Drone News: GAO Report, Officials Say Stop Using DJI, Axon Acquires Dedrone, & Record Drone Show

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update we have 3 stories for you; GAO Report on Foreign Made Drones, officials tell Fairfax County to stop using DJI, Axon acquires Dedrone, and new record drone show.

00:00 Introduction
00:15 GAO Report on Foreign Drones
03:00 Officials Tell County to Stop Uding DJI Drones
03:54 Axon Acquires Dedrone
04:25 World Record Drone Show

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First up, the GAO has released a report on the Department of Interior’s stance on foreign drones.
Currently, the DOI does not allow foreign drones to be used except for emergency situations such as search and rescue and wild fires.
The GAO studied the effects of the policies after the DOI asked them to, covering the 4 most active departments; bureau of land management (BLM), Fish and Wildlife service (FWS), National Park Service (NPS), and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
Findings from the GAO are predictable; the majority of drones are now nearing their end of life and replacing them with compliant drones is much more expensive.
Due to the reduction in fleet size, bureaus haven’t been able to expand their use of drones and some no longer have enough drones even for emergencies.
Even for bureaus that have purchased approved drones, the drones aren’t be delivered until 6 months or more later.
The GAO gave the example that in April of 2024, the DOI had purchased 98 drones for fiscal year 2024 and only 46 had been delivered.
In another example, the National Park Service purchased drones for wild fire management in March and were not expected to have the drones in hand until October, missing nearly all of the 2024 fire season.
The GAO goes on to discuss that compliant drones are not as capable in carrying payloads nor are as reliable.
Due to these problems, not only have emergency flights decreased but non-emergency flights for research, surveys, training, and post-storm recoveries have become nearly non-existent.

Next up, federal law makers John Moolenaar and Raja Krishnamoorthi from the House of Representatives have urged Fairfax County to stop using DJI.
In a letter to the county Board of Supervisors the representatives stated “The PRC-made UAS platforms and censors currently used by Fairfax County collect high-resolution imagery of facilities and individuals at risk, putting them at risk of being collected by the CCP,”
This is the first time we’ve seen representatives attempting to influence a particular public safety department on what drones to use or not use.
Fairfax county sits just south west of Washington DC along the Potomac river.
At this time, we don’t know how the county will respond but we’ll keep you updated if we see more.

Third, Axon has finished the acquisition of Dedrone.
Dedrone is a counter UAS system that uses RF detection, RADAR, cameras and for authorized users can include hammers, drone take over, and kinetic means to stop a rogue drone.
An important note is that the DOD are the only ones currently who are allowed to utilize these tools to stop a drone.
We’ll keep you updated if we see more from Dedrone and Axon!

Last up, Sky Elements broke the record this week for the most drones launching pyrotechnics.
The city of Mansfield TX partnered with Sky Elements to break the word record of most drones launching pyrotechnics.
Sky Elements used 1164 drones to break the record in a free drone show for residents.
Cool use of the drones and we’re sure we’ll continue to see bigger and bigger drone shows!

That’s all for this week, we’ll see you later in the community for Happy Hour and on Monday for our Q&A!

[ZeitGeist_TV]

I'm going to fly my DJI Mini 4 Pro regardless because these government officials don't even know what these drones do and do not transmit.

[daveeverett]

Perhaps the officials continuing to push for banning Chinese drones should read the audit recently completed by FTI Consulting which shows DJI could not be transmitting sensitive data to China. This was determined after thorough testing of a Mavic Enterprise 3. Full article at Drone DJ. 👍👍👍

[jerseyshoredroneservices]

Thanks for the news.
Even when it's not good news we need to be aware.

[MDFire]

"Fish and Wildlife Service", not "Fire and Wildlife Service".

[JimBailey]

Thank you so much Pilot Institute. Great info. :)

[GFields-DigitalPhotoCreations]

There NO "compliance" drones that come close to the quality and performance of DJI drones

[edruttledge]

The drumbeats for a "drone ban" never fade. Just saying.

[axarus]

One correction: US Fish and Wildlife Service (not fire). Another very informative show, thanks!

[thurber_shots]

Thanks for the update, Greg! BTW I have filmed several drone shows (with my own drone) for Sky Elements in the Bay Area. They're a great company to work for and very diligent about waivers and work closely with both the FAA and local law enforcement, it's awesome to be able to legally fly around stadiums to film these shows while putting that Part 107 you prepared me for to work.

[HughBevan-pp]

I would purchase a DJI Air 3 today, but I am not confident that the Feds will allow me to use it in the future. If the CCP is spying on me via my Mini 4 they must be very bored by now.

[DaveBartholomew-ufsm]

Great info as always. My guess is that some of the work is still being done by privately purchased DJI drones and used by the owner in their work.

[dronebuzz]

Thank you Greg! ;-) T (PS. A most beautiful show in TX! Amazing!)

[McKinneyAerialImagery-pc]

Didn't TCI, or something like tha, t just put out a report stating that DJI is NOT transmitting data out of the US? I thought I read that somewhere. :)

[mlentsch]

I bet that firework drone show is amazing...

[juliasobczak]

I believe the drone ban would only apply to future DJI models so anything you have now will not be affected if you are flying for private customers. Still an issue for the future of drones in the US but something to consider for the next few years.

[ZenoTasedro]

Another great update!

I think y'all might get a little bit more traffic to these if you drop them a couple hours later in the day, rather than at 5am-ish Pacific time

[methodlab]

but satellite imagery doesn't collect high-res "at risk" sites???

[novicefpv]

FYI... FWS stands for Fish and Wildlife Service!

[jefefpv]

Yeah, makes no sense to ban DJI, but then again, when does the Government ever make any sense. DJI should have been the primary source of drones with a time period to review options that can be phased in.

[luismartinez-mynk]

Skydio cannot and will never deliver cheaper, better drones than DJI. PERIOD.