July 12, 2024 – The Senate Armed Services Committee has released its version of the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and notably, it does not contain a provision to ban new DJI drones from entering the U.S. market, as reported by DroneDJ.
This is in contrast to the House of Representatives’ version of the NDAA, which was passed earlier this month and included the so-called “countering Chinese drones act,” aimed specifically at Chinese drone manufacturer DJI Innovations. This act would have required DJI to be listed on the Federal Communications Commission’s restricted list, banning future product releases in the United States.
The decision by the Senate committee to exclude the ban from its version of the NDAA reflects a more cautious and pragmatic approach to the issue. DJI drones are widely used in multiple sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure, public safety, among others, and a sudden ban could disrupt ongoing projects and hinder progress in critical areas.
Recently, over 6,000 public safety agencies, police, and fire departments with drone programs in the U.S. wrote letters to members of the Senate Armed Services Committee opposing the inclusion of the “countering Chinese drones act” in the NDAA.
While this may offer a temporary relief for DJI in the U.S., the company’s future there remains uncertain. The Senate version will now head to a full Senate vote, and if passed, both chambers will need to reconcile their versions of the NDAA. It remains possible that a ban could be reintroduced during the reconciliation process or that some kind of compromise restricting DJI drones could be reached.
According to The New York Times, approximately 58% of American drone operators use DJI drones. DJI has consistently denied allegations of data security risks, emphasizing the measures it has taken to address safety concerns, even going so far as to completely disabling the option for US drone pilots to sync flight records to its servers. The company says its drones are “designed not to collect flight logs, photos, or videos”, and calls for the establishment of industry-wide drone safety standards “based on technology rather than country of origin”.
