DJI responds to drone order from the U.S. Department of Interior

Today the U.S. Department of Interior issued an order that basically grounds their entire Chinese-made drone fleet except for in a few special situations such as fire fighting and search and rescue missions. Understandably, DJI is not at all pleased with this order and responds to the U.S. Department of Interior drone order issued the following statement.

DJI responds to drone order from the U.S. Department of Interior

DJI is not at all pleased with this order and responds to U.S. Department of Interior drone order issued the following statement:

DJI, the world’s leader in civilian drones and aerial imaging technology, is extremely disappointed by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) drone order released today which inappropriately treats a technology’s country of origin as a litmus test for its performance, security and reliability. This action will ground the entire DOI drone program, which relies on drones made with globally sourced components to create the federal government’s largest and most innovative civilian drone fleet. This decision makes clear that the U.S. government’s concerns about DJI drones, which make up a small portion of the DOI fleet, have little to do with security and are instead part of a politically-motivated agenda to reduce market competition and support domestically produced drone technology, regardless of its merits.

DJI makes some of the industry’s most safe, secure, and trusted drone platforms for commercial operators. The security of our products designed specifically for the DOI and other U.S. government agencies have been independently tested and validated by U.S. cybersecurity consultants, U.S. federal agencies including the Department of Interior and the Department of Homeland Security, which proves today’s decision has nothing to do with security.

We are opposed to the politically-motivated country of origin restrictions masquerading as cybersecurity concerns and call for policymakers and industry stakeholders to create clear standards that will give commercial and government drone operators the assurance they need to confidently evaluate drone technology on the merits of performance, security and reliability, no matter where it is made.

What do you think about this new drone order that basically grounds the entire DoI Chinese-made drone fleet? Let us know in the comments below.

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