New DJI (And Other) Drones Now Officially Banned in the US

The FCC's sweeping ban on DJI drones has expanded to cover all foreign-made drones and drone accessories, and is taking its action cameras and gimbals officially out of the market too.

December 23 had been sitting in the calendar for months now as the date DJI drones would get banned in the US unless there was a national security audit that cleared them for continued sale. To no one's great surprise, this didn't happen.  

To plenty of people's actual unwelcome surprise though, the Federal Communications Commission extended the ban to cover the sale of all foreign-made drones (Uncrewed Aircraft Systems or UAS is the terminology it uses) and foreign-made drone parts in the US by adding them all to its Covered List of banned products. DJI has about 70% of the market so it's the main target, but Autel Robotics was named too, and now everyone else seems to have been swept up in the action.

As an FCC Fact Sheet makes clear, despite UAS presenting “unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States and to the safety and security of U.S. persons”, existing machines can still be flown. "This action does not affect any previously-purchased drone. Consumers can continue to use any drone they have already lawfully purchased or acquired."

Economic Forces 

As the document also makes abundantly clear, though, security is not the only consideration in play here. The Fact Sheet is subtitled "Decision helps restore our airspace sovereignty and unleash American drone dominance without disrupting ongoing use of previously authorized drones."

 DJI calls this out for what it is on Instagram. "Concerns about DJI's data security are about protectionism, not evidence." it writes. "While we are disappointed by this development, we remain committed to our U.S. customers and are actively exploring paths forward. We'll keep you informed as more information becomes available."

As will we. “UAS and UAS critical components must be produced in the United States," says the FCC. As far as we know, there is no current US company making consumer-oriented drones, with most manufacturers concentrating on large machines for the industrial, agricultural, and government sectors. And given how well production of the Trump Phone is going (The Verge keeps tabs on it so no -one else has to) we're not holding our breath.

Action Camera & Gimbal Fallout

As Digital Camera World details, the further complication here is that DJI's other product lines are being swept up in all this. The language in the update to the list also specifically names communications and video surveillance equipment from DJI and Autel. Add in the mention of UAS critical components, and much of the drone technology DJI has been repurposing to make its merrily disruptive range of action cameras and gimbals is now effectively banned in the US too.

It's an inferred ban rather than a specific one, but given that DJI has already been pulling its products from official US launches in recent months, one would expect that momentum to continue. As with the drones, if there's stock there already, fine. But don't expect any new models to launch there, and it will be interesting to see if the DJI 'clone' companies such as Xtra persist or melt away in the new regulatory heat next year as well.