The U.S. FCC announced a blanket ban on all new drones and critical components made abroad on Monday, while also targeting communications and video-surveillance equipment from DJI and Autel Robotics. According to the Federal Communications Commission (PDF), the White House made a National Security Determination that uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) and their critical components made in foreign countries pose a threat to the United States.
DJI is the world's largest drone manufacturer, accounting for around 85% of drones sold in the U.S. This latest announcement will effectively kill its business, however, as the company can no longer introduce new drones in the United States. Existing models aren’t affected by the ban, so far, although the FCC retains the capability to restrict their operations in the future, too.
"This will reduce the risk of attacks and disruptions, unauthorized surveillance ... and other threats to the homeland."
FCC public notice DA 25-1086
“UAS and UAS critical components must be produced in the United States. This will reduce the risk of direct UAS attacks and disruptions, unauthorized surveillance, sensitive data exfiltration, and other UAS threats to the homeland. Furthermore, it will ensure our domestic UAS and UAS critical component manufacturing is resilient and independent, a critical national security imperative,” the FCC said in its announcement.
“UAS are inherently dual-use: they are both commercial platforms and potentially military or paramilitary sensors and weapons. UAS and UAS critical components, including data transmission devices, communications systems, flight controllers, ground control stations, controllers, navigation systems, batteries, smart batteries, and motors produced in a foreign country could enable persistent surveillance, data exfiltration, and destructive operations over U.S. territory, including over World Cup and Olympic venues and other mass gathering events.”
Many drone operators are up in arms with this announcement, as pilots say that there is no viable alternative to DJI drones. The Drone Service Providers Alliance surveyed its members, and nearly two-thirds said that they would go out of business without DJI. Greg Reverdiau, the founder of online drone training school Pilot Institute, told the Journal that “people are not buying the [DJI] drone because it’s a Chinese drone — they are buying the drone because it is available, it’s highly affordable, and it’s capable."
The U.S. is likely concerned about a Chinese law that requires all China-based companies to cooperate with its intelligence services. And even though DJI’s drones may be secure at the moment, it’s hard not to think about how an over-the-air update could reverse this without its operators knowledge. There’s also the concern about supply chain attacks, which were recently used by Israeli intelligence agencies to cripple Hezbollah. This was also attempted against Russian front-line FPV operators in Ukraine, although the attempt was discovered before making any real damage.
For its part, DJI accused the U.S. government of anti-competitive measures, especially given its market standing in the U.S. “As the industry leader, DJI has advocated for an open, competitive market that benefits all U.S. consumers and commercial users, and will continue to do so,” the company said in a statement. “DJI products are among the safest and most secure on the market, supported by years of reviews conducted by U.S. government agencies and independent third parties. Concerns about DJI’s data security have not been grounded in evidence and instead reflect protectionism, contrary to the principles of an open market.”
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