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Comment by bpodgursky | Hacker News Reader

While I would be thrilled to not need any counter-drone military spending at all (there should be an international initiative to ban automated military weapons), if have to spend billions to counter them... I feel safer when the contracts aren't going to Boeing.

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> there should be an international initiative to ban automated military weapons

You think the Houthis will agree to that?

The Houthis improvise with existing technology but don't have any real manufacturing capacity. Restrictions on the underlying drone tech would be effective for now.

Longer-term, as the technology becomes easier to DIY... if it became unavoidable, it would not be fun, but I am confident the right coalition of the willing could align the Houthis with international weaponry guidelines.

Wasn't there this crazy bloke from New Zeeland that made his own DIY cruise missile? Just for fun, apparently, but he got into trouble with the authorities when they found out?

Yep, that’s Bruce Simpson. He still uploads regularly on his YouTube channel, mostly about RC planes and NZ drone regulation:

https://youtu.be/o10FzfI4zLA

>Restrictions on the underlying drone tech would be effective for now.

RC planes have been around for decades and are mechanically very simple. High-performance quadcopters and their component parts and widely available on sites like Ali Express. Everything that’s difficult to DIY in a modern UAV- microchips, gyros, cameras, radios- are necessary component of any regular smartphone. This genie isn’t going back in the bottle.

Houthis get many of their weapons from Iran. No coalition of the willing will stop Iran from selling autonomous weapons short of invading and occupying the country. Is that what you want?

I don't see a real difference between drones and guided missiles, even artillery allows you to kill from a distance.

Why not just ban "armed conflict"?

How would you enforce that ban?

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