The 2025 defense spending authorization bill is coming up to a final vote in the U.S. Senate. As the American Northeast buzzes with drone sightings and fears of foreign surveillance, the bill moves to ban products from the world's largest drone-maker: China.
In a procedural vote on Monday, senators voted 83-12 in favor of moving to a full vote on the National Defense Authorization Act, a massive piece of annual legislation that sets priorities and authorizes funding for the U.S. Department of Defense.
A provision within the 2025 NDAA aims to create mechanisms for further oversight and prohibition of the use of Chinese drones while working to increase drone supply chain resilience within the U.S. and partner countries.
The bill mandates an investigation into two Chinese drone manufacturers, DJI and Autel Robotics, with the aim of placing them on the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) "Covered List." This would prevent their use in telecommunications industries. Another section calls for the Department of Defense to regularly disassemble and analyze the components of DJI drones.
The provision on drones draws in part from earlier anti-Chinese drone legislation introduced by Republican Representative Elise Stefanik and Senator Rick Scott. These bills received bipartisan support, showing how concerns over the risk that Chinese drones pose to U.S. national security have united a politically divided Congress.
"DJI drones pose the national security threat of TikTok, but with wings," Stefanik said. “This Chinese-controlled company cannot be allowed to continue to operate in the U.S."
During an interview on Fox News, Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi described how he collaborated with Stefanik to draft legislation on Chinese drones to be included in the NDAA.
"These Chinese-manufactured drones allow for the CCP, the Chinese Communist Party, to access data in a backdoor manner and ultimately surveil Americans," Krishnamoorthi said.
China's DJI dominates the production and sale of household drones, with 2021 estimates suggesting that the company accounts for 76% of the worldwide consumer market and about 90% of the U.S. market. While more companies have emerged in past years, DJI still controls the largest share of the market.
This gives the U.S. an increased imperative to diversify the domestic drone economy, Carlos Gimenez, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee's Transportation and Maritime Security Subcommittee, told VOA.
"We have to go a little cold turkey on this one. To say, ‘No, we can't buy that anymore,’” Gimenez said. “You have to look for other suppliers, which then will slowly incentivize American companies to start building them.”
While the Chinese drone ban has bipartisan support within Congress, it faces pushback from drone enthusiasts and nongovernmental organizations that oppose a blanket ban on Chinese drone products.
Brandon Karr, spokesperson for the nonprofit Law Enforcement Drone Association (LEDA), supports the development of stricter and more rigorous data security regulations for drones rather than an all-out ban, which could pose problems for American law enforcement and safety agencies.
Karr has written to Congress, advocating for agencies to develop their own protocol and oversight for drone data security and to maintain their right to use Chinese drones while minimizing their risk.
LEDA leads training on drone operation and best practices for public safety and law enforcement. All 30 of the drones the group uses for training are made by Chinese companies.
"Generally speaking, over 90% of public safety agencies in the nation and worldwide today are utilizing Chinese aircraft,” Karr said. “So in the event that a bill like this would go fully through and would potentially ban the use of Chinese drones for public safety, it'd be catastrophic for the public safety drone industry.”
The biggest advantage of Chinese drones is their low cost, especially when compared with American models. Karr told VOA that he'd rather use American products, but that domestically produced drones were double the price of those made in China and included more maintenance fees.
"There's not a law enforcement entity across the United States that would rather fly a Chinese aircraft over an American if they were competitively priced," he said.
In addition to LEDA, the California Fire Chiefs Association, the Air Public Safety Association and other groups have written to Congress saying the bill will harm them, with most citing concerns over cost.
In an interview with VOA in August, Republican Senator Marco Rubio called Chinese drones "a huge vulnerability," and said that data security regulations would not address the security risks of Chinese drones given their frequent software updates.
People “just want drones, and these are the cheapest ones they can find," said Rubio, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state in the next administration. "We need to help incentivize the development of alternative manufacturers that are cost effective for law enforcement, for utility companies, for others.”
DJI has not yet responded to VOA's request for comment on the latest version of the NDAA, which could ban the company's drones.
However, when votes were taken to include a ban of DJI drones in the NDAA in the House of Representatives earlier this year, DJI representatives told VOA that the moves “suggest protectionism and undermine the principles of fair competition and an open market."
"Our drones have enabled the growth of entire industries, empowering small businesses in sectors such as agriculture, real estate, and transportation. These businesses depend on the accessibility of DJI's drone technology to thrive. We believe that innovation, security, and privacy can coexist and are essential to advancing the drone industry and the interests of all stakeholders," wrote DJI representatives.
DJI has consistently denied claims that it sends drone data to the Chinese government.
Katherine Michaelson contributed to this report.
