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On Thursday, the Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) announced the issuance of new guidance that bans the use of agency grants to purchase drones and other unmanned aerial systems from foreign groups deemed threats. Certain foreign-made drones cannot be bought with DOJ grant funds No funds awarded or made available by OJP, through a contract, grant, cooperative agreement, or otherwise, to a state, local, tribal, or territorial government (including via subcontract or subaward, at any tier) may be used to purchase, use, or operate any unmanned aircraft system that is manufactured or assembled by a covered foreign entity. And the DOJ defines a covered foreign entity as follows: “Covered foreign entity" means any entity that is determined or designated, within the Department of Justice, to be subject to or vulnerable to extrajudicial direction from a foreign government. While issued on Monday, the guidance was only made public on Thursday. The new DOJ policy aims to increase the security of drones by requiring that OJP loan applicants can mitigate any ‘cybersecurity and privacy risks posed by these systems and that the applicant has a plan to address any civil liberties-related complaints that could arise’, according to The Hill. The new DOJ policy does not single out any specific country, but it is not hard to imagine that the guidance applies to Chinese-made drones. The policy refers to unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) that are “manufactured or assembled by a covered foreign entity.” It does not specifically mention drones that are made in the United States, but that still contain Chinese-made parts as do all the so-called ‘Blue sUAS’ do. The House-passed 2021 National Defense Authorization Act contains a provision that would ban the federal government from purchasing certain foreign-made drones, including UAS from China, because of national security concerns. Over the last few years, the world’s largest and also Chinese drone maker, DJI has come under increased scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers and federal government agencies. DJI has always maintained that they do not share any information with the Chinese government, and that drone users can decide if they want to share any information from their UAS with DJI. The company went as far as to create a Local Data Mode on some of its drones to prevent any information from being shared online. DJI developed in partnership with the U.S. Department of the Interior a special ‘Government Edition’ for select DJI drones that provides even more data security. “We take seriously concerns about the use of foreign-made UAS and the potential for related data compromise,” Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said in a statement Thursday, according to The Hill. “It is paramount that funding recipients take effective measures to safeguard sensitive information and the public’s privacy and civil liberties while operating these systems in a safe and secure manner.” The new policy from the Justice Department was released the same week Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt issued separate guidance allowing the department to buy ‘American-made, but still containing Chinese-made parts’ drones, or so-called Blue sUAS, as defined by an initiative of the Department of Defense. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of the Interior temporarily grounded its entire fleet of 810 3DR Solo and DJI drones from use in non-emergency operations because of cybersecurity concerns. “While drones are important to critical Interior missions, the Department needed to ensure the technology used for these operations is such that it would not compromise our national security interests,” Interior Department press secretary Ben Goldey wrote in an email to reporters this week. The data security concerns related to Chinese-made drones are part of a larger effort by the current administration against China and Chinese companies. Previously, Huawei and TikTok have come under intense scrutiny. DJI has pushed back against the allegations and also responded to the new guidance from the Department of the Interior and pointed out that the Blue sUAS are three to five times more expensive than comparable DJI UAS. “The new DOI guidance finally acknowledges that the grounding of its drone fleet was never about national security, but rather thinly-veiled economic protectionism. Five manufacturers were just handed an unfair advantage in the marketplace, as they can build their drones with Chinese parts while other companies cannot. The Blue Drone companies also charge three to five times more than a comparable DJI platform, meaning U.S. taxpayers are footing the bill for expensive military-grade drone technology from defense contractors for non-military activity such as prescribed burns, wildlife conservation and geological surveying.” In September, the Alliance for Drone Innovation, which also represents DJI sent a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees pointing out that banning federal use of drones from certain companies could be “detrimental to the U.S. drone industry.” “Manufacturing a drone simply cannot be done today without parts and knowledge from all over the world, and a country-based ban would hurt the Americans who build drones as well as the Americans who use them for recreation, business, conservation, and even saving lives,” the alliance wrote. - Only approved drones, so-called Blue sUAS are exempt from the PMB approval and reporting procedures, opening the door for the Department of the Interior to rebuild its drone fleet and start using it again for non-emergency missions.

DJI

Certain foreign-made drones cannot be bought with DOJ grant funds

Certain foreign-made drones cannot be bought with DOJ grant funds, the Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) announced.

Haye KestelooOct 9

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DJI Mavic 2 Pro and Zoom

Modern farmer tracks crop progress with a DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone

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Drones for Good

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DJI

Winners named in 2020 AUVSI XCELLENCE Humanitarian and Public Safety Award

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DJI rumors on Ronin RS2, Mavic 3, Mavic Mini 2, 2x DJI FPV, OA2, OP2

DJI

DJI Mavic Mini 2 rumored to have 4K video, 12MP sensor. DJI FPV possibly delayed

A new rumor says that the DJI Mavic Mini 2 will indeed have 4K video and a 12MP sensor. In the same tweet, it also said that the DJI FPV drone

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DJI Mavic Mini 2 FCC Label Battery information

DJI

DJI Mavic Mini 2 is on its way according to FCC filing

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DJI FPV Drone

DJI FPV drone photo surfaces on OsitaLV’s Twitter account

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Drones for Good

Swoop Aero ready for “phase two” of its medical drone program in Congo

Swoop Aero ready to launch “phase two” of its medical drone program in Congo. The Australia-based drone startup will use its drones to join the government in its fight against COVID-19, ebola, and other major diseases.

Haye KestelooOct 5

Drone Companies

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