Letter from Congress warns county against Chinese drone use

Fairfax County, the most populous county in Virginia and the most populous jurisdiction in the Washington, D.C., region, received a rare letter late last month from the U.S. House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. Chinese-made drones, the letter warned, are “a threat to the national and economic security of the United States.”

The letter to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors went on to request that officials effectively ban the purchase of Chinese-made drones and other unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS, from future procurement and partnerships.

The committee is especially concerned about drones made by Autel Robotics and Da Jiang Innovations. DJI makes up more than 70% of the global drone market, which is expected to grow to $55.8 billion by 2030.

Elected officials and technology experts have alleged that the drones’ hardware and software are vulnerable to hackers and could expose potentially sensitive data to the Chinese government or be hijacked while in use for illegal purposes.

National security leaders, in particular, have long warned that Chinese-made technologies could be used for foreign espionage and “other nefarious activities.” A 2022 report from Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology found that despite these threats, state and local government agencies across the U.S. still purchase Chinese technologies.

The letter represents a further escalation by the U.S. government against Chinese-made technology and its companies over national security concerns.

Signed by the committee’s chairman, John Moolenaar, a Republican from Michigan, and Democratic Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, the letter encourages the county to help other jurisdictions and Virginia more broadly to adopt a drone procurement policy that addresses the national security risks. It acknowledged that non-Chinese drones are more costly, but said buying from elsewhere will protect county, and American, airspace and privacy.

“We cannot continue to allow unfair [Chinese Communist Party, or] CCP market practices to pressure our state and local governments and put them at risk,” the pair wrote. “We believe Congress and the federal government must work with local constituencies to ensure more sustainable and safer UAS alternatives.”

Fairfax County’s Board of Supervisors first approved using drones in 2019. Since then, it has used them primarily for public safety, including to investigate crimes, fires and traffic crashes, and to search for missing people. The county also runs extensive training. But the House committee letter said the use of Chinese drones is concerning.

These “UAS platforms and sensors 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,” the letter warned. County spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment on its drone program.

Chinese-made drones have been the source of controversy for many years among the federal government, as well as states and localities. Congress banned the Department of Defense from buying and using drones or components manufactured in China under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020.

Then in late 2020 the Department of Commerce added DJI to its “Entity List” for its role in enabling China’s human rights abuses of the Uyghur people, a mostly Muslim ethnic group in northwestern China, and the Treasury Department added DJI to its list of Chinese military-industrial complex companies, due to its support of biometric surveillance.

This year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released joint cybersecurity guidance warning of Chinese-made drones’ risks to critical infrastructure and national security. Separately, U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped DJI imports this month for allegedly using slave labor to build its products. And legislation recently passed the House to add DJI to the Federal Communications Commission’s “Covered List,” which would ban new models from being operated on communications infrastructure in this country.

Some states have followed these federal agencies’ lead. Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi and Tennessee are among those to have banned state and local agencies from using Chinese drones over cybersecurity concerns. But the lack of a blanket ban or response from various levels of government has led some experts to call for greater action.

Outside groups have repeatedly expressed their support for government agencies being less reliant on Chinese drones, so long as a transition to other manufacturers is handled correctly. In testimony before a House subcommittee earlier this year, Michael Robbins, president and CEO of the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International, called for a “robust, bipartisan drone competitiveness package” for the drone and robotic industry to “ensure America doesn’t lose complete control” of it to China.

But Robbins said an “immediate ban” on Chinese-made drones would be “extremely problematic,” as it would leave agencies with enormous gaps to fill and programs to maintain but without the necessary equipment.

Robbins called for a “multipronged effort to support policies that would encourage investment, innovation and ultimately scaled production of drone supply chains within the United States and its allied partners to lead us to a more balanced level of self-sustainment.”

It is unclear if the committee has sent similar letters to other jurisdictions. Committee spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment. But its letter hinted at a “multifaceted approach to government security,” and said it is looking to “develop standards for localities nationwide.”