Drones

Aerovironment’s New P550 Flies Five Hours on a Charge, Drops Two-Pound Guided Bombs

– AeroVironment has introduced the P550 advanced autonomous Group 2 eVTOL uncrewed aircraft system designed to set a new standard for battlefield adaptability and operational readiness. Leveraging a Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) and AI-driven autonomy, P550 is engineered to empower maneuver forces to quickly respond to evolving mission demands with rapid deployment, scalability, and […]

Thales Demonstrates AI-Controlled Drone Swarms

On 16 October 2024, in the first flight tests of their kind, Thales demonstrated the potential of deploying swarms of drones with different levels of autonomy. Autonomous functionality optimised by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and intelligent agents reduces the cognitive load on operators yet ensures that they remain in control at all times, particularly during critical […]

France Sends First Domestically-Made Kamikaze Drones to Ukraine

On Wednesday, October 16, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu announced the first delivery of French-made kamikaze drones to Ukraine in the coming weeks. Lecornu detailed that the aerial drones for transfer were manufactured by Delair, have successfully passed all performance tests, and will be soon adopted by both the French and Ukrainian […]

Airbus Completes First Aerial Logistics Connector Demo for US Marine Corps

– Airbus recently completed its first program demonstration in support of the U.S. Marine Corps Aerial Logistics Connector contract at Marine Corps Air Station New River and Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. The demonstration evaluated the performance characteristics of the UH-72B Lakota platform, validated the aircraft’s ability to carry specialized cargo, showcasing Airbus’ approaches to […]

How Allied Pilots ‘Rammed’ Nazi Cruise Missiles Out of the Sky

On June 13, 1944, the citizens of London awoke to an eerie but puzzling buzz approaching the city. The morning stillness was shattered when the buzzing stopped and a strange aircraft plummeted from the sky, hitting a railway bridge and unleashing 1,800 pounds of explosive force. The bizarre aircraft was a German-made Vergeltungswaffen (“vengeance weapon”) […]

The bizarre reason why it’s so hard to get your hands on the DJI Air 3S

If you’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of DJI’s Air 3S in the U.S., you may have noticed it’s been unusually difficult to get your hands on this drone. For now, it’s available on DJI.com. But for customers seeking to shop from a third-party, say, Amazon (which is a popular pick, particularly for Amazon Prime members who can get an additional 5% back by paying with their Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card), it’s made for a tough dilemma.

Order the DJI Air 3S directly from DJI? Wait it out and buy from a trusted third-party? And if that second choice, how long will the wait be?

Here’s the low-down on the holdup with the DJI Air 3S shipping – and the rather odd reason behind it.

While DJI dominates the American consumer drone industry, recent issues with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have made it increasingly difficult for consumers to get their hands on DJI drones. Most notable among them? The Air 3S, which DJI announced earlier this week to much anticipation (and subsequent disappointed from people who wanted to buy it from their favorite retailers on day 1).

So what are the reasons for these delays? It’s a mix of complex geopolitical tensions and U.S. legislative action.

The UFLPA

At the center of the issue is the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). The law, passed in 2021, was designed to prevent products made with forced labor from entering the U.S. market. The UFLPA als presumes that goods sourced from China’s Xinjiang region (where the U.S. alleges widespread forced labor abuses) are essentially “guilty” unless proven otherwise. And with it, the law gives the CBP wide authority to withhold products at the border. That’s even if there’s no hard evidence — merely suspicion of involvement with forced labor.

And it’s that very law that U.S. customs has cited as the reason for holding up imports of select DJI drones, including the Air 3S. That’s according to a post on DJI’s own blog, as well as corroborated by letters sent to DJI authorized distributors.

In the DJI blog post, the Chinese-based company said that the CBP is scrutinizing the company’s compliance with the UFLPA. Though, DJI also firmly rejected any claims of forced labor in its supply chain. DJI says that it has no operations in Xinjiang (the region targeted by the UFLPA) neither in terms of manufacturing nor in terms of sourcing materials. DJI says its manufacturing is based in Shenzhen (that’s also where the DJI headquarters are) as well as Malaysia.

Are DJI drones responsibly made?

According to DJI, the company adheres to both U.S. law and international labor and manufacturing standards. That includes adherence to Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. §1307), which prohibits importing any product that was created either wholly or in part by forced labor. It also includes adherence to 22 U.S.C. §6901, which specifically applies to products made in China.

DJI also holds the ISO 45001 certification, which is a worldwide, international standard for occupational health and safety.

Sure, we haven’t verified every minutia of DJI’s supply change. But, the company says its top U.S. retailers do conduct rigorous due diligence audits.

Related read: What’s it like being a Chinese drone company right now?

What about other calls to ban DJI drones?

The news comes at a time that feels not coincidental. Because while DJI is in the midst of these customs issues, broader U.S. government efforts to curb the use of Chinese drones are also intensifying.

Just last month, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to bar new DJI drones from being used by federal agencies, citing concerns over data privacy, surveillance, and national security. That’s H.R. 2864, the Countering CCP Drones Act. That would add DJI too the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Covered List, in turn prohibiting new models of DJI drones from operating on U.S. communications infrastructure.

The bill is now awaiting action in the Senate, where it could be added to the Senate version of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Read more: What happens if Congress bans DJI drones?

Though, that bill doesn’t have anything to do with labor practices, but rather fears about data security.

“I am proud to have advanced legislation this week to combat unfair Communist Chinese trade practices, prevent Communist Chinese drones from undermining our national security, defend our service members in the Indo-Pacific, and boost U.S. manufacturing,” said New York Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who sponsored the bill. “House Republicans are unified in protecting U.S. national security and curbing Communist China’s malign global aspirations.”

What this means for DJI — and pilots who want new DJI drones like the DJI Air 3S

The DJI Air 3S, which DJI launched earlier this week. (Photo courtesy of DJI)

So, what does this all mean for drone hobbyists eager to fly the DJI Air 3S? For now, it’s a waiting game. DJI is currently working with the CBP to resolve the customs issues. But, the combination of regulatory scrutiny and potential legislative actions adds a layer of uncertainty to the future availability of DJI products in the U.S.

While DJI’s blog post implies it will eventually prove its compliance with the UFLPA, the delays reflect broader tensions between the U.S. and China, particularly in the tech sector. The new DJI Air 3S drone is just one casualty of this increasingly complex trade and political landscape.

The post The bizarre reason why it’s so hard to get your hands on the DJI Air 3S appeared first on The Drone Girl.

Aerial View Of Castelnaud La Chapelle Castle and Village, Dordogne, France on HOsiHO.com

NEW AERIAL & DRONE FOOTAGE ON HOsiHO.com

 

More aerial stock Photos and Videos from Dordogne available to license for all your audiovisual projects

The post Aerial View Of Castelnaud La Chapelle Castle and Village, Dordogne, France on HOsiHO.com appeared first on DRONESTAG.

Red Cat Unveils Arachnid Family of Systems at AUSA

= Red Cat Holdings, Inc., a drone technology company building hardware and software for military, federal, and commercial operations, has introduced its ARACHNID family of unmanned intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and precision strike systems. Red Cat unveiled the Family of Systems at AUSA 2024 Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington D.C. The ARACHNID family […]

Schiebel CAMCOPTER S-100 UAS Impresses with Multi-Mission Capabilities at REPMUS 2024

Schiebel participated in the large-scale NATO supported exercise REPMUS 2024 (Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping using Maritime Uncrewed Systems) hosted by the Portuguese Navy. For the third year in a row, the CAMCOPTER S-100 presented its unrivalled multi- mission capabilities in the maritime domain. Sponsored by the UK Royal Navy and in partnership with Thales, the […]

RTX Demonstrates Launched Effects Autonomy at EDGE

– RTX businesses, Collins Aerospace and Raytheon, collectively showcased new capabilities at the U.S. Army’s Experimental Demonstration Gateway Event (EDGE). These capabilities enabled launched effects to team and execute a mission, merging collaborative vehicle autonomy with human on-the-loop command. Launched effects is a capability term that describes small, uncrewed aircraft that can be launched from […]