In 2020, DJI was placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List, more colloquially known as the “economic blacklist.” Now, four years later, the Department of the Interior reports negative effects of that decision.
Published last week, the study was performed by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) as it was asked to examine the Interior’s drone policies and operations. What the GAO found was that since 2020 when the DOI began to prohibit the ability to purchase drones from DJI, it faced challenges with its ability to maintain a sufficient fleet to support both emergency and nonemergency operations.
“Diminishing fleets have limited Interior bureaus’ ability to expand their use of drones for emergency operations, and some bureaus no longer have enough drones to meet their needs for these operations, according to bureau officials,” the GAO report reads.
“For example, [government agencies do] not have enough drones for their operations to manage or prevent wildland fires and have shifted some operations to riskier, more costly methods, such as helicopters, according to officials. In addition USGS (United States Geological Survey) has reduced its drone flights for characterizing susceptibility to, or impacts from, natural hazards, according to officials. Natural hazards can include floods, landslides, volcanic eruptions, and hurricanes, among others.”
The Interior’s drones aren’t the only ones that are affected.
“Interior’s drone policies have also prohibited other entities from operating certain foreign-made drones on Interior-managed land. As a result, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) altered or ceased some of its drone missions for wildlife surveys on Interior-managed lands, according to NOAA officials. In addition, Interior’s nonfederal partners, such as universities, often do not have drones that comply with Interior’s policies. Consequently, such entities can no longer fly missions on Interior-managed lands for purposes such as monitoring wildlife populations and evaluating archaeological sites, Interior officials said,” the GAO reports.
From 2020 to 2022, the Interior was not allowed to use its DJI drones outside of emergency situations, such as managing wildfires. In 2022, the Interior lifted its rules to allow those drones to be deployed for nonemergency situations but the ban on procurement was and still is in place.
“Because of these challenges, Interior has not been able to fully replace its aging drones as they reach the end of their usable lives. However, Interior has made its needs known to manufacturers of compliant drones, and some bureau officials told us that they are exploring ways to adapt to the increased cost of compliant drones, including through procuring drones that multiple program offices can share,” the GAO adds.
While DJI is not the only drone company in the world, its technology and drone performance vastly exceed the capabilities of competitors, which is why it remains the only major drone player that operates in both the consumer and enterprise spaces. There is a reason DJI commands more than 70% of the global drone market. It should also be obvious that while there are other enterprise options available, like Skydio, there must be reasons why the Interior wasn’t able to fulfill its drone fleet needs through them — one factor is, obviously, higher cost.
“Operations that were canceled, reduced in scope, or not initiated led to missed opportunities to collect data for projects related to landscapes and natural resources, cultural resources, wildlife, and infrastructure. For example, FWS canceled a planned project to collect aerial images for restoration efforts after the Swan Lake Fire in Alaska,” the report notes. Getting those images on foot was not possible due to hazards that made it unsafe to attempt to do so.
DJI published a blog post this week that highlights these issues as primary examples of how essential drones have become in just the Interior’s operations — that doesn’t even include other applications like law enforcement or construction. As expected, DJI argues that an outright ban — the likes of which is currently being considered by the US Congress — would make the situation even worse.
“The report is a stark reminder of the operational hurdles faced by the DOI due to these restrictions, which not only limit access to vital technology but also escalate costs and compromise personnel safety,” DJI writes. “Without a balanced approach, the U.S. risks losing vital tools that protect lives and property.”
DJI has always maintained that its products do not pose a risk to US national security, as it has been accused. It also points to a media-acquired Pentagon report from 2021 that stated there was “no malicious code or intent” found in the DJI drone software and that “the DJI Government Edition versions that were tested… are recommended for use by government entities and forces working with US services.”
Rather than an outright ban of its drones, DJI argues that the establishment of industry-wide drone security standards that are technology-based (not country of origin-based), retaining drone operators’ freedom to choose the best drone platform that serves their operational needs, and a free, open, and competitive marketplace so that the market decides which products thrive would better suit the situation.
The Countering CCP Drones Act, which would ban DJI drones in the United States, passed the House of Representatives vote in September and has been officially handed off to the Senate for additional debate, potential amendments, and an eventual vote.
Image credits: DJI