Red Fright Out of the Blue

American national security officials have expressed consternation over the increasing number of unauthorized drones flying through restricted areas in the vicinity of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington D.C.

Subject drones—the overwhelming majority of which are of Chinese manufacture—represent risks to the safety of the American people and the integrity of America’s national security.

Notwithstanding the lax tenors of lawmakers and U.S. federal officials disinclined to believe the drones are connected to foreign governments or evince attempts to compromise U.S. Capitol security, the rapid and ongoing evolution of Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) technologies poses an incontrovertible threat to the security of the United States, its citizens, leaders, and defining institutions.

A U.S. government contractor familiar with the regulatory peculiarities and security protocols applicable to D.C. airspace remarked: "There’s YouTube videos that could walk your grandparents through how to update the software on one of these drones to be non-detectable and to do a whole lot of other things—get rid of elevation ceilings, all kinds of stuff. If you were to go buy a DJI drone at the store, it wouldn’t fly over airports or specific cities because of a specific no-fly zone." Ergo, “… anything that we see in D.C. that is a DJI-manufactured product has been hacked or manipulated to enable flight in these zones.”

DJI is among the UAS industry’s most popular drone manufacturers. The company requires individuals who purchase its products to download proprietary software comprising in part mapping databases susceptible to remote monitoring. What’s more, DJI has been accused of collaborating with the Chinese Communist Party—an accusation lent credence by the fact Beijing is a direct investor in DJI and maintains considerable control over the company’s operations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, in fact, requires all Chinese companies to populate their employee rosters with a contingent of communist party officials. This draconian tactic ostensibly ensures the Chinese workforce remains under the influence and control of the nation’s communist overlords.

In December 2021, the U.S. government added DJI to a Treasury Department blacklist.

FMI: www.dji.com