Lawmakers and other officials are growing increasingly concerned about the threat to national security that Chinese-made drones flying over restricted airspace in Washington, D.C., pose as safeguards continue to be bypassed.
The report details the ease with which consumers can bypass the restrictions preventing flight over banned airspace such as in Washington, D.C., and how many federal, state, and local governments rely on the Chinese-made drones.
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CHINESE DRONE MAKER RAMPS UP LOBBYING IN FIGHT AGAINST ‘MADE IN CHINA’ BAN
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is one of the lawmakers raising concerns about DJI drones, according to a report from Politico.
“Any technological product with origins in China or Chinese companies holds a real risk and potential of vulnerability that can be exploited both now and in a time of conflict,” Rubio said. “They’re manufactured in China or manufactured by a Chinese company, but they’ll put a sticker on it of some non-Chinese company that repackages it so you don’t even know that you’re buying it.”
The Pentagon added DJI to its list of blacklisted entities and was deemed a “Chinese Military Company” in October 2022.
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“The Department is determined to highlight and counter the PRC Military-Civil Fusion strategy, which supports the modernization goals of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) by ensuring its access to advanced technologies and expertise are acquired and developed by PRC companies, universities, and research programs that appear to be civilian entities,” the Department of Defense said about the blacklist.
DJI claimed it has no control over the drones once they are in consumer hands, but lawmakers and the Pentagon do not share confidence in that claim. The drone maker has lobbied heavily to counter lawmakers’ attempts to ban Chinese-made drones.
