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DJI responds to data security accusations driving drone blacklists

DJI blacklist drone

The world’s leading drone maker DJI has clearly had enough of the recurring accusations about the data security of its craft, and the attendant blacklists drawn up by US political leaders offering no substantiation of their claims. In response, the company has issued a rare clarification about the steps it takes to secure user information on its craft.

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FBI, DHS–both DJI users–urge avoiding Chinese drones as risks

FBI DJI drones

The walls appear to be steadily closing in on DJI in the US – and perhaps, users of its drones as well – following official warnings issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security’s Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency over alleged security threats China-produced drones pose to operators.

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DARPA’s POWER project to use drones as energy relay stations

DARPA power drones

The highly geeked out unit of the U.S. Department of Defense has issued a $10 million contract to develop its long contemplated Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay system (POWER), which will likely use drones as airborne platforms to conduct electric refueling for other vehicles – or for re-juicing their own batteries.

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US anti-DJI and -Autel drone blacklist poised to become law, clearing the way for nation-wide user bans already in the works

DJI drone mini 3 discount 2024 deal

Efforts to undermine the fortunes of the world’s leading drone maker DJI are about to bare a bumper crop fruit with legislative passage of a key defense bill that contains the National Security Drone Act of 2023, which blacklists aerial tech from China-based companies for use in official federal agency work. The wider package now awaits President Joe Biden’s signature.

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Embry-Riddle Univ. to create State Dept. drone training program

Embry Riddle drone

Top US aviation and aerospace educator Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is adding a new facet to its range of pedagogical and training activities with an assignment from the US Department of State to conceive a multi-modal curriculum and learning program for future drone pilots from the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (BINLEA).

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A group of US senators picks (again) on DC’s favored target: DJI drones

DJI drones Senate

In an era where bipartisanship in the US Senate is about as improbable (and infrequent) as spinning straw into gold, there seems to be one topic on which politicians are willing to love it up across the aisle – the general threat to national interests posed by China as a whole, and particularly by drones made by sector leader DJI.

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Report of DJI ‘Chinese drone threat’ in DC skies should direct accusing finger at US legislators

counter-drone bill

Is DJI really the ominous data threat to its customers – and even to US national security – that detractors claim, or might it instead be the victim of a broadening effort of sector rivals and allied politicians to undermine the company’s favored status among both private and enterprise drone buyers? The question has arisen anew with a report this week in US media ringing alarm bells about a purported “Chinese drone spy threat” the company’s craft pose.

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Update: Lobby group slams Interior Department memo on expensive, ineffective Pentagon-approved drones

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A couple of days ago, we wrote about a leaked US government memo that exposed the Department of Interior’s stance on Pentagon-approved Blue sUAS drones. The internal memo verified by the Financial Times revealed that following a ban on China-manufactured drones, the DoI is being forced to spend eight to 14 times more for machines that were only 20% as effective. It was a scathing memo, alright. So now, a lobby group consisting of US-based drone manufacturers and a Europe-headquartered open-source software developer is hitting back.

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Interior Department: Pentagon’s Blue sUAS drones grossly ineffective, 8-14 times costlier

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The Pentagon has spent roughly $18 million to test and identify drones that government agencies can use instead of those made or assembled in China. But how do these drones stack up against the competition? Not too well, according to an internal US government memo. The Pentagon-approved Blue sUAS drones are 8 to 14 times more expensive and only 20% as effective when it comes to vital conservation work, according to the Department of Interior (DoI).

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