News DJI drone ban dropped by the U.S. Senate — the Senate draft of 2025 NDAA does not include the ‘Countering CCP Drones Act’ that would kill DJI busin...

[Admin]

The ‘Countering CCP Drones Act’ which would ban all DJI drone sales in the U.S. has been shot down by the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee from its version of the NDAA.

DJI drone ban dropped by the U.S. Senate — the Senate draft of 2025 NDAA does not include the ‘Countering CCP Drones Act’ that would kill DJI busin... : Read more

 

[bit_user]

The Senate decision has allegedly been influenced by the more than 6,000 public safety agencies that are against the ban,

Presumably, this is because they've already incorporated too much DJI products, technologies, and infrastructure into their operations. However, that's a manageable problem. The sane thing to do is implement a phase-down plan that eventually results is DJI being cut off in something like 3-5 years. That should give people plenty of time to stock up on replacement parts for their existing fleet and find/transition to new suppliers.

The idea that once you start using a supplier, you're locked-in for eternity is absurd. I'm sure it'll be an annoying and an added expense to transition away from DJI, but please don't try to tell me it's impossible or even infeasible, given enough time & advanced notice.

 

[aprilsnow]

There is also the unfortunate fact that DJI by far has the best technology for the price point the average consumer pays. This, probably affects more so the non commercial end user, but as things stand today, it's a significant gap. Hopefully this changes soon.

 

[garrett040]

If there was one half decent for value with the same features DJI drones have made in the US i'd get it. Shame.

 

[USAFRet]

If there was one half decent for value with the same features DJI drones have made in the US i'd get it. Shame.

Which other ones have you looked at?

I quite like my Holystone.

 

[bit_user]

About 10 years ago, I almost went to work for a drone maker called CyPhy Works. I'm just now reading they went bankrupt in 2019. I remember they did a fair amount of business in public safety, with tethered drones that could stay aloft like 24/7 - perfect for providing continuous areal monitoring of big events. They were also branching into the untethered market, when I talked to them. They seemed to have pretty good tech and smart folks from iRobot and MIT. I wonder if they just got undercut too much by cheap imports.