The Shenzhen-headquartered civilian drone manufacturer DJI is facing an existential threat in the US.
The New York Times has reported that DJI is on a Defense Department list of Chinese military companies whose products the US armed forces will be prohibited from purchasing in the future.
Back in 2021, the US Treasury Department put DJI on a list of companies suspected of having ties to the Chinese military – allegations that DJI denies.
Now, legislation in the US is moving towards adding DJI to the Federal Communications Commission Covered List. Doing so would mean that it would no longer be able to operate on the country’s communication infrastructure – that list has the likes of Huawei and ZTE telecom gear on it.
The bill called Countering CCP Drones Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik which has received bipartisan support, positions DJI as a threat to national security. Stefanik told the New York Times that DJI provides information about “critical infrastructure” in the US to China. “DJI presents an unacceptable national security risk, and it is past time that drones made by Communist China are removed from America.”
DJI has countered the narrative coming out of the US. In a blogpost last month, DJI said the passing of the new legislation will not only stifle sales of new drones in the US, but that its existing drone fleet there may even need to be grounded. “DJI is not a military company. We remain one of few drone companies to clearly denounce and actively discourage the use of our drones in combat. DJI does not manufacture military-grade equipment, nor does it pursue business opportunities for combat use or operations.
“The lawmakers driving this legislation continue to reference inaccurate and unsubstantiated allegations regarding DJI’s operations, and have amplified xenophobic narratives in a quest to support local drone manufacturers and eliminate market competition.”
Here in Australia, DJI’s operations have also come under scrutiny previously. The move by the US to ban the use of DJI drones in its military also led to Australia last year auditing its supply chain across government departments to ascertain the use of any inappropriate technology. It found that more than 3,100 of these drones were in the possession of several departments and agencies including the Australian Border Force and Australian Federal Police. However, Australia has stopped short of calls
for a total ban of DJI within the country.
In the last few weeks, DJI has unveiled a series of new products, all of which are available in Australia. These include the first-ever portable power stations – the Power 1000 and Power 500 – as well as a DJI RS 4, DJI RS 4 Pro and DJI Focus Pro which you can read all about here.
