. The more important point, I think, is that this prohibition would be an potential/future, rather than real, loss to most current arms-makers.