The House Bans DJI Drones | Whats next? | Full breakdown
Please feel free to use the template below for your response.
Dear Senator.........
"Please do not support Rick Scott's Countering CCP Drones Floor Amendment #3098. This proposal has no merit to it and it will absolutely hurt the drone industry and the economy. Rick Scott's proposal has no merit. Our smart phones are less secure than Drones are. Police Body cameras are made in China, as well as most electronics. but yet Drones are being singled out. Fed EX, Amazon, and UPS have invested billions in Drone Delivery technology and their electronics have Chinese chipsets but there's no plans to ban the drones that are about to start flying over the entire US. Contrary to Rick Scott's claims, DJI is not a military company. They are not military grade drones nor a threat to National security as they have flight times of 35 minutes, and would be detected before they got anywhere close to a secure area. DJI drones are also the only drones in the world that have GEO locking features to prevent them from being flown into secure areas no other drone has that capability. All Drones including the ones made in the US, Japan, Korea, and Twain can all be equally weaponized as well. There has been not on shred of evidence to support DJI drones are a threat to National security. Last year there were 2 million drones that were sold in the US that injected 6 billion dollars in the US economy. Currently no American Drone Company can come remotely close to fill this void and no USA company has the manufacturing capabilities to prevent the Drone Industry from crashing. The economy will take a huge hit. It takes about 3 years from concept to finished product and we need more time. Rick Scott's proven past track record of corruption is a complete indicator of what his real agenda and that his agenda is truly not in the best for the United States or the Drone Industry its what’s in the best interest of only Rick Scott. Please do the right thing."
The latest update on the Countering CCP Act has been a shocking revelation as it took a complete turn that none of us saw coming. In late July of 2024 Senator Rick Scott has introduced a Floor Amendment to add to the Final Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would be detrimental to the Drone industry. Whether it’s for commercial or hobbyist’s use, this amendment could cause some major ramifications to any use case.
This amendment aims to attack not just DJI, which has been the main target in the past, but now aims to go after Autel Robotics and as the bill says:
“(I) any subsidiary, affiliate, or partner of the named entity;
(II) any entity in a joint venture with the named entity;
or
(III) any entity to which the named entity has issued a
license to produce or provide that telecommunications or video surveillance equipment”
This means that companies such as Anzu Robotics and Cogito Tech are also targets of this amendment. Not only are these companies in the hotseat but so are any FPV drone that uses DJI Air Units in their build. He’s trying to use the spy balloon narrative to make it seems like all products from Chinese based companies are evil. His biggest argument is that the DJI drones are stealing our data, which has never been the case and there has never been proof of it. He goes on to say Chinese technology is used to elevate the Chinese Communist Party through manipulation and Data Theft with the ultimate goal of obtaining leverage over United States infrastructure and critical resources. There has been no evidence to support these claims and you’re at more danger of your data being stolen by your cell phone or computer.
By going after these companies, it would be an almost overnight destruction of the US drone market whether it is for recreational or commercial purposes. Globally DJI controls 54% of the market share, while in the US it dominates the market with 79% of the market shares. It is believed that by the end of 2024 it will be 80% of the US market shares at a minimum. For recreational pilots it would also create unfortunate circumstances. In the US, as of July 2023, there was a total of 863,728 drones that were registered. Of these drones that were registered 506,635 (59%) are for recreational purposes. Some people might say that these aren’t all DJI drones for recreational purposes, but many drone manufacturers don’t make recreational drones or components for them.
Senator Scott has always seen DJI drones as a threat to National Security, but without little substance.