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China

Export controls, the Shenzhen supply chain, and the geopolitics of the world’s drone-manufacturing superpower.

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Lawmakers Urge Biden to Halt Export Licenses for Chinese Drone Giant DJI - DJI Logo on office building Chinese drone maker
DJI

DJI’s former sales VP detained in China on bribery charges, accused of “huge” illicit gains

Chinese authorities have criminally detained DJI’s former Vice President of Sales on suspicion of accepting bribes during a five-year tenure that coincided with the drone giant’s most turbulent period of global regulatory pressure. The executive, identified only by surname Yuan, oversaw DJI’s entire global sales operation from May 2019 through May 2024. The detention was…

China’s Wing Loong X Eyes Global Buyers
China

China’s Wing Loong X Eyes Global Buyers

At the recent Singapore Airshow, China brought its aviation fireworks. Front and center stood the sleek J-35A, posed like a stealthy supermodel under bright expo lights. But over at the massive booth of Aviation Industry Corporation of China, something quieter sat with far more realistic export potential. The new Wing Loong X, as reported by…

Egypt's HAMZA-3 kamikaze drone can fly 1,100 miles and fake a jet's radar signature
Weaponized drones

Egypt’s HAMZA-3 kamikaze drone can fly 1,100 miles and fake a jet’s radar signature

The HAMZA-3 has a trick most kamikaze drones don’t: modular Lüneberg lenses that inflate its radar cross-section to mimic a fighter jet. Enemy air defense systems burn through expensive interceptor missiles on a drone that costs a fraction of the aircraft it pretends to be. The HAMZA-3 fills the gap between FPV kamikaze drones and…

Overhead black-and-white view of a DJI Phantom quadcopter surrounded by folding DJI Mavic drones and other multirotors arranged on a white surface
Ukraine

Chinese Drone Assembly Lines Headed to North Korea

A Chinese automation company is openly promoting a drone assembly line reportedly bound for North Korea, raising serious questions about export controls and compliance with United Nations sanctions. According to NK News, a video posted on Douyin shows an employee of Jiangsu Nengtai Automation Equipment presenting a fully built drone production line inside its factory…

China’s Hybrid CH YH-1000S Drone Could Shift Taiwan Logistics
China

China’s Hybrid CH YH-1000S Drone Could Shift Taiwan Logistics

China has completed the maiden flight of the CH YH-1000S, a hybrid powered unmanned transport aircraft that could reshape how the People’s Liberation Army sustains forces in contested environments like the Taiwan Strait, as SCMP reports. According to China state media, the CH YH-1000S first flew over the weekend from an airport in Chongqing, marking…

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