US Government

The walls appear to be steadily closing in on DJI in the US – and perhaps, users of its drones as well – following official warnings issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security’s Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency over alleged security threats China-produced drones pose to operators.

The highly geeked out unit of the U.S. Department of Defense has issued a $10 million contract to develop its long contemplated Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay system (POWER), which will likely use drones as airborne platforms to conduct electric refueling for other vehicles – or for re-juicing their own batteries.

Manufacturer of high capability security and defense UAVs, Performance Drone Works (PDW) has announced its C100 heavy-lift C100 quadcopter has been named to the Blue sUAS list of drones approved for US government operation.

Efforts to undermine the fortunes of the world’s leading drone maker DJI are about to bare a bumper crop fruit with legislative passage of a key defense bill that contains the National Security Drone Act of 2023, which blacklists aerial tech from China-based companies for use in official federal agency work. The wider package now awaits President Joe Biden’s signature.

US politicians responding to soured relationships and strong distrust of China have again tabled legislation seeking to prohibit use of technology produced by companies from the nation, with popular and widely deployed DJI drones clearly the primary focus of those efforts.

Security and defense UAV tech specialist Red Cat Holdings has expanded its work with US government agencies through an additional contract to supply Teal 2 drones to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operators.

Top US aviation and aerospace educator Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is adding a new facet to its range of pedagogical and training activities with an assignment from the US Department of State to conceive a multi-modal curriculum and learning program for future drone pilots from the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (BINLEA).

In an era where bipartisanship in the US Senate is about as improbable (and infrequent) as spinning straw into gold, there seems to be one topic on which politicians are willing to love it up across the aisle – the general threat to national interests posed by China as a whole, and particularly by drones made by sector leader DJI.

Is DJI really the ominous data threat to its customers – and even to US national security – that detractors claim, or might it instead be the victim of a broadening effort of sector rivals and allied politicians to undermine the company’s favored status among both private and enterprise drone buyers? The question has arisen anew with a report this week in US media ringing alarm bells about a purported “Chinese drone spy threat” the company’s craft pose.

Boston-based startup GreenSight is reporting a significant business breakthrough with the selection of its WeatherHive drone swarm atmosphere sensing tech for prototype development by the US Air Force (USAF) and Defense Innovation Unit (DIU).

Security, defense, and law enforcement UAV specialist Teal Drones has continued expanding its business base by landing a $1 million-plus contract with the US Customs and Border Protection service to supply its high-performance Golden Eagle craft.

Stakeholders in next-generation aircraft development and their future activity have hailed the signing of the Advanced Air Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act into law by President Joe Biden, calling it a milestone in the effort to launch and expand AAM services across the US.

US lawmakers, government officials, and even major sports organizations are stepping up to back a Biden administration call to create legislation that would considerably expand the number of actors permitted to undertake anti-drone measures to neutralize potential threats from UAVs.

Global drone giant DJI is apparently having some success in opposing draft legislation that would formally prohibit US government agencies from buying its UAVs, according to a report in the Financial Times.

HobbyKing, a retail site that develops and sources radio control (RC) products for aviation enthusiasts and FPV drone pilots, is being sued by the United States of America after the company failed to pay nearly $3 million in fines for marketing unauthorized drone transmitters.

The Biden administration has asked Congress to dramatically expand the number of government and public agencies – from federal to local administrations ­– that are legally permitted to identify, track, and disable potentially malicious drones flying in US airspaces.

The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), which operates under the Department of Defense (DoD) to scale commercial drone technology across the US military, has unveiled the first drone to be fully authorized and approved under the Blue sUAS 2.0 program.

A trio of US Senators has launched a bipartisan effort to create comprehensive federal law that will specifically criminalize most forms of dangerous drone use, from terror and trafficking activity to interfering with public responders to emergencies.

While the US Department of Defense has been shouting itself hoarse over DJI drones being “potential threats to national security,” the FBI and the US Secret Service have bought at least 27 DJI drones in the past few months. So, what gives?

A couple of days ago, we wrote about a leaked US government memo that exposed the Department of Interior’s stance on Pentagon-approved Blue sUAS drones. The internal memo verified by the Financial Times revealed that following a ban on China-manufactured drones, the DoI is being forced to spend eight to 14 times more for machines that were only 20% as effective. It was a scathing memo, alright. So now, a lobby group consisting of US-based drone manufacturers and a Europe-headquartered open-source software developer is hitting back.

The Pentagon has spent roughly $18 million to test and identify drones that government agencies can use instead of those made or assembled in China. But how do these drones stack up against the competition? Not too well, according to an internal US government memo. The Pentagon-approved Blue sUAS drones are 8 to 14 times more expensive and only 20% as effective when it comes to vital conservation work, according to the Department of Interior (DoI).