US Military bans use of DJI products?

[924]

Has anyone else seen these articles? Kinda hard to swallow after investing a lot of time and money on my two Inspire 2s.

U.S. Army Puts a Halt to Its Use of Chinese-Made DJI Drones | Daily Planet | Air & Space Magazine

US Army reportedly bans Chinese-made drone, citing 'cyber vulnerabilities'

 

[Mad_angler1]

They have been around for months now, nothing new, let’s look at that rationally.

What exactly does cyber vulnerability’s mean ? this could be as simple as the control data link could be compromised in extreme circumstances or the fact the onboard SD hard holds flight data so if one was lost the person recovering it could potentially gain access to sensitive data about where it’s been flown and launched from.

Secondly a part of USA military band Chinese tech - Not exactly surprising with the current administration and rhetoric, well not. Surprise to those outside the us, Hawaii and others have also faced bans like this.

3: Dji do not make drones for military use period, they were never designed for it.

If people want to run around putting tin foil on everything then I would sell up everything you own and hide in the woods somewhere.

If you have a genuine concern about data then simply use your device in Wi-fi and don’t sync logs, DJI do not sync flight logs automatically, you have to do it.

Finally you can use DJI Pilot app if it’s a concern, that has an offline mode.

Also some of the info in some of the reports is total tosh, many unknown sources and assumptions and well impossibilities, like the craft being able to send data back when turned off.

 

[924]

They have been around for months now, nothing new, let’s look at that rationally.

What exactly does cyber vulnerability’s mean ? this could be as simple as the control data link could be compromised in extreme circumstances or the fact the onboard SD hard holds flight data so if one was lost the person recovering it could potentially gain access to sensitive data about where it’s been flown and launched from.

Secondly a part of USA military band Chinese tech - Not exactly surprising with the current administration and rhetoric, well not. Surprise to those outside the us, Hawaii and others have also faced bans like this.

3: Dji do not make drones for military use period, they were never designed for it.

If people want to run around putting tin foil on everything then I would sell up everything you own and hide in the woods somewhere.

If you have a genuine concern about data then simply use your device in Wi-fi and don’t sync logs, DJI do not sync flight logs automatically, you have to do it.

Finally you can use DJI Pilot app if it’s a concern, that has an offline mode.

Also some of the info in some of the reports is total tosh, many unknown sources and assumptions and well impossibilities, like the craft being able to send data back when turned off.

 

[924]

Well, I'm certainly not ready to go hide in the woods (too cold!) but it does occur to me that when one syncs their flight records using the DJI Go4 app that goes through the DJI servers - at least, that is my understanding. One day, as I was doing that and observing the thumbnails of my photos (that appear to be part of the flight records) I wondered if that, too, was uploaded onto DJI servers. I didn't sound an alarm, I was just curious. Then, when I came across these articles I wondered if that was what the concern was.

You didn't read an accusation in my post because I didn't make one. More than anything else I was just surprised that I'd not heard this mentioned anywhere until I tripped over the articles on-line. Was it unreasonable for me to wonder if someone on this forum knew more?

 

[The Editor]

Not I2 specific so moved to General Discussion.
Also.....very old news, been reported previously.
Us Army bans Dji products. How about the commercial business?

 

[Eric Gildersleeve]

While old news those of us using these aircraft in public safety are also now running into issues due to the informational bulletins that are classified or FOUO. I can not go into details on a public forum, but suffice it to say several non-military agencies are being told to mothball their entire DJI fleet.

I am looking into alternatives for a Grant that we are applying for currently because we can not purchase anything that is DJI or specifically made for/by DJI. Unfortunately, some of the industry standards that have been made more for public safety such as Matrice 210 series are now off the allowable list. What this means is we are going to pay four to five times more to complete the same mission.

And yes it is data specifically that is the concern during uploading of flight logs, firmware updates, etc. Some of the streaming things we wanted to do can not be done while in offline modes.

 

[Eric Gildersleeve]

I will go one step further and say there are some missions related to critical infrastructure that we would not be allowed to hire someone that uses a DJI for the mission too.

 

[Dejan Smaic]

Has anyone else seen these articles? Kinda hard to swallow after investing a lot of time and money on my two Inspire 2s.

U.S. Army Puts a Halt to Its Use of Chinese-Made DJI Drones | Daily Planet | Air & Space Magazine

US Army reportedly bans Chinese-made drone, citing 'cyber vulnerabilities'

Why is it hard to swallow? This ban is for military applications, not civilian unless you're under contract with teh DoD. I can't blame the DoD for banning Chinese manufactured drones for military functions and over US military installations. This is a matter of national security, something not taken lightly.

 

[Dejan Smaic]

They have been around for months now, nothing new, let’s look at that rationally.

What exactly does cyber vulnerability’s mean ? this could be as simple as the control data link could be compromised in extreme circumstances or the fact the onboard SD hard holds flight data so if one was lost the person recovering it could potentially gain access to sensitive data about where it’s been flown and launched from.

Secondly a part of USA military band Chinese tech - Not exactly surprising with the current administration and rhetoric, well not. Surprise to those outside the us, Hawaii and others have also faced bans like this.

3: Dji do not make drones for military use period, they were never designed for it.

If people want to run around putting tin foil on everything then I would sell up everything you own and hide in the woods somewhere.

If you have a genuine concern about data then simply use your device in Wi-fi and don’t sync logs, DJI do not sync flight logs automatically, you have to do it.

Finally you can use DJI Pilot app if it’s a concern, that has an offline mode.

Also some of the info in some of the reports is total tosh, many unknown sources and assumptions and well impossibilities, like the craft being able to send data back when turned off.

How is the part of teh current administration rhetoric? This is common sense for any administration looking at national security issues, considering how the Chinese are expanding their influence in the Pacific. They are a world power, with a larger standing army than the US. Don't be naive about world powers intending no harm to the US. The Chinese are looking after their own interest, not yours. They can care less about you and I.

 

[Eric Gildersleeve]

The administration has nothing to do with the briefings we received. One agency that wasn’t even military put out the first briefing because someone that was an Information Technology analyst happened to setup a packet sniffing program and compared DJI software to something he personally ran on his own aircraft. Disconnecting from DJI servers is not as simple for us government users as we need to update devices to meet our self certification requirements.

 

[slim.slamma]

If you have a genuine concern about data then simply use your device in Wi-fi and don’t sync logs, DJI do not sync flight logs automatically, you have to do it.

Familiarity with the nuances of the i1 occasionally gets skipped, by some

 

[Steve Reid]

They have been around for months now, nothing new, let’s look at that rationally.

What exactly does cyber vulnerability’s mean ? this could be as simple as the control data link could be compromised in extreme circumstances or the fact the onboard SD hard holds flight data so if one was lost the person recovering it could potentially gain access to sensitive data about where it’s been flown and launched from.

Secondly a part of USA military band Chinese tech - Not exactly surprising with the current administration and rhetoric, well not. Surprise to those outside the us, Hawaii and others have also faced bans like this.

3: Dji do not make drones for military use period, they were never designed for it.

If people want to run around putting tin foil on everything then I would sell up everything you own and hide in the woods somewhere.

If you have a genuine concern about data then simply use your device in Wi-fi and don’t sync logs, DJI do not sync flight logs automatically, you have to do it.

Finally you can use DJI Pilot app if it’s a concern, that has an offline mode.

Also some of the info in some of the reports is total tosh, many unknown sources and assumptions and well impossibilities, like the craft being able to send data back when turned off.

While old news those of us using these aircraft in public safety are also now running into issues due to the informational bulletins that are classified or FOUO. I can not go into details on a public forum, but suffice it to say several non-military agencies are being told to mothball their entire DJI fleet.

I am looking into alternatives for a Grant that we are applying for currently because we can not purchase anything that is DJI or specifically made for/by DJI. Unfortunately, some of the industry standards that have been made more for public safety such as Matrice 210 series are now off the allowable list. What this means is we are going to pay four to five times more to complete the same mission.

And yes it is data specifically that is the concern during uploading of flight logs, firmware updates, etc. Some of the streaming things we wanted to do can not be done while in offline modes.

They have been around for months now, nothing new, let’s look at that rationally.

What exactly does cyber vulnerability’s mean ? this could be as simple as the control data link could be compromised in extreme circumstances or the fact the onboard SD hard holds flight data so if one was lost the person recovering it could potentially gain access to sensitive data about where it’s been flown and launched from.

Secondly a part of USA military band Chinese tech - Not exactly surprising with the current administration and rhetoric, well not. Surprise to those outside the us, Hawaii and others have also faced bans like this.

3: Dji do not make drones for military use period, they were never designed for it.

If people want to run around putting tin foil on everything then I would sell up everything you own and hide in the woods somewhere.

If you have a genuine concern about data then simply use your device in Wi-fi and don’t sync logs, DJI do not sync flight logs automatically, you have to do it.

Finally you can use DJI Pilot app if it’s a concern, that has an offline mode.

Also some of the info in some of the reports is total tosh, many unknown sources and assumptions and well impossibilities, like the craft being able to send data back when turned off.

I'll send Donald a message and tell him he needs to talk to you because you have all the answers and there's no need to worry because the Military doesn't know what they're talking about!!

 

[licensed pilot]

Has anyone else seen these articles? Kinda hard to swallow after investing a lot of time and money on my two Inspire 2s.

U.S. Army Puts a Halt to Its Use of Chinese-Made DJI Drones | Daily Planet | Air & Space Magazine

US Army reportedly bans Chinese-made drone, citing 'cyber vulnerabilities'

A lot of non-sense unless you are dealing with sensitive installations and information (like the military). The Chinese have better, more effective avenues to spy. I am not about to tell my LE agency to sh*t can their Matrice600 for a lot of hooha security non-sense.

 

[licensed pilot]

While old news those of us using these aircraft in public safety are also now running into issues due to the informational bulletins that are classified or FOUO. I can not go into details on a public forum, but suffice it to say several non-military agencies are being told to mothball their entire DJI fleet.

I am looking into alternatives for a Grant that we are applying for currently because we can not purchase anything that is DJI or specifically made for/by DJI. Unfortunately, some of the industry standards that have been made more for public safety such as Matrice 210 series are now off the allowable list. What this means is we are going to pay four to five times more to complete the same mission.

And yes it is data specifically that is the concern during uploading of flight logs, firmware updates, etc. Some of the streaming things we wanted to do can not be done while in offline modes.

"but suffice it to say several non-military agencies are being told to mothball their entire DJI fleet. " By whom?

 

[Mad_angler1]

I'll send Donald a message and tell him he needs to talk to you because you have all the answers and there's no need to worry because the Military doesn't know what they're talking about!!

You miss my point, I don’t give a hoot about Trump or the US military, Im an outside observer and the rhetoric is anything not USA is bad from where I sit, the US army can and should do what ever it wants, i’m more shocked people are surprised that they have been banned, companies like Hawaii have already been though this, this is political more than actual factual, people getting all bent out of shape over something that has little to no affect on most real world users.

Let me be clear though on something, I have some fantastic friends in the US but I trust what comes out of the US administration and military as little as I do the Chinese one or any other for that matter, the world does not revolve around the USA and what it does .

 

[Eric Gildersleeve]

"but suffice it to say several non-military agencies are being told to mothball their entire DJI fleet. " By whom?

DHS

 

[The Editor]

A lot of old tosh about nothing - Some people get so excited.

"Infamy, Infamy, they've all got in in for me" (Kenneth Williams)

 

[licensed pilot]

DHS

Can I get a link, please?

 

[Eric Gildersleeve]

Can I get a link, please?

No. I am paraphrasing an official document and speaking in geralities. The document is FOUO LE Sensitive so can not be posted online on a public forum.

 

[licensed pilot]

Ok, I get FOUO LE documents via my agency, must have missed that one. Will have to follow up next week. Thanks.