Report of DJI ‘Chinese drone threat’ in DC skies misses target

Is DJI really the ominous data threat to its customers – and even to US national security – that detractors claim, or might it instead be the victim of a broadening effort of sector rivals and allied politicians to undermine the company’s favored status among both private and enterprise drone buyers? The question has arisen anew with a report this week in US media ringing alarm bells about a purported “Chinese drone spy threat” the company’s craft pose.

The article was published on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday by Politico, based primarily on confidential information provided by unidentified US Congressional sources subsequently analyzed by independent observers. Central to those were what the publication calls “classified briefings to the Senate Homeland Security, Commerce and Intelligence committees,” during which claims were made that “(h)undreds of Chinese-manufactured drones have been detected in restricted airspace over Washington,…