The Department of Homeland Security must also issue an updated threat alert and restrict the use of PRC drones in key sectors, including critical infrastructure and law enforcement organizations. Additionally, the Defense Department’s listing of DJI as part of its 1260H Chinese military companies list should be expanded to other PRC drone companies, including Autel. These investigations should assess national security threats and association with the PRC military and government, as well as add additional PRC drone companies, including Autel, to the entity list.

Second, the White House should also order the departments of Commerce and Defense to conduct investigations into Autel and all PRC-made drone companies and their supply chains. An official policy would signal a public declaration of the PRC drone threat to the public and drone users community. In response, the Biden administration should issue an executive order to promote and protect American competitiveness in the drone market.įirst, the administration should order the grounding of all PRC-made drones used by federal agencies and prohibit organizations from using federal funds and grants to purchase adversarial drone technology. If Washington does not act now, we risk Autel becoming a new PRC behemoth. This dilemma holds true across various industries where one PRC company has dominated: CATL with electric batteries, the TikTok app, and Huawei with 5G. This narrow strategy ensures we fail to comprehensively address technology threats emanating from the PRC. The real challenge for Washington as it confronts PRC technology threats continues to be an approach that favors targeting the leading company in the market instead of adopting a sector-based approach. Some PRC drones are also susceptible to malware infections and cyberattacks, which could be used to launch distributed denial-of-service attacks. Some drones from the PRC have weak flight systems and unsecured communication links between the drone and the operator, enabling data such as telemetry and live video feeds to be intercepted if not properly encrypted. Drones provide detailed images and other technical data that, no matter how good your space-based satellite (or “ weather balloon”) may be, you cannot collect any other way. Drones are now mapping American critical infrastructure and countless other important features, locations and facilities. PRC drones pose an unacceptable national security risk because all Chinese companies, by law, must cooperate with the Chinese Communist Party government’s foreign espionage efforts.

Chinese drone stock