drone lcd screen made in china

DJI’s dominance of the consumer segment has forced the thousands of other drone manufacturers in China to fight for survival in the wilderness of commercial applications. The result is a flourishing and highly creative industry sector. Partnerships with various institutions — law enforcement, advertising agencies, energy companies, governments, the military, and technology companies — are now standard among drone companies. More than any other country, the drone is latching itself onto the very fabric of China’s economy: Ecommerce giant JD.com, China’s second-largest online retailer, for example, is already integrating its drones with its delivery networks to cover 100 rural villages. (In the U.S., Amazon’s own drone program, known as “Prime Air,” is still in its early testing phase.)

China is also a major player in the global military drone trade. Over the past decade, it has delivered 220 armed drones to 16 countries, including Nigeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, according to the research institute Sipri. China remains fifth behind the U.S. in overall arms exports, but it has become the go-to drone dealer for the world.

Chinese military drones are produced by state-owned companies, in contrast to consumer drones, whose producers are almost all privately funded. But the government is increasingly involving itself in the commercial drone sector. It has opened airspace, known as Unmanned Civil Aviation Experimental Zones (UCAEZs), to commercial drone makers like EHang (Nasdaq: EH) — the only publicly listed drone company out of China — to test aerial tourism, aerial firefighting, search and rescue, and more. The government wants its drone industry to grow to $27 billion in total output by 2025.

So who are the players in the Chinese drone market? Utilizing Chinese-language sources, The China Project has compiled information on the most important drone companies in China. They include companies involved in drone R&D, drone manufacturing, military uses, and drone services and accessories. Applications are organized into the following categories:

DJI, or Dajiang Innovations (大疆创新 dàjiāng chuàngxīn), is China’s flagship drone maker. Headquartered in Shenzhen, the 15-year-old company makes remote-controlled quadcopters and commercial drones for applications in aerial photography, agriculture, forestry, and security. The $15 billion company controls 80% of the world’s commercial drone business and sells about $1 billion worth of drones to the U.S. every year.

DJI drones have been widely regarded as better than their U.S. counterparts. According to The Verge in 2017, they were “by far the most compact drone now available.” This explains why the company is a favorite of U.S. federal agencies, including the State Department, the FBI, the military, and the Department of the Interior. DJI also supplies more than 900 U.S. local and state law enforcement and emergency service agencies. In December 2020, DJI was added to a government entity list, which barred U.S.-based companies from exporting technology to the company. U.S. consumers could still purchase DJI. Later, an audit by the Pentagon in June found “no malicious code or intent” in two DJI drone models frequently used by the government.

Founded in 2014, High Great (高巨创新 gāojù chuàngxīn) is known as one of the “Big Three” Chinese drone entertainment companies, along with EHang and Shenzhen Damoda Intelligent Control. With fleets of drones numbering in the thousands, High Great has performed over 1,000 light shows in more than 200 cities worldwide. Since 2017, High Great — which often teams up with another drone company, ZEROTECH — has been responsible for some of the most impressive drone shows in China and the world. Last June, High Great displayed a light show consisting of 2,100 drones for National Day, the founding of the People’s Republic of China. High Great has been hired by luxury car brands, universities, tech giants, and state TV.

Recently, High Great has been coordinating with state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) to stage activities leading up to the 100th centennial of the Chinese Communist Party on July 1, 2021. Using more than 3,000 drones, they displayed pivotal events in China’s Communist history, including the route of the Long March and an outline of the First National Congress of the Communist Party.

Founded in 2016, Shenzhen Damoda (深圳大漠大 shēnzhèn dàmòdà) is one of the “Big Three” drone light show companies in China alongside EHang and High Great. The company primarily offers its light shows for festivities, theme parks, advertising, and marketing. Last year, Damoda featured prominently in the most important festival in China: the nationally broadcasted CCTV Spring Festival Gala. It also appeared frequently in theme parks from Chimelong Paradise in Guangdong to Gubei Water Town in Beijing. The company claims it has completed a total of nearly 3,000 performances at parties, theme parks, and other attractions with no errors so far. It also partners with BYD and Huawei — two other Shenzhen-based companies — to offer aerial advertising.

In a light show last September, in Guangdong, Damoda broke the record for most simultaneous airborne unmanned aerial vehicles with a fleet of 3,051 drones. It broke its own record this year in March in a show that used 3,281 drones to display the car logo of South Korean car maker Genesis Motors, which was announcing its debut in the Chinese market.

EHang (亿航 yìháng) is the first publicly traded passenger drone company with ambitions to become what CEO Hú Huázhì 胡华智 calls the “aerial Uber.” The Guangzhou-based company makes pilotless “electric vertical takeoff and landing” (eVTOL) aircrafts, akin to a multi-rotor helicopter powered by batteries. Along with its signature “robo taxi” or “air taxi” business, the company also offers drones for aerial photography and light shows.

Founded in 2017, Autoflight (峰飞航空 ēngfēi hángkōng) is an industry-leading drone maker specializing in eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) drones. The founder, Tián Yú 田瑜, has been in the aviation industry for more than 20 years and has obtained more than 300 flight-related patents. The company’s CTO spun off their own drone software company specializing in AI tech for eVTOL called Boundary.AI, which has received seed funding from Sequoia Capital.

Product highlight: LTE networks, 4G/5G cloud image transfer, portable facial/license plate recognition, COFDM image transfer, frequency-based drone networks

Formed in 2006, Shenzhen Huimingjie Technology, or Huimingjie (慧明捷 huìmíngjié) for short, is a drone company specializing in wireless communication and drone video transmission. The company’s 4G private network and high-definition image transmission through drones have been used in fields such as air defense, public security, military, customs security (anti-smuggling), urban management, forest fire prevention, environmental protection, security and emergency services, and others. The company claims to be “widely used in public security systems in multiple provinces,” along with customers in Southeast Asia. Huimingjie currently has more than 200 employees, 50% of which have technical backgrounds.

CAAA is responsible for making China’s most popular drone export: The fixed-wing Caihong-4 and Caihong-5 drones (also known as part of the “Rainbow series”) bear a striking resemblance to the American Predator drones, and have been sold to buyers in more than 14 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Pakistan, Myanmar, and Indonesia, due to their versatility, firepower, and relatively low cost. The company also manufactures the PW-1 and PW-2, which are derivatives of the Caihong-4 and Caihong-5.

Founded in 2008, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China is the state-owned defense contractor and fighter jet supplier to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). It is a conglomerate with over 100 subsidiaries, including 24 listed companies that specialize in manufacturing fighter jets, attack helicopters, transport, and surveillance planes. Its Wing Loong II combat drone — which bears a striking resemblance to the American Predator drone — has been sold to governments such as Nigeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan. The conglomerate employs more than 400,000 employees.

By 2011, Pakistan and the U.A.E. — which have a long tradition of buying arms from the U.S. — signed deals to buy the Caihong-3 and Wing Loong 1. Besides the Wing Loong I and II drones, some of the other well-known aircrafts manufactured in AVIC’s arsenal include the J-20, J-10, JF-17, and FC-31 fighters; the Y-20 and Y-9 transports; the Z-9, Z-10, Z-19, and Z-20 helicopters; the PL-5, PL-9, and TY-90 missiles; and the LS-6 bomb. The key AVIC machines in China’s PLA Air Force (PLAAF) include the J-20 stealth fighter and the Z-19E attack helicopter.

Shenzhen-based Geneinno (吉影 jíyǐng) is an underwater drone maker offering drones that can perform difficult tasks, including taking 4k resolution images deep underwater and in locales that are challenging or impossible for humans to reach. Geneinno has been popular in China among three groups: diving, fishing, and yacht hobbyists, who mainly use Geneinno for photography; industrial uses for aquaculture companies; and finally, marine biology education. Its flagship drone is the Poseidon I, which garnered the company millions in sales in 2017. Poseidon I can sink to depths of 120 meters and has a maximum battery life of five hours. The machine weighs six to seven kilograms and is priced at 8,000 yuan ($1,250). The Poseidon I is now available on Amazon.

Founded in 1998, Shenzhen Grepow Battery Co. (格瑞普 géruìpǔ) is one of China’s largest battery manufacturers and a leading designer of advanced rechargeable batteries. Grepow began supplying small batteries to miscellaneous overseas businesses, including electric toothbrushes and toy trucks. Since 2015, however, Grepow has shifted primarily to become a supplier of the drone industry, establishing the world’s first drone battery brand, TATTU. It operates four factories with around 3,000 employees, 200 of which are engaged in R&D. Grepow does not supply electric vehicles.

Founded in 1994, Guangzhou Walkera Technology (广州华科尔科技 guǎngzhōu huákēěr kējì) began as a manufacturer of remote-control helicopters. The company has now pivoted primarily toward the drone business beginning with micro aerial vehicles (MAV) or mini-drones. Walkera mini-drones were developed for commercial and consumer use, but have been used in military and law enforcement agencies as training for operating larger drones. Walkera also has a firefighting drone called ZHUN and race drones Rodeo 110 and Furious 215. The company claims to export to more than 100 countries and is heavily focused on technology with nearly half of its 500 staff members dedicated to R&D.

In April 2016, Walkera opened a division in the U.S. called UC Drone to offer drone management systems to U.S. customers. It also has another subsidiary in Europe.

Founded in 2015, INNNO Technology (因诺科技 yīnnuò kējì) bills itself as a Swiss Army knife for industry pain points and is focused on the research and development of drones for industrial applications. In the energy sector, Xi’an-based INNNO drones inspect power lines and towers in a worker’s stead. They have partnerships with several energy companies in China, and list pipeline inspection as a main application of their drone technology. Recently, the Xianyang government contracted INNNO to monitor pedestrian body temperature using the ultraviolet sensors on its drones.

Jiangsu-based Jincheng Aviation (锦城航空 jǐnchéng hángkōng) is a high-tech drone company that specializes in high-capacity payloads. Jincheng’s flagship drone models — boasting the ability to carry an industry record of up to 500 kilograms — have already been used in fire departments across China and in the military. Jincheng has more than 100 senior technical personnel, two academicians, more than 30 professors and engineers, and a R&D center in Beijing. It boasts close partnerships with universities and research institutes, 20 drone models, and more than 40 national patents.

Founded in 1999, AEE (一电科技 yīdiàn kējì) has positioned itself as the GoPro of drones. With a wide range of gadgets ranging from foldable selfie drones to bodycams (it has extensive ties with law enforcement), Shenzhen-based AEE already has a significant international presence in the drone industry. AEE has eight sales centers worldwide (Los Angeles, Munich, Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Hubei, and Sichuan) exporting to more than 50 countries. AEE products have been commonly sold to Europe, America, Australia, Japan, and many other global big-brand supermarket chains, and its law enforcement products have been widely used in Europe and America and other country agencies. Some of its major customers include Apple, Qualcomm, Red Bull, SoftBank, Media Market, Decathlon, and Airbus. AEE also offers drone intelligence services and solutions to China Telecom, China Mobile, China Poly Group, Huawei, Alibaba, China Airlines, and other domestic enterprises.

Bitalltech (理工全盛 lǐgōng quánshèng) is an anomaly in the burgeoning drone industry: while others are focused on making drones fly, Bitalltech specializes in shooting them down. Founded in 2016 and based in Beijing, Bitaltech specializes in drone defense systems. Armed with advanced gadgets such as electromagnetic monitors and data processors, Bitalltech has sold their anti-drone devices and system solutions to the military and a number of law enforcement agencies in China.

Founded in 2010, Micromulticopter Aviation (科比航空 kēbǐ hángkōng) or MMC hopes to become the go-to drone company for any and all industry solutions. The Shenzhen-based company has been a leader in formulating international standards for drones.

According to its website, MMC claims to be the leading drone supplier to the State Grid of China, firefighting agencies, and Sinopec. It was selected as a “Future Star” by Chinese Enterprise Magazine and was found on a list of “Potential Unicorns in China” in 2020. MMC has distributors in India, Indonesia, Germany, Malaysia, North America, and Russia.

Aerofugia (沃飞长空 wòfēi chángkōng) is a company formed out of a merger between Geely, the owner of Volvo, and U.S.-based flying car developer Terrafugia in 2017. The joint venture focuses on “general aviation,” which refers to all activities in civil aviation besides transportation, such as industrial agriculture, forestry, and fishing. The company hopes to make drones with the broadest set of applications possible. Aerofugia will operate under two brands: “Aoshi” and “Taili.” The company also has designs to enter the flying car market, but the venture is still in the R&D phase. Geely teased a drone + car package deal last year.

Founded in 2015 with a registered capital of 20 million yuan ($3 million), Zingto (翔拓 xiángtà) is a drone and technology company focusing on industrial applications based out of Hebei Province. The company makes different types of fixed-wing and multi-rotor drones. Its three-axis optoelectronic pods are best sellers in the market for cameras on moving vehicles. The company has a number of patents and certifications, one of which allows it to sell Zinto’s products in the European Union. They have worked with several technical universities in China in order to advance drone R&D, and they have pronounced ties to the military and law enforcement.

Founded in 2015, the fast-growing Air Dwing (大翼 dàyì) is quickly becoming to drone software what DJI is to drone hardware, primarily thanks to its proprietary cloud-based platform, KiteBeam. Air Dwing’s flagship management system integrates and processes drone, air traffic, and weather data to aid route planning and data analysis. The Shenzhen-based company works with drone partners, mainly DJI, to offer more sophisticated management tools for governments and industries that want to use a fleet of drones for various applications. In April, the small tech outfit made headlines when it won a contract to build a drone control system for the Guangdong Province fire and rescue brigade.

Founded in 2015, Volitation (天峋 tiānxún) makes drones for a variety of industry applications. Launched by graduates of the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the company has filed 70 patents, 53 of which have already been authorized. Volitation has received approval from the Shanghai Air Force Command to run test flights out of Changzhou, Jiangsu Province.

Volitation product line runs the whole gamut of drone types: they include unmanned helicopters, multi-rotor, fixed-wing, and composite-wing drones. Applications include public safety, electric power inspection, forest fire prevention, agriculture and plant protection, pollution monitoring, and aerial surveys.

Founded in 2016, Soarability (可飞 kěfēi) is a drone company specializing in air pollution monitoring. Its flagship Sniffer4D v2 atmospheric monitoring system can provide detailed air pollution data within a focused perimeter. Soarability was founded by a team with extensive experience in sensor and electromechanical system development from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. They have received support from the Shenzhen government, which has policies dedicated to supporting entrepreneurial teams of high-talent Chinese returning from overseas. Soarability claims its sensors have helped industrial enterprises map out pollution around a plant; petrochemical companies analyze the air composition around oil and gas wells to improve inspection and safety; emergency rescue teams find toxic gases; and scientific research teams collect good air pollution data.

Founded in 2019, Yuanmu Holding (远牧 yuǎnmù) is a drone company that specializes in various kinds of agricultural applications. The Shenzhen-based company seeks to build a holistic ecological platform for agricultural businesses with plant protection drones as its flagship product. The company continues to explore the intersection of drone innovation, AI, and agricultural empowerment and efficiency.

A DJI Technology drone flies during a demonstration in Shenzhen, China, in 2014. DJI sells the majority of Chinese-made drones bought in the United States.

A DJI Technology drone flies during a demonstration in Shenzhen, China, in 2014. DJI sells the majority of Chinese-made drones bought in the United States.

But the Department of Homeland Security is warning that drones manufactured by Chinese companies could pose security risks, including that the data they gather could be stolen.

The department sent out an alert on the subject on May 20, and avideo on its website notes that drones in general pose multiple threats, including "their potential use for terrorism, mass casualty incidents, interference with air traffic, as well as corporate espionage and invasions of privacy."

Most drones bought in the U.S. are manufactured in China, with most of those drones made by one company, DJI Technology. Lanier Watkins, a cyber-research scientist at Johns Hopkins University"s Information Security Institute, said his team discovered vulnerabilities in DJI"s drones.

In a statement, DJI said: "At DJI, safety is at the core of everything we do, and the security of our technology has been independently verified by the U.S. government and leading U.S. businesses. DJI is leading the industry on this topic and our technology platform has enabled businesses and government agencies to establish best practices for managing their drone data. We give all customers full and complete control over how their data is collected, stored, and transmitted.

"For government and critical infrastructure customers that require additional assurances, we provide drones that do not transfer data to DJI or via the Internet, and our customers can enable all the precautions DHS recommends. Every day, American businesses, first responders, and U.S. government agencies trust DJI drones to help save lives, promote worker safety, and support vital operations, and we take that responsibility very seriously. We are committed to continuously working with our customers and industry and government stakeholders to ensure our technology adheres to all of their requirements."

There are other, more covert, ways that foreign governments could obtain the type of information gathered by drones, said John Villasenor, a fellow at the Brookings Institution who teaches at UCLA.

"[If] you fly a drone above a pipeline, there"s a pretty good chance someone is gonna see it up there," he said, but "a spy satellite just takes a picture from 120 miles up or whatever. Then, of course, no one"s going to know what happened."

This is not the first time the U.S. government has expressed concern over the use of Chinese-made drones. In 2017, the U.S. Army barred use of DJI"s drones.

Villasenor said the government"s concern over Chinese drones "is not new, although the fact that it has surfaced now may or may not be tied to these broader trade tensions which have flared up in recent months."

The Department of Homeland Security"s warning about Chinese drones coincides with the Trump administration"s campaign against tech manufacturer Huawei, which also coincides with the ongoing trade war between the two countries.

At the close of the Global Fortune Forum in Guangzhou on Dec. 7, the event’s hosts set a world record for the largest drone swarm ever deployed. For 9 minutes, 1,180 drones danced and blinked out an aerial show. It was cool. It was also an interesting look into the potential future of aviation.

According to an executive at Ehang UAVs, which provided the swarm, each drone cost $1,500, which is pretty darn cheap considering their capabilities. Take, for instance, the datalink and software used. It lets more than 1,000 flying robots coordinate autonomously and synchronize movements, with a flight deviancy of a mere 2 centimeters horizontally and 1 centimeter vertically. If something goes wrong and a drone can’t reach its programmed position, it automatically lands.

In the show last month, these machines created striking formations of China, a kapok tree flower, and a ship. They also showed off a lot of potential for the military and security sectors. The fact that the drones can move autonomously, landing if they don’t fulfill their directive, is particularly intriguing. Ehang is essentially boasting that its swarms can make decisions on how to repair itself, as well as improvise operational functionality.

This is just the latest drone development to come out of China. At Zhuhai 2016, the China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) and Tsinghua University released a video of a swarm zooming in improvised, network-generated flight patterns. Though the CETC-Tsinghua drone swarm was unarmed, a CGI sequence showed the drones hunting an enemy missile launcher in urban area, and then dive-bombing into the missile launcher, destroying it. CETC followed up by launching a swarm of 117 drones in June 2017 (pictured above).

Released by high-altitude balloons, these shoebox-sized, flying-wing drones glide for a 60-plus miles while collecting and eavesdropping on enemy signatures.

China also is looking at taking its drone swarms into near space, alongside a planned arsenal of anti-stealth drones, hypersonic spy planes and high-altitude airships. In fall 2017, the Chinese Academy of Sciences used high-altitude balloons to release two shoebox-sized, flying-wing drones that flew downward from a height of 15 miles, and flew a distance of more than 60 miles. Those high-altitude micro UAVs have passive sensors for detecting electromagnetic activity and can map terrain. Similarly to the Perdix system drone swarm showed off by the Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office, the Chinese Academy of Science’s flock could be released by fighters, bombers, and other drones.

In the past four years, the outdoor high-tech advertising market in China has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 18.2%, reaching 45.6 billion yuan in 2020. The development of technology, an increase in advertising space and forms, and audience contributed to the promotion of new advertising in China. New advertising is high tech offline advertising that includes the use of drones, VR, LED lights, and holographic communication. Specifically, over the past few years we have witnessed a rise in drone advertising in China, many cases ultimately trending online causing even more buzz.

The sales scale of China’s civil drone market reached 2.4 billion yuan in 2015. Due to their expanding field of the application, the demand drones has gradually increased: it exceeded 13 billion yuan in 2018 and hit 22 billion yuan in 2019. China’s civil drone market is full of potential, and the production scale will exceed 36 billion yuan in 2021.

Consumer drones, commercial drones and government drones are the major categories driving the growth of the drone industry in China. Shenzhen Xinjiang Foundation expects that in 2021, consumer drone sales will reach 29 million yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 31.3%. At the same time, commercial drone shipments will amount to 805,000 units, with a five-year compound annual growth rate of 51%.

Drone advertising is an innovative marketing and promotion channel. The price of such advertising can vary depending on the number of drones needed and the outcome desired. In the commercial advertising market, drones are usually grouped into 200-2,000 drones. The price of drone media service can reach around 6,000 yuan per minute.

The LED advertising method also relies on visual images to spread information and catch audience’ attention through floating 3D images. Advertisers target different customer groups and install LED display screens in the right place in order to maximize the effect of advertising.

The price of LED lights advertising is less expensive than drones, as it requires a less sophisticated technology. The LED lights advertising can cost around 4,000 and 5,000 yuan.

In 2021, Hyundai‘s new premium brand Genesis used new advertising methods to illuminate Shanghai sky with 3,281 computer-controlled drones. The drones moved to the rhythm of music, creating images of new car models and the Genesis logo. The promotion induced a wow factor in Chinese consumers. In addition, the ad broke the Guinness World Record for “Most Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in the Air at the Same Time.” Immediately following the Hyundai’s ad, a similar drone ad came from Bulgari in China. They featured images of snakes, luxury watches and the brand’s logo.

On the first anniversary of the release of the computer game Princess Connect in China! Re: Immersion, the Chinese video platform Bilibili arranged a great lightshow. Bilibili’s drone advertising campaign generated a massive QR code at the end of the show; viewers could scan it and download the game using their phone. Each of the drone promotions went viral across China and solidified brand equity.

Advantages of new advertising in ChinaDrones have the exclusive flight rights for Shanghai Bund, Guangzhou Xiaomanyao, Juzizhoutou of Changsha, Hunan, and Xi’an. Drone advertising in China is a proven way to make a brand go viral online, however how long the trend will last is uncertain. As it becomes more common, the following social media buzz after drone shows may slow down.

As a pioneer in this field, China hardly needs to add to its growing list of innovations within the surveillance industry — and yet they"ve just been trying out a flock of new "Dove" drones.

According to sources in a report by the South China Morning Post, the drones have already been tested in at least five provinces by some 30 government and military agencies in the country.

The new drones have been developed for a program known as "Dove" and are able to replicate about 90% of the movements of a real dove. Unlike standard unmanned aerial vehicles with fixed wings or rotor blades, these drones can gain altitude, dive and accelerate in flight just as a bird would.

Prior to its launch in populated regions, more than 2,000 tests were carried out on some of the drones, proving these robotic birds can go undetected in the presence of other animals, with some birds even flying alongside them.

Each of the drones has a built-in high-definition camera, a GPS antenna, a flight control system and data link with satellite communication capability. In terms of design, they weigh around 200 grams, have a wingspan of approximately 50 centimetres and can fly at speeds of up to 40 kilometres per hour for up to 30 minutes.

At the moment the technology is still in the early stages of development. In addition to being unable to travel long distances or in strong winds, their performance can still be affected by heavy rain or snow. Another major flaw is that, in the absence of an anti-collision mechanism, drones are prone to crash into obstacles when flying at low altitudes.

Yet China isn"t the first place innovators have sought to build a device to resemble a bird: in 2013, the U.S. military acquired more than 30 drones from Florida-based Prioria Robotics, designed to look like birds of prey.

Unmanned drones fired by Iran-backed militias at targets across the Middle East in recent years, sometimes with lethal effect, are being supplied from China, a senior US official revealed.

Barbara Leaf, the State Department’s top Middle East policy official, called it “an irony” that Beijing has been pushing sales of its military drones to Arab Gulf states while doing nothing to stem the flow of other Chinese-made drones to militias backed by Iran in the region.

Why it matters: Iran-backed groups have claimed credit for deadly drone attacks on a variety of targets, from oil facilities in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to an Israeli-owned container ship, to bases housing US troops in Iraq in recent years.

Precision drone and missile strikes by Iran and its proxies have led Arab states to seek air defense support and offensive projectile weapons of their own. Leaf suggested to lawmakers today that China is playing both sides of the tensions by spreading drone technology “across the region helter-skelter," an approach she described as "a huge problem."

Riyadh has purchased China’s Wing Loong II and CH-4 drones starting in 2014, while the UAE is thought to have obtained the Wing Loong in 2011. Iraq and Jordan are also believed to have a small number of CH-4Bs. Algeria, Egypt and Pakistan have also reportedly acquired military drones from Beijing.

Leaf emphasized on Thursday that the United States maintains a firm lead over China’s growing strategic influence in the Middle East due to Washington’s unmatched defense partnerships, with which she said Beijing cannot compete. But she admitted China has gotten “more than their foot in the door” in the region’s armed drone market, in part because US weapon sales come with conditions.

The Trump administration loosened restrictions on US armed drone transfers abroad in a belated attempt to catch up, and signed off on plans to sell 50 stealth F-35 fighter jets and 18 MQ-9B drones to the UAE shortly before ceding power early last year.

In March, a Saudi firm signed a deal with one of China’s largest state-owned defense electronics manufacturers to establish a drone factory in the Gulf kingdom, reviving a similar proposal resulting from King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud’s visit to China in 2017.

She agreed, saying US drone sales should be pursued “under careful, scripted, clear rules of the road” and approached on “a case-by-case basis," but offered no hints as to whether the administration would reconsider any outstanding requests from Arab leaders.

China has gained an advantage in the market for armed drone sales to the Middle East as more stringent export restrictions have held back US sales, a Pentagon intelligence report revealed this week.

San Diego-based General Atomics, for example, has not yet been able to sell its armed MQ-9 Reaper drone to Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. That sale had been championed by Republicans in Congress, including Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who represents the district where the drone is manufactured.

Meanwhile, China has emerged as the primary driver of armed drone sales to the Middle East, even as President Donald Trump has championed reforms to US arms exports. Rejected for a Predator drone sale in 2015, Jordan has purchased two armed Chinese CH-4B Rainbow drones. Iraq and Saudi Arabia have also purchased similar systems.

It’s not clear how worried the Pentagon is about the Chinese exports’ potential impact on the long-reaching US military supply chain to the region. The Chinese drones would be difficult to integrate with US-made command-and-control systems, a report from the London-based Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies concluded last year.

It “does not look like the import of armed drones from China by countries in the region is driven by the desire to get more tied up in China’s military supply chain and less dependent on the US,” said Aniseh Tabrizi, a fellow at the London institute who authored the report. “On the contrary, relying on China for armed drones is seen as a second-best option, not a preferred one.”

In any event, Trump’s arms sales reforms to date have not removed the strong presumption of denial for selling systems over a weight of 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) that can fly up to 300 kilometers (186 miles), though Defense News reported in April that the US administration sought to put in place rules to allow approval of some of them on a case-by-case basis. Current ruleswould potentially rule out the sale of a missile-carrying drone, such as the Predator XP denied to Jordan. As such, it’s not clear whether the White House, which has championed arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries as a major foreign policy accomplishment, will be satisfied with the current rules.

For years, members of Congress, the Department of Defense, and even the White House, among others, have raised security concerns surrounding the use of foreign-made drones, especially ones built in China. At least some of those fears may have been unfounded, however, according to a new analysis conducted by the Pentagon. A report issued in May cleared the use of some drones made by Chinese manufacturer Da Jiang Innovations, better known by the acronym DJI, for use by the U.S. government. Nevertheless, many American officials believe these threats remain and are pressing, and must be addressed.

According to a summary of the report reviewed by The Associated Press, as well as other outlets, the Pentagon found no evidence of backdoor exploits or harmful software in two drone models made by DJI specifically for the U.S. government. “DJI Government Edition versions that were tested, show no malicious code or intent and are recommended for use by government entities and forces working with US services,” the summary reportedly says, though the bulk of the report remains classified. When reached by The Associated Press, the report’s author, U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Adam Prater, who is assigned to U.S. Army Special Operations Command, declined to comment and said he was not authorized to speak to the media.

There are growing fears about potential backdoor exploits being integrated into the electronic components of various Chinese-made products, including reports about computer chips that may have been tampered with. This, in turn, has led many U.S. lawmakers and military leaders to raise questions about whether drones manufactured in China might be used to transfer sensitive data from inside the United States to that country"s intelligence agencies or the People"s Liberation Army (PLA). DJI, based in China"s Shenzhen province, produces some 80% of the world’s commercial drones, and many of these end up in the fleets of U.S. government agencies and departments. Nearly every list of best-selling or best-performing drones ranks DJI models among the top, if not the top across the board.

Despite the May 6 report issued by the Pentagon, which downplays the potential threat that DJI drones may pose, Congress is still considering a ban on foreign drone technologies. A bill introduced by Senator Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, would, if passed, institute a ban on U.S. government acquisitions of drones manufactured in China, as well as other “covered foreign entities.” The bill, titled the "American Security Drone Act of 2021" defines those entities as:

For these reasons, the U.S. Army banned all DJI-made drones in 2017. DJI executives pushed back on the allegations at the time, stating that none of those claims were “accompanied by evidence or analysis demonstrating that there"s a factual basis behind the allegation.” Nevertheless, in January 2021, the White House issued an executive order that sought to mitigate the use of drones that might “present unacceptable risks and are manufactured by, or contain software or critical electronic components from, foreign adversaries.” Specific adversary nations listed in the report included North Korea, Russia, Iran, and, most significantly, China.

In 2020, the U.S. Department of Interior had also grounded its entire drone fleet stating that while unmanned aerial systems are critical to its mission, the department "must ensure that the technology used for these operations is such that it will not compromise our national security interests." That decision, which affected all drones the department was using at the time, regardless of where they were made, but was clearly seen as primarily targeting Chinese-made types in use at the time, came on the immediate heels of a spate of bizarre drone sightings across Colorado and Nebraska that remain unexplained to this day.

Worries over drone safety are not unfounded nor are they based solely on growing concerns about Chinese influence and spying capabilities. In addition to opening the door for potential cybersecurity threats, drones are posing an increasingly dangerous physical threat. Many recent incidents within the United States borders, some over critical infrastructure, or above overseas military installations, highlight the increasingly salient threat posed by small drones and even off-the-shelf commercial models.

While the U.S. government is still developing strategies to mitigate the physical drone threat, the Pentagon"s recent report should at least calm some worries over the cybersecurity implications of the government"s use of DJI drones, specifically. Congress has yet to vote on the American Security Drone Act of 2021, so it"s unknown what impact the Pentagon"s report on DJI drones will have when it comes to legislating this issue.

Nevertheless, the debate over the use of foreign-made drones highlights the more wide-ranging issue of American reliance on overseas manufacturing, particularly when it comes to technologies for use in national security or infrastructure. Given that China and Taiwan manufacture the vast majority of the world"s computer chips and essential telecommunication technologies, there have been frequent calls for America to build its own domestic manufacturing base for microelectronics to avoid altogether the threat of backdoor exploits or insecure supply chains.

In 2006, CEO Frank Wang, now 37, founded DJI. Historically, multirotor drones were unstable and difficult to control. While studying at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou-native Wang started to change that. Initial DJI drones required DIY soldering and wiring, making them appealing to hobbyists. The company grew as the drones developed in technology, becoming preassembled, easier to fly and longer-lasting. DJI invested in creating proprietary technologies, like obstacle avoidance and cameras

Previously, tourists, adventurists and videographers attached third-party cameras to DJI drones. To stabilize footage, DJI developed its own cameras and gimbals, the devices that stabilize a camera aboard a sometimes unsteady drone in flight.

DJI also partners externally. It acquired a minority stake in high-end Swedish camera manufacturer Hasselblad, which led to the creation of a drone capable of flying a 100-megapixel camera.

As consumer drone uses broadened, product offerings expanded. DJI"s flagship series, the Phantom, costs USD $500–$1,500. When the Phantom 4 first shipped last year, it was done exclusively through Apple stores, a minor coup for DJI. "The brands align," On said. "The customers share the same kind of emotions and needs about the products."

DJI seeks mainstream acceptance. "Not just for the geeks, techs and enthusiasts. That"s our goal. Making the product relevant to different people," On said. Marketing campaigns highlight everyday drone applications, not product specs.