Hello everybody, welcome again to the channel! If that is your first time right here, my identify is Russ and that is 51 Drones. Though the DJI ban on the federal degree was quickly delayed by not together with the Countering CCP Drones Act within the 2025 Nationwide Protection Authorization Act, the motion to eradicate their use on the state degree is alive and effectively, together with in my very personal state of North Dakota.
Present Laws
Home Invoice 1038 was simply fast-tracked by the Home of Representatives and is about to do the identical within the Senate. The aim of this video is twofold: first, I hope that the senators in my nice state take only a second to look at this video and hopefully study one thing that they haven’t realized but, particularly one thing that I’ve to say in direction of the top of this video. Secondly, I hope that these of you who stay in different states are motivated to remain present and educated about what your lawmakers are doing in the case of drone laws.
Key Factors of HB 1038
To begin with, HB 1038 is a invoice that calls for 2 issues. First, it states that each one state businesses that personal and function drones manufactured in China, like DJI and Autel, should cease utilizing them and change them with non-Chinese language made drones inside 2 years. Of the 353 drones in use by North Dakota state businesses, 300 of them fall inside this designation. I don’t even suppose there are any Autel drones—I may very well be flawed—however I’m guessing that almost all of these are DJI drones.
Monetary Considerations
These businesses should give up their present drones to the North Dakota Division of Commerce, who will then promote them at market worth to the Division of Homeland Safety for use for Counter UAV analysis and coaching. For this portion of the invoice, the Drone Alternative Program, this laws is asking for $15 million.
Now that sounds just a little bit excessive, proper? 300 drones, $15 million? Most of the drones in use by state businesses proper now vary in worth from a couple of hundred to upwards of $20,000 to $25,000, and only a few at that high finish. This laws is asking for $50,000 per drone to get replaced. Make that make sense—$15 million of our cash, my tax {dollars}, for use unnecessarily on a lot much less succesful and far more costly expertise simply because a couple of lawmakers are prepared to consider the narrative that DJI drones are a nationwide safety danger.
Safety Audits and Information
Now, why do I say that? Senators, I ask that you simply please perform a little little bit of analysis about DJI and the claims that their drones are gathering and sharing delicate information. Do you know that that has by no means been demonstrated or confirmed? Ten safety audits and certifications over the previous seven years by unbiased businesses—two of them by FTI Consultants (look them up, I’ll put a hyperlink within the video description)—the newest cybersecurity audit by FTI was simply performed in September of 2024. FTI is predicated in America, by the way in which. These are American consultants learning these drones.
This most up-to-date audit demonstrated zero Knowledge Safety points. With options like restricted community mode and native information mode, the consumer has the choice to eradicate all outbound information. Even when the consumer does permit info to be transmitted, it goes no additional than the servers posted proper right here within the United States.
The drones used for these audits aren’t offered by DJI. DJI doesn’t say, “Hey, are you able to please audit our stuff, and by the way in which, right here’s some drones so that you can take a look at.” No, the auditors exit and buy these drones off the shelf, and so they conduct their testing. Over the subsequent 12 months, DJI goes to undergo 4 extra unbiased audits—that’s in 12 months—on their merchandise, additional demonstrating their efforts to make sure consumer information safety.
I ask you, Senators, to please take into account the various causes that our federal authorities would possibly need to ban the usage of DJI drones. American producers can’t compete, and the one option to break free from DJI is thru laws. The narrative has at all times been ‘they might pose a safety menace‘, however not a single time has that been demonstrated.
I do perceive the necessity to scale back our dependence on essential expertise from adversarial Nations—I imply, nobody’s going to argue with that—however I additionally know that the explanation our nice state of North Dakota is among the most financially steady states within the nation is as a result of our lawmakers are identified for making knowledgeable monetary choices. $15 million is egregious, particularly when there’s no justification for spending it apart from hypothesis.
If this invoice passes, you’ll successfully be taking the most effective instruments away from our most important entities and asking them to make use of inferior merchandise to do their jobs. DJI simply launched the Matrice 4T—this drone is the newest in compact and reasonably priced aerial thermal expertise. It’s the good answer for Search and Rescue groups, and it prices about $7,500. For $15 million, you might buy 2,000 of these drones—the most effective on the planet. You possibly can get 2,000 of them for $15 million.
Please take a while to review the details about DJI safety measures. That cellphone in your pocket proper now, or sitting in your desk proper now, has far more potential safety danger than a DJI drone. Now, do I need an American firm to innovate and outperform DJI? In fact I do, however I feel it needs to be performed the appropriate method and with out taxpayer cash.
The second a part of this laws proposes $11 million to manage a state radar Pathfinder program. This could be instrumental in guaranteeing that North Dakota stays the chief in past visible line of sight improvement. That’s the way forward for industrial UAVs, and it’s an funding in our state and its folks. It is smart, and that portion of this laws ought to completely move.
Various Proposal
My proposal is to amend HB 1038 and strike the $15 million of taxpayer cash for use for a drone alternative program. Over the subsequent 12 months, with the extra audits plus the scrutiny that the NDAA of 2025 requires on DJI, there might be far more information obtainable so that you can make a extra knowledgeable choice on the way to transfer ahead.
Then additionally take into account this, and that is actually essential: in 2025, if our federal authorities finds any safety points with DJI—and I’m telling you they’re going to undergo it as deep as they’ve ever gone—and in the event that they discover one single factor, or even when they don’t assign an company to conduct the research (as a result of they haven’t performed that; all of the NDAA mentioned is we’ll assign some company to conduct these audits and to scrutinize DJI, but when we don’t discover an company by the top of the 12 months, we’ll simply put them on the FCC listing anyway)—so in the event that they don’t assign an company or in the event that they discover one thing, they’re mechanically banned, like instantly. Meaning there could be a really excessive potential of a federally funded drone alternative program, which implies that you’d have spent $15 million of our tax cash that you wouldn’t have needed to.
Amend the invoice. It’s too quickly, there are nonetheless too many questions on the market, and there’s no cause to exchange the instruments that now we have, nor take the money and time to coach folks on the way to use completely different ones.
Verify the hyperlinks within the video description for extra info. I don’t take into account myself an skilled on this, however after doing this for 8 years, I do consider that my opinion deserves just a little little bit of consideration. Let me know if in case you have extra questions, and if I can’t reply them, I can undoubtedly put you in contact with somebody who can.
I need to thanks for watching, everybody. Control your individual states and be an advocate as a lot as you possibly can. Your lawmakers have so much on their plate, and so they want their constituents to assist them perceive a number of the payments that land on their desk. Now, should you occur to be from North Dakota, please share this along with your senators. Have a fantastic day, everybody, and as at all times, fly protected and fly good.
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