Despite repeated warnings from the United States military that Chinese surveillance drones constitute a threat to national security, federal law enforcement agencies in the United States are apparently purchasing Chinese surveillance drones.
“The Secret Service bought eight DJI drones on July 26, according to procurement records obtained by the industry publication IPVM,” Axios reported. “That was three days after the Defense Department released a statement saying DJI products ‘pose potential threats to national security.’”
Further, according to Axios, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) purchased 19 drones from the same China-based manufacturer, according to records obtained by the publication.
During the Trump administration, the United States military issued numerous warnings against the use of drones, and the military continued to issue such warnings during the Biden administration.
“The Department of Defense (DOD) position is that systems produced by Da Jiang Innovations (DJI) pose potential threats to national security,” the Pentagon said over the summer. “Existing DOD policy and practices associated with the use of these systems by U.S. government entities and forces working with U.S. military services remain unchanged contrary to any written reports not approved for release by the DOD.”
“In 2018, DOD issued a ban on the purchase and use of all commercial off-the-shelf drones, regardless of manufacturer, due to cybersecurity concerns,” the statement later added. “The following year, Congress passed legislation specifically banning the purchase and use of drones and components manufactured in China. DOD complies with Section 848 of the FY20 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and additional guidance provided by Executive Order 13981.”
In 2017, the Department of Homeland Security issued a warning, stating that it had "moderate confidence" that the Chinese-based corporation DJI Science and Technology was giving Chinese authorities information about vital infrastructure and law enforcement data in the United States.
DHS further warned it has:
“… high confidence [DJI] is selectively targeting government and privately owned entities within these sectors to expand its ability to collect and exploit sensitive U.S. data.”
“…high confidence a foreign government with access to this information could easily coordinate physical or cyber attacks against critical sites.”
“… high confidence that outside of DJI’s goal to attain law enforcement customers, DJI’s criteria for selecting accounts to target appears to focus on the account holder’s ability to disrupt critical infrastructure. As a result, DJI has amassed customers such as American Water, Union Pacific, and American Electric Power, some of the biggest utility and transportation companies in the United States.”
“… high confidence the critical infrastructure and law enforcement entities using DJI systems are collecting sensitive intelligence that the Chinese government could use to conduct physical or cyber attacks against the United States and its population. Alternatively, China could provide DJI information to terrorist organizations, hostile non-state entities, or state-sponsored groups to coordinate attacks against U.S. critical infrastructure. The UAS capture close-up imagery and GPS information on water systems, rail systems, hazardous material storage systems, first responders’ activity, and construction of highways, bridges, and rails.”
